Chapter 15

True to his word, after dinner Lucas had given her a ride to pick up her supplies at the local market and then drove her home. She was surprised that Lucas wouldn’t give her any information and it made her curiosity grow that much more. She put everything away and just wanted to relax with a glass of wine on the porch. Between the fight with Jaxson and the encounter with Kane, she needed something to unwind her nerves. She sat there on the swing and took a sip of her wine. She heard Sue’s door open and watched the woman sit down on her swing.

“Hey, Shay.” She said smiling holding up her bay breeze. That was her way of saying, Come chat with me.

Shay smiled. “Hi.”

She watched Sue pat the seat next to her. “Come on over honey.”

She walked over to Sue’s porch, sitting down next to the woman.

“So what’s new and exciting?” Sue asked.

Shay had no intention of telling her about her altercation with Kane. Not that she didn’t trust Sue. She just didn’t have the energy to relive it all over again, nor did she really want to answer any questions about him either. “Not much. Just relaxing. It’s such a beautiful night.”

Shay couldn’t stop thinking about what Jake had said to Jaxson. It was killing her not to know what he meant by Jaxson not being able to protect her, and she wanted to find out what had actually happened to Jillian. She looked at Sue and thought maybe she would know. After all, she had lived here her entire life and seemed to have the in on all the juicy gossip in town. It wouldn’t hurt to ask she thought.

“What do you know about Jake Hanover?” She asked without turning her head.

She could feel Sue looking at her. “Why do you want to know about him? He’s nothing but bad news. Stay away from him. Far away from him.” Sue said rather abruptly.

“I’m just curious. I spent some time at Jaxson’s house last week, and the two got into quite the fight.” Shay explained taking another sip of her wine.

“You were with Jaxson?” Sue asked raising an eyebrow.

Of course, Sue would zero in on that minor detail. Since the cat was already out of the bag, Shay had no reason to deny it. “Yes.” She said staring out into the night.

“Doing what exactly?”

“We spent some time together. Talking.” Shay said looking at her this time.

The old woman stared at her for a minute before starting to giggle, and Shay finally said, “What’s so funny.”

“Honey, that man hasn’t spoken to another woman in almost four years. He must find you very special if what you're saying is the truth.”

Shay smiled to herself. If you only knew the half of it.

She watched Sue become serious then and say, “There’s something not quite right with that boy. Jake that is. He’s evil, sadistic in my books.” She nodded her head like she agreed with herself.

“What do you mean? What did he do?”

Sue looked around as if to check if anyone else was around. Like she was about to spill a dark secret. “My husband passed away from a stroke three years ago. Oh, he was the love of my life.” She said getting lost in her words.

“I’m so sorry Sue,” Shay said, her heart going out to her.

Shay watched her drift off and reminisced. “We were close to Jillian you know.” She looked at Shay wide-eyed. “She was such a beauty. Just like you.”

“You knew Jillian? Jaxson’s wife.” Shay said stunned.

“Of course. I watched that little girl grow up and blossom into a beautiful lady. She was like the daughter we never had. She always baked us pastries and other little goodies. Her dream was to open up her own shop. She would fatten up my George and Jaxson would always just laugh. Oh, how he loved that woman.” She said trailing off again getting lost in her thoughts.

“I have never seen two people more in love than Jaxson and Jillian. They were inseparable growing up, and no one was surprised when they got married. We all thought they would live happily ever after. But, when she died, something inside Jaxson died too. I’ve never seen someone so devastated, so broken before.” She paused taking a sip of her drink.

“So, what exactly happened to her? Was it Jaxson who found her?”

“It was actually my husband George who found her.” She said quietly. Shay didn’t press, just gave her a moment to collect her thoughts. “George used to shoot crows down off Jaxson’s property. Where it ends on his land and meets with the Hanover’s ranch. He liked to get his practice in before duck season opened up. Plus, it got rid of the nuisance for Jaxson. Nobody minded. My George saw the whole thing unfold before him. Thank god no one saw him or they would have killed him too probably.”

“Saw what?” Shay asked pressing her for more. It sounded like something out of a movie.

