Duncan

 

 

Duncan got home later than he was expecting. Being out of the office for six months, he did not foresee needing to play catchup on paperwork. He’d still had to do face-to-face meetings with a few business clients and had to leave the twins in what he thought was the capable hands of the nannies he'd hired.  After talking with the twins, he realized the women had two different personalities. Attentive when he was around and ignored them when he wasn't.

 

Hopefully, Jordan isn’t the same way. I’d hate to have to find another nanny.

Although there was a small slipup with Jordan, his new personal assistant seemed as if she was going to work out perfectly. There were a few things he already loved about her, she was happily married to her husband for fifty years with her second grandchild on the way. Fate apparently smiled down on him, sending Cassie and Jordan his way. He initially passed Cassie up for both positions because he needed a live-in nanny and being a personal assistant could be very taxing and demanding. He picked Jordan because he was younger and could handle Duncan’s demanding schedule. Cassie being married would not have worked out that well.

 

  Duncan still was not sure how Cassie would work out as his assistant. She would definitely need time off once her daughter gave birth. When he brought that up to her that morning, he was told that her daughter lived with her and had more than enough help to care for the newborn. He had a feeling that there was more to his personal assistant than what met the eye. But rules dictated that he should not ask. Thinking about kids, Duncan hoped the twins had been on their best behavior for Jordan and that what he’d seen earlier that morning in the kitchen was not a fluke. He was not naïve to the twins’ mischievous behavior no matter how angelic they looked. After Mari and Ben’s death, he’d still tried to work and take care of the kids at the same time, thinking he would only need a nanny for a few hours a day. He really underestimated the amount of attention the twins required.

He walked further into his home and was surprised that it was all so quiet. He scented the air for any signs of trouble and was satisfied when everything seemed calm. He walked into the family room and stopped at the entrance at the sight that greeted him. Jordan was sitting in the middle of both twins, his arms holding them close to his chest. He found all three asleep on the couch. This was definitely something new; it seemed the twins trusted Jordan more than all the previous nannies he hired. With all the former nannies, he would have to come home after his meetings and wrangle the twins to bed.

Duncan set his briefcase down and quietly walked into the room. He stood there looking at them for a few seconds before pulling out his phone and snapping a few pictures. He wanted to capture every memory he could of the kids while they were young enough. They wouldn’t remain his sweet babies forever. Sooner or later they would have their own families. He snapped a couple more before deciding to wake them up. He gently tapped Jordan on the leg, when that did not work he tried a bit harder and got a response.

“Dammit, Bronx, leave me the hell alone,” Jordan said as he opened his eyes. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, blinking a couple of times.

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

Jordan went to sit up, but realized both his arms were pinned down. “Oh man, we must have fallen asleep while I was reading to them.”

Duncan looked down at his feet and noticed a children's book he had never seen before. He bent down and picked up the book and read the title. The Little Wolf Who Could Not Howl, it was one of his and Mari’s favorite books to read when they were young. Duncan chuckled and speculated if it was the twins who wanted to buy the book.

“Yeah, I was against getting it, but once they batted their lovely blue eyes in my direction, I caved quicker than a man with his best pickup lines.”

“They’ve hypnotized me a time or two,” Duncan said, throwing the book down on the other side of the sofa.

“Um…do you mind?” Jordan asked, getting Duncan’s attention. He looked at the other man as he tried to move one of his hands from around one of the twins without trying to wake them up.

“Yeah, I can help you.” He reached down and picked up Benjamin, who barely stirred. The little pup opened his eyes for a second, looked at Duncan, then rested his head on his shoulder. He mumbled what sounded like “Hi, Uncle Duncan” before going back to sleep.

Duncan rubbed his nephew’s back as he walked out of the family room and up the stairs to his nephew's room. He did not wait or look back to see if Jordan was following him with Maddison. He tucked Benjamin in, kissed him on his forehead, then turned on his night light and walked out of the room, leaving the door cracked just a bit. He was about to enter Maddison’s room when he bumped into Jordan coming out. Jordan was pushed back, Duncan reached out and grabbed him before he fell. Once again, the scent from the first time he met Jordan wafted under his nose.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Jordan whispered.

Duncan looked down and his eyes landed on Jordan’s beautiful ruby eyes, they seemed to glow in the low-lit hallway. Gods, he has the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen. Duncan’s beast purred, and he could not understand why he seemed calm in the other man’s presence. And honestly, he did not want to know why. Remembering that Jordan spoke, Duncan shook his head. “It’s not your fault, I was not watching here I was going.” He released the younger man and stepped back, giving Jordan room to step around him.

