Chapter 4

Anna

The twins had done a great job at getting my spirits back up. Or it could have been the effects of the five marshmallows and two beers I had consumed over the last hour. Either way, we were back to happily laughing and joking around when the patio door opened.

My two little puppies ran out to greet me. I happily knelt down to give them some love. Now that Reagan was leaving we didn’t have any reason to keep them cooped up in Caleb’s room, so they could go back to following us everywhere. I looked up, expecting to see Caleb following them out. I was shocked when I saw that it was James that came out and shut the patio door behind him.

James pretended to ignore the puppies most of the time, but I know he had a soft spot for them. They were incredibly cute, and I had caught him giving them scraps of meat when he thought no one else was looking. But it was extremely out of character for him to bring them outside, or even for him to bring them anywhere. I frowned, what was going on?

The twins also looked surprised to see him. “Is Reagan gone yet?” Jason asked.

James frowned. “No. Reagan is leaving in the morning.”

The twins both groaned in disappointment.

James looked at me. “Anna, I know you had something planned for tonight, but it’s going to have to wait.”

My heart dropped. I wasn’t worried about delaying the scattering of the ashes, I had already planned on that. I was worried about what was going on that we would need to cancel it, especially if James was delivering the news.

“Austin and Cody had to take Caleb to see the council, they may be gone for a few days.” James told us soberly.

“What?” The twins exclaimed simultaneously.

“Why would they do that?” I asked nervously. I knew those guys showing up earlier had been bad news.

James sighed. “Caleb has been accused of spying on council members. Everyone knows the charges are bullshit to try and get to our pack.”

I growled a little under my breath. I did not like anyone taking Caleb from us.

“What can we do to help?” I asked James.

He looked at me in surprise. “How much do you know about the projects that Caleb is working on?”

“Um, a little.” I told him cautiously. Was Caleb allowed to share projects with me? I didn’t want to get him in trouble. I had occasionally helped him go through video footage or review documents, but he had a lot going on and I didn’t understand everything he worked on. When he started talking about algorithms my eyes started to glaze over.

“I had him working on a few high priority projects. I could go through his room to try and figure out what he had found so far but… well, you’re smart like he is.”

I blinked in surprise. Did James just give me a compliment? Surely, I must have heard him wrong.

“If you tell me what you need I can see if it’s there.” I told him slowly, still a little shocked.

“You won’t be able to get into his computer,” Mason warned.

“Yeah,” Jason added. “He put a fingerprint scanner on it after that one time we-“

“It’s well secured.” Mason interrupted.

“Oh, I know. He added me as a user so I could help him out sometimes.” I told them.

Mason’s jaw dropped. “He doesn’t let anyone touch his computer.”

“Or any of his electronics.” Jason added.

James grunted. “Looks like he does.” He stood up. “I don’t have time to talk about it tonight, I have a lot to do now. I’ll find you in the morning.”

I chewed on my lip as I watched the puppies run out to the grass to do their business. James was acting like this was no big deal, but the council was accusing Caleb of being a spy. That sounded serious.

I turned to the twins after James had left. “Okay, what is really going on here?”

The twins exchanged glances. Jason shrugged helplessly and looked at Mason. Mason sighed. “We don’t know, this is the first we are hearing about it.”

I frowned. “I’ve never actually seen Caleb leave the house before.”

Mason looked uncomfortable. “He doesn’t like to. Austin said it was fine if he stays here.”

That made me even more worried, I knew Caleb didn’t like dealing with people. “But Austin and Cody are going to stay with Caleb, right? They won’t leave him alone?”

“Of course not,” Mason reassured me.

“Austin’s cool like that.” Jason added. “He gets riled up if anyone tries to mess with one of his wolves. There’s no way he’s going to let Caleb out of his sight.”

That made me feel a little better for Caleb, but I was still worried about all three of them. “Can Austin really win, though? The council seems pretty powerful.”

“His father is on the council.” Mason said thoughtfully.

“He’s not really challenging the council if one of their own is on our side.” Jason added.

“But what if he’s not?” I whispered.

The twins both looked at me in confusion.

“What if Austin’s father is part of the problem?” I clarified.

They frowned at each other before Mason turned to me. “Then we are in deep shit.”

I sighed, that what I was afraid they were going to say.