“Jillian. She was out picking blueberries. She loved to bake with fresh berries. George said he heard her scream, so he followed the noise. He wasn’t a young man anymore, so it took him a bit to get to where she was. But, he was too late to help her. He found them just as Jake had just finished raping her in the field. He was about to fire a warning shot to scare Jake off when he heard Jaxson calling out for Jillian. She struggled against Jake, but he knocked her down again, and just when she went to yell out for help again, George watched Jake snap her neck.”

Shay’s hand came up and covered her mouth, to stop herself from letting out a gasp. “No. No. Are you sure?”

“My George doesn’t lie” She snapped. “Besides it wasn’t a secret that Jake had a thing for Jillian. We just never thought he’d go that far.”

“Did you go to the police?” Shay asked

“No, wolves have their own code, their own justice system. We tried to tell Jaxson’s father, Nelson Avery, what happened. He is the Alpha and controls this area, sets the rules and so on. He said he required proof, but we had none. By the time we went back to the field, her body was gone, and so was the evidence. It was just George’s word against Jake’s. Nelson believed George, but without proof, his hands were tied.” Sue shook her head in disgust. “And then Sherry, Jake’s sister came forward claiming that she had been with Jillian and that they had been attacked by rogue wolves that were in the area. She was full of shit!” Sue shouted out loud her chest heaving with emotion. She took a few steadying breaths and looked back at Shay, anger still evident in her eyes. “Sherry had some bruises and cuts on her arms and legs but nothing she couldn’t have done to herself. Not to mention that Jillian couldn’t stand Sherry, so it didn’t make any sense that the two of them would have been together. In the end, nothing happened because we couldn’t prove their lie.”

Shay looked at Sue shocked. “Oh, my god. Does Jaxson know the truth about what happened?”

“Nelson ordered us to never tell Jaxson, or anyone else for that matter, the truth unless we had solid proof and according to him, George’s word wasn’t good enough.” Shay began to protest, but Sue held up her finger. “But, neither George nor I felt right about that. So we sat down with Jaxson anyway and told him the truth.” Tears pooled in Sue’s eyes and threatened to spill over. “George and I are human, so we aren’t quite bound by the Alpha’s laws the same way the wolves are. They have no choice in the matter; they are compelled to follow the Alpha’s orders. But, George and I have always respected Nelson’s direction…up until then. Jaxon deserved to know the truth! We loved that boy so much as if he were our own. I have never seen someone so distraught before, like everything inside of him had died. That poor boy has always blamed himself. He still does.” She wrung her hands together. “To this day, I question whether we did the right thing.”

“Did he believe you?”

“At first, no. He refused to hear anything we had to say. That surely George had been mistaken and Jake had been trying to help Jillian. But, George had no reason to lie. We had no feud with the Hanover’s. Deep down, I think he did. It was just too much for him to accept at the time. He had just lost the love of his life in the most brutal way, and then on top of that, we were telling him that it was at the hands of his own family. He knows what that man is like. He’s pure evil. Not a good bone in his body.” Sue spat. Her face was sad as she stared off into the distance. “He hasn’t spoken to his father since. And we are to blame for that. Sometimes I wonder if it was best to just stay quiet.”

“Jesus Christ. That explains everything.” Shay said as the hidden meaning behind Jake’s words finally became clear to her.

“What do you mean?” Sue asked.

Shay hadn’t meant to say it out loud. But, there was no sense in keeping from Sue. “The other day when I was with Jaxson, Jake showed up yelling. He was irate because Jaxson had his horses, even though Jake had let them run wild and free. Anyway, they got into it, and Jake called Jillian a slut and said that Jaxson couldn’t take care of his women. Well, his exact words were ‘Hopefully you can protect this slut better than your last one.’”

She watched Sue’s hand go to her mouth in shock. “My god. Poor Jaxson. What a horrible thing to say! Jake will get what is coming to him. I truly believe that.”

Shay now understood why Jaxson had gotten so angry, but she also couldn’t believe that Jake had the nerve to say that to Jaxson after what he had done. Why taunt him like that, when he’d gotten away with it? Surely, he knew that Jaxson would try to kill him for that. He was obviously a psychopath.