Chapter Twenty-Two
“Luke!”
Ross slapped his arm on the man’s back before being pulled into a strong hug by the silver-haired man.
“It’s good to see you, Ross,” Luke replied, smiling at Jenny and nodding at Connor as he walked in.
“It’s good to see you too,” Ross replied honestly. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate our friendship and the peace between our packs. We’re going to need it right now.”
Luke grimaced before sitting down in a vacant chair. “We’ve got the other shifter held in one of the bedrooms here.”
Jenny leaned forward. "Has she shifted?" Ross could see the anxiety on her face as she spoke and moved to sit next to her, hardly able to believe what he'd heard.
“She has, yes. Got a broken arm. We’ve set it for her, given her some clothes and some food, but she hasn’t said a word.”
"I wouldn't expect her to," Ross replied darkly. "After all, she's been helping a human hunt us down. Although I still don't know how they knew we were heading for the East River pack. They managed to get ahead of us and surprise us when we could have taken a million different routes to get to different places." Ross shook his head, running a hand over his eyes. "How did they know?"
Luke's brow furrowed, and he shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair. "It turns out I might be able to help you with that. Once she'd shifted, I realized that I've seen her before."
"What?" Ross exclaimed, turning to stare at Luke in surprise. "You recognize her? How is that possible?"
"She and her brother were once part of this pack. Her name is Beth, he is Stephen."
Silence filled the room as the three White Fire pack members stared at Luke, shock filling them.
“They were part of your pack?” Jenny whispered, blinking a few times. “When?”
Luke sighed. “They stayed for less than six months. Of course, they were on probation at that time because we knew very little about their history. He talked too much, but she said very little. He was brash and loud, but she was quiet and gentle.” Memories washed across his face. “I actually felt sorry for her, to be stuck with a brother like that, if that’s who he really was—is—to her. Anyway, after a few months, he told me that he’d decided this wasn’t the place for them and away they went.”
“And you never saw them again?” Ross asked, still confused. “Why would they do that?”
Shrugging, Luke sat back in his chair. “I wish I knew. Perhaps if I’d looked into them more, I might have been able to do something to stop this mess.”
Ross shook his head. “This isn’t on you, Luke. We’ve got to work together now to get rid of this threat for good.”
“But first food, right?” Luke grinned, easing the tension in the room. “We need to make sure you guys are back to full strength before you head on home.”
Jenny cleared her throat, her face still apprehensive. “I really appreciate your kindness, Luke. Thank you for the clothes.”
He grinned at her. “Not at all. We’re at peace now, you see. There isn’t any animosity between the packs anymore.”
Ross nodded. “And it’s done us all the world of good,” he said softly.
Nodding, Luke gestured to one of his shifters, who was hovering by the door. He brought in a tray filled with food, while another shifter laid out a pot of coffee and some mugs. “Please, eat,” Luke said once the shifters had left. “I can’t imagine how hungry you all must be.”
Ross grinned as Jenny leaned forward at once, grasping a sticky donut. “It’s been a while since we ate.”
Luke chuckled softly, although his eyes remained serious. “And soon you’re going to tell me exactly what happened?”
Letting out a long breath, Ross ran a hand through his hair. “Yes, of course. In fact, I think you might have a bit of a problem on your hands.”
Luke frowned. “What do you mean?”
Ross grimaced. “I think it’s a fair assessment to suggest that someone here was helping Davidson. I’m not sure how, but they knew we were coming here and no-one from my pack was helping them.” Quickly, he told them what Davidson has said when he’d mocked the shifter loyalty.
“It was an ambush,” Connor muttered. “They surprised us out of nowhere. There is no way they could just guess that we were coming this way.”
Luke let out a long breath, his eyes flickering with a dark emotion. “I don’t want to think that it could be true, but you’re right. They were here for six months after all.” He shook his head, before running a hand over his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do to look into it.”
“Thank you,” Ross said, quietly.
Luke cleared his throat. “Tell me about this Davidson. What do you know about him?”
Ross’s gaze flicked to Jenny, anger rising in his chest. “His name is Greg Davidson. His wife was a shifter, and, long story short, he blames us for our death.”
Jenny's hand touched his, and he grasped it firmly. She had been through so much already and had found the strength not only to face Davidson but to fight him. She was the reason Ross had not found himself with a tranquilizer dart in his chest. If she hadn't bitten Davidson's arm, he'd have pulled the trigger and Ross would have been fighting the effects of a powerful sedative. The entire fight might have turned out differently.