“Hey, I’m going to take off. I will be back tomorrow morning,” Jordan said to him as he started to walk down the hall.

“No,” he said quickly stopping Jordan before he got too far. “I mean…give me a few seconds. There are some things that I need to go over with you that I forgot about this morning. Wait for me in the family room.” Duncan didn’t want to examine why the thought of having Jordan leave made him feel funny. Truthfully, what he needed to speak with Jordan about could be done in the morning.

“Yeah, okay,” Jordan answered and continued down the stairs. Duncan walked into Maddison's room and did the same exact thing he did with Benjamin. Before going back down the stairs, he went to his room and changed into something more comfortable. He made his way down the stairs and looked in the family room, expecting to see Jordan sitting on the couch waiting for him. But the room was empty. He heard noises coming from the kitchen, he grabbed his briefcase and made his way down the hall.

“Hey,” Jordan said when he walked in. “I figured you might be hungry, so I made you a sandwich.”

Duncan sat down, resting his case on the empty chair. “Yeah, thanks. The last time I ate was at lunch.”

Jordan cleaned up, while Duncan ate. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Duncan put his half-eaten sandwich down and faced Jordan. “Well, first, I usually have all the new nannies sign the confidentiality agreement I mentioned this morning. I think I was bowled over with the fact that the kids took to you better than any of the other caretakers I hired previously.” Duncan reached into his briefcase and pulled out the forms he had his secretary rewrite for him, adding Jordan’s name and placed it in front of him. “I also wanted to go into more details about your duties with the kids, but first I want to hear about their day. When I spoke to you earlier today, you had to rush off the phone. Did something happen?”

Jordan smiled. “No, the kids were great, I was helping Benjamin with his painting,” he told Duncan then started to detail his day with the kids. Jordan did not expect to have such a great time with them on his first day, even though it wasn’t what he applied for. They went to the park that was not far from the house, then walked to the bookstore. He did find it odd that everywhere they went, everyone seemed to know the kids. Especially, for a pair of kids that the public wasn’t aware of, they were pretty famous to the locals. The shopkeepers spoke nicely to the twins and even going as far as calling them by their first names.

Jordan didn’t miss the critical eyes directed his way until one of the twins told them that they liked him. They had lunch after leaving the bookstore. They returned home and did a few art projects which Jordan was all too happy to show them since art was something he enjoyed doing as a hobby. Not once did the twins ask to call their uncle throughout the day. Even when Duncan called earlier that day, the twins didn’t feel the need to speak to their uncle.

“It sounds like you guys had a good time. Sorry I missed it and dinner, apparently.”

“Yeah, I mean it’s only the first day. I wanted to see where everything is around here and the twins were more than happy to be my tour guides.” Jordan smiled, and Duncan hummed.

“Let me guess, they took you to all their favorite spots?”

Jordan chuckled and nodded. “I figured it out after we left the bakery and they each had a free cupcake.”

They both chuckled. “They certainly do have a way of getting their way, they know how to play up their cuteness,” Duncan commented.

Jordan couldn’t remove the smile from his face. He’d never felt that comfortable with anyone before, except for Bronx. He looked away, hoping to wipe the smile off his face before looking back at Duncan.  “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Duncan finished off the rest of his sandwich, wiping the crumbs from his fingers. “I like that about you.”

“What’s that?” Jordan asked confused.

“You’re all business, it’s a good quality to have.”

Jordan ducked his head, hiding his blush. If only Duncan knew the thoughts that went through his head since meeting the man, he wouldn’t think he was all business. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“As I told you this morning, my sister and brother-in-law died a few months ago, leaving the kids in my care. Mari didn’t want to be used by my competitors or want the spotlight shined on her. I went to great lengths to keep her existence a secret. We were twins, but looked completely different which worked to our advantage. Most believed she was a trusted friend, and we didn’t see any reason to correct them. There are only a few trusted friends who knew the truth. I hate to do this, but protecting the twins is my primary concern. Which is why I had my lawyers draft a confidentiality agreement that no one is permitted to talk about the nature of their job to anyone about it. I’ve done this with every nanny I hired in the past couple of months, and they are aware of the repercussions if they so much as mention the twins’ name in passing. I can’t stress how much keeping the kids’ identity a secret is crucial to me. I have a lot of enemies, and I do not want the kids used as a pawn in someone's game.”

