Deadly Pack (Deadly Trilogy Book 3) (2 page)

The
ir silence held for a second longer before Beck nodded.  “We’ve got it.”  His steely eyes focused on me, and he said, “I can see your doubt, Aidan.  It’s over.  Let it go.”

I held his gaze for a beat, searching for any hint of malice behind his guarded expression. 
He held firm, so did the others, and even though I wasn’t sure I believed him, I couldn’t pick up any trace of a lie.  I nodded stiffly and pushed on.  “Erika, you’re with Dom.  Take Jared and keep your phones on.  Mac and Trevor, head back to the headquarters and get working on something for when his remains are picked up.  Plan for tomorrow night.  Jade and I will take Richard’s body to her dad.”  I looked down at Jade, squeezing her hand again, and asked, “Everyone clear on what you need to do?”

A
round of
yeses
spilled from the group and then everyone started moving.

Dominic hopped into Tommy’s
truck with Erika, starting it up, and with a quick nod in my direction, he eased out of the clearing.  Trevor grunted a goodbye as he snagged Marcy’s hand, towing her to his car.  The guys started to shift, Tommy and Chris with them.  It didn’t take long before they were trotting off into the trees.

And
as they disappeared, Jade started to shake again, and small sob-like whimpers escaped her lips.

“Hey,
” I said, dropping her hand and then tapping her chin up to meet my eyes. I brushed a thumb along her cheek to catch the stray tear that had managed to leak out. “Don’t worry, sweetheart.”  I framed her face within my palms and kissed her chastely.  “They’ll be back soon,” I said against her lips.

And
they would. They were simply going to confirm that the cougars were at the newest location. Try to confirm Jeff’s count of seventeen.  Make sure we weren’t going to walk the pack into a death trap when we attacked.

She blew out a noisy breath from her nose and whispered,
“This morning, the happiness … it feels like a lifetime ago.”  Her bottom lip started quivering, and she quickly tugged it between her teeth.

Damn, she really was breaking.
  I frowned.  I felt it, the shift of my lips, the bunching skin along my brow, and I was sure my eyes didn’t conceal the knot of panic that clogged my throat.  The most perfect thing in my life was breaking and I didn’t have a clue how to fix it.

When I left my pa
rents and my old pack, I never thought I’d have my own pack, let alone have someone like her in my life.  Someone precious.  Someone to protect.  Someone to love.

But Jade Shaw had quickly become the center of my world.  And I was supposed to protect her, keep her from being hurt, but
since we’d met, all I’d managed to give her was pain.

And I knew this was just the beginning.  How was I going to put her back together when this was over
, when her father was dead?  Just thinking about it made my chest feel all knotted up.

I cupped her cheeks in my
palms, caressing them as I stared into her big brown eyes, wishing for her smile, even a small trace of it, to come back.

Jade
scrunched her nose up and pulled out of my loose grip.  Her lips thinned and she craned her neck back, cutting me a dirty look.  “Don’t look at me like that,” she snapped.

“Like what?”
  I reached out, tucking a stray chunk of hair behind her ear.

She
moved back a couple steps, out of my reach, popping her right hip out and planting a firm hand on it.  Her face smoothed, her gaze turned serious, and she said, “Like you’re worried I’m going to break.”

I folded my arms across my chest and scanned her from tip-to-toe. 
“Are you?” My tone was casual, as if I were just curious, but really, I was kind of freaked out that she just might break before this was over.

She shook her head slowly, deliberately.  “No.”  Her voice was strong, certain.
  It was just too bad her tone didn’t match the unstable and unsure spike in her scent.

~ JADE ~

“You don’t have to come with me,” Aidan said.

I swiveled in my seat, looking over at him.  I knew I was gaping and I figured I looked completely stunned, but I couldn’t help it.  That was pretty much the last thing I
’d expected him to say.  His words should have sounded like a thoughtful gesture, as if he were just looking out for me, but they didn’t.  His tone ... his scent ... well, if I had to guess, Aidan didn’t want me to go with him.

