Chapter Eleven
Conrad
After meeting with Travis about my findings in Jasper’s home, there was nothing more I needed than to be in his company, to scent him, to feel his touch. When he came running out of the house and directly into me, the anxiety I’d had building up inside of me dissipated instantly. Being away from each other wasn’t working for me. Relief filled me at the realization it hadn’t been working for him, either.
Looking in that attic and seeing the hate-filled things there, including photographs and what I feared were trophies, had put me into autopilot. Had I been home, I’d have contacted the Paranormal Bureau of Investigation, but wolves had a reputation for dealing with their own—violently. Travis immediately thanked me before calling in his betas and heading over to the house to figure all things out. He asked to cancel the workers for the day and had barely done so when I ran into my omega.
Technically, he ran into me. His wolf had been so close to the surface, I initially wondered who was in control. I got it. My tiger was just as demanding since the baby came—shit before then. Jasper was ours, and not doing something about it had my tiger like I’d never felt him before.
“I need to get back to Owen.” Jasper tilted his head up, leaving his unasked question in the air.
“I will walk you home, omega mine. Then I need to find Travis.” I refused to call him his alpha even though as far as wolf hierarchy was concerned, it was fact.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, probably sensing my nerves as they bound back inside me.
“It will be,” I reassured, and he tensed up. Of course he did, I’d been technically keeping secrets.
“Jasper, there are things I will share with you when we are in private, but here in the open is not the best place.” That seemed to relax him slightly, and I kissed him on the head before rising and offering him my hand.
“I believe you.” He hadn’t said trust, but it was a start—a step towards trust, and I’d take any step forward I could get.
We walked in silence, me dreading the goodbye we’d have to say in mere moments. Dealing with my finds and ensuring Jasper’s safety had to take a forefront to spending time together even though the thought of leaving had my stomach in a knot.
As we reached the porch steps, the sound of a baby crying had Jasper bolting inside. I couldn’t help but follow, needing to be sure Owen was all right. As it turned out, Owen was just not happy about being half-naked as his diaper was being changed, and he stopped the second the new one had been fastened. Babies sure were good about training their adults.
“Sorry for the intrusion, Hayden.” I bared my neck to the bear who shook his head and smirked.
“You ran in here to check on your babe. Little man sure knows how to make his needs known.”
Jasper snapped his head around, opened and closed his mouth three times, never letting a sound out. I knew why. I’d caught it, too. Hayden said Owen was mine. He wasn’t, not in truth. But if given the opportunity, I’d treat him as if he was. He already felt that way to me as it was.
“He seems happy now.” I tried to move us away from the awkward silence, clearly amusing Hayden.
“He doesn’t like to be naked.” Jasper shrugged.
“My brother and I were the opposite. My papa said they could never keep clothing on us once we learned to get it off.” We’d been horrible as cubs. No wonder they waited ten years to have another young.
“Sounds like you were a handful.” Hayden clapped my shoulder before adjusting his baby sling as Holden started to stir. “Travis is in his office. He was hoping you’d stop by.”
Back already was either amazing or awful. I couldn’t decipher Hayden’s voice enough to determine which. He might not know yet.
“It was everything just to be able to talk with you, Jasper.” I bared my neck. “I need to go. We shall talk soon?”
“Please.” He snuggled Owen close, the babe opening and closing his little fists.
I walked down the corridor to Travis’s office, all the scenarios over what I’d found flew through my head. I chastised myself for immediately going to the worst-case scenario. I was in the office thirty seconds before I discovered my worst-case scenario had not come close to the horror that reality was.
The office went silent as I entered and locked the door. Travis, three betas I’d recognized were there—Jameson, Cal, Riker—and a wolf I didn’t recognize. All of them had their wolves close to the surface and none of them smiling.
I wasn’t sure what to say, but the silence, even for those few seconds, weighed so heavily upon me I had to say something. “Hayden said you wanted to talk with me.”
“The Angus Pack owes you everything.” The wolf I didn’t know spoke. He bared his neck, and I replied in kind.
“Jasper.” Travis came to my side. “This is Angus, alpha of the Angus pack whose land abuts ours. What you found today has saved two lives in his clan.”
I still wasn’t understanding. I’d found pictures and trinkets and notebooks I’d not even opened. Touching anything would ruin any scenting Travis would attempt to do. None of what I saw equated to saved lives, however.
“Alpha?”
“Two of the pictures you saw were Angus pack members, members thought to have left on their own over a year ago. They had never left. They were being held prisoner by a pack member. Their crime in his eyes—being not of pure wolf blood. They have been freed and the wolf holding them already dealt with.” Travis’s voice cracked on the word pure, which, to be fair, sent shudders through my body.
Maybe the reputation for wolves being a species wasn’t as far off base as I’d believed. Not that I’d experienced any of it firsthand. The wolves of Distance had never been anything other than kind to me.
“And why would Dash have pictures of them?” There were so many questions and things I wanted to know, but finding out my mate’s attempted murders connection to it all felt the most important at the time.
“Because Dash and Trevor, the wolves holding them prisoner, were both Lupus Bloods. They wanted to make sure packs stayed pure. And from the looks of the things we found—they are not alone.”