Jordan did not interrupt, his reasons for wanting to keep the kids out of the public eye sounded fair. If he were in Duncan’s position, he would do the same thing.

“They—” Duncan began again, but was interrupted when his cell phone rang. He got up from the table and grabbed his phone. His brow furrowed at the number on the screen. Jordan went to stand, but Duncan stopped him. “No, stay. This won’t take long.” Jordan stayed where he was while Duncan answered the phone. “What’s up, Ryland?”

“We have a problem,” Ryland, his Beta and best friend, stated. “One of our young pack members was just found dead.”

“How? When? Who?” Duncan fired off rapidly as his mind started going a mile a second trying to figure out who it could be and what happened.

“He was found in his car, looks like he hit a tree, but something was off with the whole scene.”

Duncan looked over at Jordan, who had fallen asleep at the table. “What do you mean?”

“Based on what Blayze told me, there was aconite in his system.”

Duncan stiffened. “This is the third one, Ryland,” he whispered tensely to his friend.

“I know,” Ryland sighed. “This shit is starting to look like a homicide, and I’m not liking the fact that we are not finding any clues as to what the fuck is going on.”

Duncan agreed with Ryland on all points. He looked at his watch and saw how late it was, but he needed to speak with Ryland in private and figure out what the hell was going on. It was the third teenager in the past three months that had died because of aconite. There were a lot of questions that Duncan wanted to ask, but with Jordan in the room with him, he had to hold them for later. He also didn’t miss the fact that Ryland still hadn’t told him who it was that died. That could only mean it was a kid that’d been in the pack since birth.

“Where are you right now?” he asked Ryland.

“I’m still with the doc,” Ryland said. “You don’t have to come out here this late, I just wanted you to know what’s up.”

Usually, Duncan would have teased Ryland about sniffing around the pack doctor, but the situation was too serious for jokes.  

“Okay, give me ten minutes, and I will meet you there.”

“What about the kids, you just lost your last nanny?” Ryland asked him.

“Don’t worry about that,” Duncan told him. “Just stay where you are and find out what you can until I get there.”

“You’re the boss,” Ryland answered.

Duncan hung up the phone and stuffed it in his pocket. He picked up the plate off the table, washing it in the sink. He did not understand what was going on. The first body that they found was a runaway teen that came into the pack a couple of days before he died. The other teen was a female; her mother had found her dead in her bedroom. Duncan would have attributed it to teens trying out a new drug, but as lykosians they were immune to human drugs and diseases. Aconite was the only thing that could kill lykosians and other shifter sects. It was a deadly poison that completely breaks down in the body in less time than it took to call for help. Someone was picking off the members of his pack slowly and going after the kids first. Things were adding up for it to be just a coincidence. He walked back over to Jordan and shook him slightly.

Jordan snapped his eyes open then lifted his head. “Shit, I fell asleep again. The kids must have tired me out more than I thought.” He wiped the sleep from his eyes then looked at Duncan. “Are you done with your call?”

“Yeah,” Duncan answered. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I hate to do this to you, but I need to run out really quick. I know you planned on going home tonight to get a few things for the rest of the week, but I need you to stay with the kids in case they wake up.”

Jordan looked confused. “Is everything okay?”

He couldn’t tell Jordan the truth. “Yeah, my friend needs some help with something.”

Jordan looked at his watch. “This late at night?” he asked, looking back up with confusion more than suspicion.

Duncan sighed, “There was a death in my extended family.” That was not a lie. All members of his pack were family to him one way or another.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jordan sympathized, getting up from the table. “Yeah, I can stay with the kids.” Then he looked down at his clothes. “I need something to sleep in…”

“Don’t sweat it. I know they will be a bit big on you, but I can let you borrow one of my pajamas and I will show you to your room.”

Duncan showed Jordan to the room that would be his and went and got him some clothes to wear. He went back to the room he gave to Jordan, entering as he knocked on the door. The room was empty, but Duncan heard the shower running. He set the clothing on the bed and exited the room. He went back downstairs and out the back door. He stripped out of his clothes, folding them and placed them neatly under the swing he put up for the twins. He stretched and breathed deeply, fine hair started coming up all over his body and his nails turned into claws, Duncan went on his hands and knees.