But the thing was I had to go.  There really wasn’t a choice here.  The man was my father, my flesh and blood.  I had to be there.  I had to do this.

“I’m not going home,” I said.  “I’ve got to do this.”

Aidan dropped one of his hands from the steering wheel, and squeezed my knee gently, reassuringly.  He stole a small glimpse at me and smiled, just a tiny
upward twitch at the corners of his mouth, before returning his gaze to the road.

And it confused me.  Like really, really confused me.  The gesture was supportive, just like his words were meant to be, but that scent …

I figured he probably thought I’d interfere, try to delay things and give my dad a fighting chance, and I didn’t know how I felt about that.  Hadn’t I just proven that I’d stand behind his decisions?  I didn’t interfere with Jared, at least not a lot, and I wouldn’t with my dad.  My dad didn’t deserve my interference.

And even if I wanted to delay things, it wouldn’t — couldn’t — happen.  Except, I knew with everything in me, that if I asked for more time, Aidan would grant it in a heartbeat.  And knowing that freaked me out.  A part of me, a small, scared part, wanted more time almost desperately and it made no sense.  Dad didn’t deserve time.  His pack didn’t deserve time.  Still, something inside me wanted that time.  But I knew,
I knew,
I couldn’t ask for it.  I wouldn’t let my pack down.  Not this time.  Never again.

Aidan’s hand was still on my knee, his thumb rubbing a gentle back and forth sweep on the inside of my leg.  I glanced back at him, notic
ing his tight jaw and the white knuckled grip of his other hand on the steering wheel.

“I’m serious, Jade,” he said.  “I can take you home.”  He looked sideways at me, another little smile, then back to the road.  “You could start getting things ready for tomorrow.  Help Mac with the planning.”

Tomorrow. 
I wasn’t really sure how Dominic had pulled that off so quickly.  I knew Marcy’s dad, one of the detectives in Dog Mountain, had a hand in it, but still, Jared’s cremation seemed ... rushed.  But then, I guessed rushed was probably a good thing right now.  It wasn’t as if we had days to plan, and really, Jared would have wanted something simple and quick.

I wiggled in my seat, fidgeting with the seatbelt strap that ran across my chest.  “I’m going with you, Aidan.”  My throat felt dry and prickly and sore, and I swallowed hard trying to clear the sensation.  “I need to see him.  I need to do this.”

Aidan’s response was a frustrated growl.  I glanced over at him hesitantly, watching his jaw tick and his fist clench tighter on the steering wheel.  He didn’t look at me this time, not even a little glance.  His thumb stopped moving on my thigh, and his scent … changed.  I breathed in deep, trying to place the new aroma.  It was thick, tangy.  It was … worry?  Apprehension, maybe?  I wasn’t entirely sure.

“Talk to me,” I said, reaching over and squeezing his thigh.  Right then, I seriously wished I could read his mind, because not knowing what he was thinking was knotting me up like crazy.  “What’s got you so freaked out?”

Aidan relaxed slightly under my touch.  He sighed.  “It’s pretty clear you’ve hit your limit for today,” he said.  “I just think it might be best if I handle this one alone.”

My inner-wolf squirmed uneasily in my belly, and I shifted in my seat, turning to face him fully.  “Are you mad at me?  Is that why you’re tryi
ng to send me home?”

“No, sweetheart.”  He shook his head.  “No, not at you.  I’m mad at this whole screwed up mess we’re in,” he said, with a ripple of irritation gliding through his tone.  He let out another long sigh.  “But not at you.  Never at you.”  His eyes met mine, serious, but somehow, warm.  “I just don’t want you to break on me.  If you need time to get it together, then I’m going to make sure you have that time.”

“I’m good,” I said.  A warm flood of relief washed over me and I laughed a little.  He was worried about me, not about what he thought I’d do when we got to my dad’s.  “I really am.  And I have to do this, even if it kills me.  I have to.  I’m not going to let them down.  Not again.  I won’t.”  I paused for a second, watching his jaw clench, and that warm feeling of relief started to fade.  “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“Later,” he said, gently but firmly.  “Let’s talk about it later, okay?”