“And he took Jenny?” Luke asked, his eyes on Jenny who was now pouring herself a coffee.
"He did, yes, for reasons I won't go into right now. Thankfully, we found her and helped her to escape, only to discover Davidson's real intention is to hunt down and kill shifters. He wants to be rid of all of us."
The frown between Luke’s eyebrows grew heavier. “So, why didn’t he kill Jenny?”
Jenny shivered but when she spoke, her voice was clear. "I wouldn't shift for him. He can only kill us when we are in our animal forms, otherwise, it would just be straight-out murder as far as the authorities are concerned. So, he kept me in a cellar and kept trying and trying to get me to shift." She swallowed another mouthful of coffee before continuing, her voice rasping a little. "That's when I met the Damsons."
Luke nodded slowly. “And we have the sister, I believe.”
“Did anyone find the brother?”
Luke shook his head, making Ross’s heart sink into his stomach.
“They lost the scent, I’m afraid. He used the river.”
Taking in a long breath, Ross sat back and tried not to feel too disappointed. "I don't know what he intends to do now but at least he doesn't have Davidson with him anymore." A sudden thought struck him as he realized he didn't actually know what had happened to Davidson. The last he'd seen, he'd been running away from Jenny, presumably to find either his gun or his knife. "What happened to him, Jenny?"
She turned slightly worried eyes to him. “He fell off the edge,” she replied softly. “He was running away from me. It turns out he wasn’t as brave as he tried to make out. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the edge of the hill—the one that leads to a sheer drop.”
“Totally deserved,” Connor said under his breath, his eyes darker than Jenny had ever seen them.
Ross had to agree. “You had him in the end, Jenny,” he said quietly. “The man was afraid of you, afraid of your courage and strength. His death was his own fault. He should never have even started this attack on shifters.” He squeezed her hand gently and felt her return the pressure.
“I want to say something about the Damson shifter, though,” she continued, surprising him. “I don’t know—I don’t think everything’s OK with her.”
Connor let out a bark of laughter. “Of course she’s not OK! She was working with Davidson.”
Ross could practically see the frustration rolling off Jenny’s shoulders. “That’s not what I meant,” she said, trying to explain herself. “I remembered something about her. She never really joined in with her brother and with Davidson when it came to trying to get me to shift.” Her voice grew quieter. “In fact, she never said a word.”
“So, what are you suggesting?” Connor asked, his voice harsh. “That we just let her go so she can go back to her brother? She fought pretty hard, I can promise you that.”
Ross held up a hand, trying to get his brother to calm down. He didn’t really know what Jenny was saying, but he wanted to trust her instincts. “We’re not going to harm her, if that’s what you’re worried about, Jenny.”
“I know you have to find out more from her,” she replied, looking up at him. “I just feel like there’s a reason she was helping Davidson. Maybe not a good reason.”
Not knowing what to say, Ross glanced at Luke who was looking at Jenny thoughtfully.
“What are your plans now?” Luke asked, seemingly changing the subject.
“We were planning to leave Jenny with you, as you know, but things have changed now.” Ross’s brow furrowed in concentration. “I don’t think we need to do that anymore. We’ll have to talk to Beth, to find out where her brother might have gone, because there’s no way I’m letting him get away with what he did.”
Luke’s face grew grim. “Then we alert the other packs in the area that we’re looking for him. My pack will lead the way in searching for the Damson brother while I do some investigation of my own.”
Pausing for a moment, Ross made a decision. “If it’s OK with you, we’ll take the sister.”
Connor exploded at once. “What? Ross, you can’t be serious! I don’t want someone who’s betrayed us coming anywhere near our home.”
Jenny looked up at him, a small smile on her face, and Ross knew he’d made the right decision.
“You might not like it, Connor, but that’s what’s going to happen. We might be able to get more out of her back at our place, and it’s not like she’s going to be able to go anywhere. With Davidson out of the picture, we can go back to Rockshore and carry on the investigation from there.”
“I’m coming too, right?” Jenny asked as Connor continued to mutter furiously under his breath. “I don’t need to stay.”
Ignoring his brother and Luke’s presence, Ross leaned over and kissed her, hard. “Of course you are,” he said so softly that only she could hear. “I need you beside me, Jenny.”
She smiled up at him, her eyes finally clear of the nagging fear she’d held ever since she’d escaped from Davidson’s home. “Good,” she replied before kissing him again.