In a split second he was no longer a man, but a giant midnight black beast whose looks resembled a wolf, but one that was much larger in size and had two tails showing his Alpha status. The beast had bright blue cobalt eyes, his beast howled at being released for the first time in days before it took off in a flash, dashing through the forest. In less than five minutes he reached his destination. Ryland was standing outside waiting for him. Duncan stopped in front of his friend and shifted back into his human form, Ryland handed him a set of clothes.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No problem. Who’s looking after the pups?”

“Their new nanny is with them, well, manny according to Benjamin. Plus, they’re asleep after having a day filled with fun.”

“Manny as in man, or did I hear you wrong?” Ryland asked for clarification. Duncan nodded. “There is a story behind that, I’m sure of it,” he commented.

“Not now, show me the body.”

“There is something else I forgot to tell you about the kid.”

“What?” Duncan asked, walking into the hospital that was in the center of town. When he took over the pack, that was one of the first things he changed. Investing in mom and pop stores, and into a small but efficient hospital and recruiting doctors he could find and who felt constrained in their mastered fields. There was a section of the hospital that catered solely to pack members. Duncan, Blayze, and the lykosian staff were diligent in their work to guarantee that the humans on the island were not aware of that area of the hospital.

“It was Sammy Wilson’s boy, JJ.”

“Shit,” Duncan cursed. Jeremiah Wilson Jr. just graduated from high school and was going off to university in a couple of weeks. His mom was very proud of him. Jeremiah Sr. died in combat a couple of years earlier. After his father had died, JJ went on a bit of a rebellious streak. Before Duncan could do anything about it, a few of the men in the pack stepped forward and played a father figure to the kid which kept him in line.  JJ was a good kid, he worked part time and helped his mother take care of his younger sisters whenever she had to work nights.

“Yeah,” Ryland agreed.

“Does she know?” he asked.

Ryland nodded his head. “Doc called her after he called me. She was still here when I got here. It wasn’t pretty.”

“What the fuck is going on, Ryland? This is the third dead body in three months.”

“I know, and I wish I had an answer for you.”

They walked into the morgue, and Dr. McKnight was standing beside a table with a white hospital sheet covering his body.

“Hey, Blayze,” Duncan greeted Blayze McKnight, the head doctor.

“Alpha,” Blayze greeted, bowing his head in respect. “It’s good to see you, but not under these circumstances.”

“Yeah, I agree. Show me.” He walked closer to the table, Blayze pulled the sheet back and Duncan gagged at the stench that hit his nose. He was decaying at a fast rate, which hadn’t happened with the other teens. “How long has he been dead?”

“Only a couple of hours,” Blayze answered, standing beside him with a cloth covering his nose.

Duncan stepped back. “Should he be decaying so quickly?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Blayze answered, putting the cover back up. “I have never seen anything like this before.”

“I want you to run every test known to man, and get me those results as soon as possible. I want to know how the hell he came in contact with aconite,” he said to Blayze. “Ryland, I want you and Charlie to look into everything this kid and the others have been up to. There has to be a connection between all three of them.” Duncan shook his head, he was tense from his day and now dealing with a pack member’s death. He’s just a kid. “There is no fucking way I’m letting another kid die.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they said together.

“Okay, I need to see Sammy. Ryland, since I didn’t come with a car, I need you to drop me off.” He ran his hand through his hair, clasping his hands together at the base of his neck. He was fucking tired from working all day and now he had to deal with a grieving mother.

“No problem,” Ryland answered, looking over his shoulder, he squeezed Blayze on the shoulder before following Duncan out the door.

“Did he finally get tired of you sniffing after his ass and give in?”

“Hell no,” Ryland groused. “But he will—soon—I can feel it,” he finished with a smile.

Duncan shook his head at his friend. Ryland had been trying to convince Blayze that they were mates. But for some reason, Blayze refused to acknowledge it. Mating was still a mystery to Duncan, and he wondered why Ryland and Blayze weren't feeling the mating heat being around each other constantly. It could be the possibility that Blayze was a hybrid and couldn’t shift into his beast. He was fully human, but had the strength, stamina, and weaknesses of a lykosian. Mates were a treasure, and the couples were only given a short window to complete their mating once it started. There were many folklores about how a lykosian would recognize its true mate.

Duncan's parents knew they were each other’s mates the minute they touched. Mari knew Ben was her mate the second their eyes locked onto each other in a crowded room for the first time. Normally, Duncan would say that was lust, and his sister was just looking for company for the night. But seeing Mari and Ben together, he knew it was love. Duncan had never thought of the possibilities of having a mate. He had too many things going on in his life with the twins, the pack, and his company. To stop and worry or sniff out a mate would pull him away from his many responsibilities. That didn’t mean he was closing the door on finding one. Just not right away. 