I opened my mouth and just as quickly, I closed it, because I really had no idea what to say to that.  He was right.  I’d hit my limit hours ago around the time that Tommy and Chris had shown up at our house with the guys and shared what Jared had been up to.  I’d surpassed my limit when Aidan shifted in the house, ready to kill them.  And by the time we’d confronted Jared, well, I’d been way past the point of keeping it together.  But somehow I’d managed.  The truth?  I really didn’t know how much more I could take before I lost it completely.

So instead of pushing it, I leaned into him, kissed his cheek
, and murmured, “Okay, later.”

Moments later, Aidan turned onto my
old street, pulled past my parents’ driveway, and then backed in.  He yanked up the parking brake, put the car in neutral, but he didn’t turn it off.  He looked at me, his face blank, and said, “Let me handle this.”

I nodded once to appease him, but the burning glint
that flared in his eyes told me he knew I didn’t plan on sitting back and keeping my mouth shut.  He let out a frustrated growl, and dragged a hand through his hair.

“Aidan,” I said a little
hastily, as he cut the engine and pulled the keys from the ignition. “He’s my dad.  I know how to talk to him.”  I let out a long stalling breath and then I lied, “And I’m okay.  Honestly.  I’m good.”

Aidan didn’t believe me,
not for a second.  But really, I knew he wouldn’t.  He turned into me, cupping my cheeks in his hands.  “I’ve got this.”  His voice was rough and full of some emotion that I couldn’t place or more accurately, it was one that I didn’t really want to place.  He brushed his thumb along my cheekbone, his eyes searching mine.  “You trust me, right?  As your mate, I need you to trust me enough to know that I’ve got this.”

And with that, he dipped forward, touching his lips to my forehead, and then before I could reply
, he popped the door open and got out.  He didn’t waste any time as he made his way up the steps of my parents’ front porch and pounded on the door.

I’d like to say that I followed him immediately
.  That my head was in the game and I was totally prepared for everything.  I wished I could say that I knew he had this.  But I couldn’t do any of that.  Nope.  Instead, what I did was sit in the car, watching out the back window, blinking at his back, stunned and more than a little confused.

The front door opened.  My dad filled
the doorway.  He smiled at Aidan, and it looked so warm and sincere.  Dad even clapped him on the shoulder in greeting.  And still, I held my breath and I didn’t move.

I watched the arm gestures as they spoke and I watched Dad’s smile fade a little.  And then his eyes
roamed over the car and they locked onto me.  He furrowed his brow and cocked his head, and I heard him call, “Jade?”

His voice
snapped me out of my stunned moment.  I pushed the door open and hopped out of the car in a flustered rush.  I was so flustered and rushed that my foot caught on the door well and I tripped.  My heart jumped into my throat as I lurched forward, coming close to doing a face plant on the driveway, but luckily, the door was there to catch my fall.  I steadied myself, and called, “Yeah, coming,” as I let the car door slam.

I took in a few deep breaths, attempted to school my expression, and then, although my brain tried to fight me
, urging me to run away, I turned and started toward the house.

“Pumpkin, what’s wrong?” Dad asked, stepp
ing out of the doorway, past Aidan. “You’re looking a little pale.”  He looked good in jeans and a beige knit sweater, like an average working citizen.  The clothes.  The smile.  The warm, concerned tone he used with me, as if he actually cared.  Lies.  They were all lies.

I met his eyes and for a moment, I thou
ght about making something up, but really what was the point anymore?  So instead, I said, “I helped kill Jared.”

Aidan cut me a warning look, which I completely ignored as I padded up the steps.  I brushed my hand along his back as I
went past him, and took a seat on the porch swing.  The old chains creaked, as I pulled my feet up underneath me.

“Jared,” Dad said and his eyes widened just a little.  He glanced at Aidan, then back to me.  “Jared’s dead?”  And all
his warmth was suddenly gone.  He looked suspicious and a touch excited, and seeing it made my stomach roll.