“You’re awfully quiet,” Ryland commented as they drove.

“Just thinking,” he answered, looking out the window.  

“Planning on telling me, or am I supposed to guess,” Ryland probed.

“Have you noticed the car following us?” Duncan asked. He'd been watching the car since they drove out of the hospital parking lot. “Make the next left,” he instructed.

 

 Ryland followed his directions and seemed to figure out what Duncan was up to. He was leading whoever was following them to the dark, winding road that led to the woods. Duncan was gearing up for a fight if it came down to it. No other cars were on the road and the car was following them at a safe distance.  It was getting darker the further they drove; they knew those roads like the back of their hands.

 

Duncan began stripping off his clothes.  “Kill the lights, and slow down when you make the next right.” Again, Ryland did as he was asked. As soon as they turned the corner, Duncan opened the door then jumped out of the car, shifting before his paws touched the hard pavement. He crouched down on all fours, hiding on the edge of the forest and waited.  He didn’t have to wait for long, the other car stopped in front of his hiding spot, someone got out of the car and looked around. It wasn’t a full moon, but Duncan could still take them down. The bigger and brighter the moon, affected the strength of lykosians, making them faster and stronger in any situation.

“Where the fuck did they go, Kallen?”

“They couldn't have gotten far,” the voice answered, getting out of the car as well.  He joined his friend, he had his hands on his waist and Duncan assumed that was Kallen.  

Duncan stayed quiet and studied their faces, keeping it in his memory; he needed more information on who they were and why they were following him. In this form, he could see perfectly in the dark.

“Well, we need to find them, or the Organization will not be happy.”

“I know, shit, come on, let's drive a bit further down,” Kallen told his friend. “They couldn’t have gone very far.”

“Can you imagine what we will get for bringing the Alpha in? We will definitely move up in the ranks.” The other guy seemed more hyped, as if he was on something.

Kallen was looking, and Duncan could have sworn that he was staring right at him when he nodded his head before walking around the car and getting back in.  Every sect had heard of the Blackburn Organization. They were hunters who had made it their life's purpose of hunting and killing sects all over the world. They’d recruit their hunters at a very young age, if they weren’t already born into the Organization. Runaway children who had no one. They were the reason why Duncan refused to hide.  The more you hide, the easier it is for the Organization to make you disappear.

How did they figure out I was the Alpha? 

The car pulled off in a hurry. Duncan came out of his hiding spot and watched them drive off and memorized their license plate.  Not long after they drove off, Duncan ran back the way he and Ryland came, going through the woods; he did not need to stay hidden, it was his town.  Everyone that lived there was pack, but they were also a tourist town, it was how most pack members made their money.  Ryland's car was sitting on the other side of the woods waiting for him like Duncan knew he would.  He shifted and got back into the car.

“So?” Ryland asked when he got back in the car.

Duncan pulled on his clothes. “Hunters,” was all he said.

“Shit,” Ryland cursed starting the car and pulled off. “We don't need this shit right now.”

“Trust me, I know.” He slouched in his seat and looked at the digital clock on the center console, it was later than he expected it to be and he wanted to speak with Sammy.  It looked as if he’d have to stop by and see her before going into the office.  “Fuck, I need to know why the Blackburn Organization is in my town and how long they’ve been here? Have Sebastian, Charlie, and Parker come and see me in the morning.” Parker, Charlie, and Sebastian were brothers that were lawyers in addition to being the pack enforcers.  He needed them to find out why and how members of the Organization got into their town without anyone noticing.  “Hey, drop me off at home, I’ll stop by and see Sammy in the morning before heading into the office.”

Ryland grunted in response.  “You still haven't told me who's watching the twins.”

“There’s not much to tell, and I’m too tired to talk about it. Come by for breakfast later. Better yet, stay the night, you’ll get to meet Jordan yourself and ask him all the questions you want.” Ryland had his own room and would sometimes spend the night whenever they had pack business that ran late into the night.

Ryland sighed, “Yeah, why not. I think I have a suit or two still in the closet.”

Duncan slouched further into his seat and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about why the Blackburn Organization was in his territory, there were too many possibilities going through his mind. Not counting that the same day he hired a new human nanny the hunters showed up. He didn’t want to think that he was putting the kids in danger when he promised his sister he would protect them.