Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Barrett

Iwatch in silence as my mate stares up at our Alpha, clearly unsettled. It raises a protective instinct in me that I have to tamp down. She's not in any danger. I just don't like it when she's afraid.

I have to admit, Jagger has grown more imposing since he took on the mantle. He was always more focused and driven than the rest of us, but still, I've always known him as just one of the team. He's different now. In a good way. Our pack needs this sort of leadership.

"You've been waiting for me?" Cedara's voice is small. She's pressed up against me. A fact that is not lost on Jagger. He raises an eyebrow in my direction.

"Yes. You are welcome here," he tells her. The tension rushes out of her.

"I…I… Thank you, Alpha," she stutters.

I give Cedara's hand a reassuring squeeze as Jagger goes on.

"We've learned a fair amount about your pack since your cousins arrived here," he tells her. "We've made it a priority to help Sierra and Savannah find answers to what happened."

"Wildview?" she asks softly. "Is it…?"

"I'm afraid your packlands are gone," he says gently. "When we got there, the place had been abandoned, the buildings gutted."

I can almost feel the sorrow welling in her. "I see," she whispers, keeping a handle on her responses. "But the others who were with me…my family…."

"Your family is safe. And they are invited to find a home here in Steel Lakes if they wish. You are, too."

Cedara pinches her lips together as she dips her head in assent. I'm guessing she's finding it hard to speak.

"Your mother has been worried sick about you," Jagger adds. "We're just glad you're safe."

Cedara nods, her eyes shining with unshed tears. I can feel her emotions like a physical force flowing through our bond. She's been so strong, holding it together despite being separated from her pack and not knowing if they were okay.

"I…I don't know what to say, Alpha," she stammers out. "Thank you. For everything."

Jagger gives her a rare smile. "You're one of us now. This is your home for as long as you want it to be."

I squeeze her hand again, silently letting her know I'm here. Our eyes meet, and I can see the gratitude there. She leans into me, drawing strength. I can only imagine how worried she's been.

"Your family will be overjoyed to see you," Jagger says. There's a softness in his tone that surprises me. "Casey will take you to the clinic first to get you checked out, then she'll bring you to them." At the mention of her name, Casey is back through the door; no doubt she's been listening in.

She steps toward Cedara, all brisk efficiency. "Come on, let's get you looked at," she says. Cedara turns to me, her eyes wide and uncertain.

I lean in close, my voice a low murmur meant only for her ears. "Go on. I'll come find you when you're done." There's more certainty in my words than I'm feeling. I hate the thought of her being out of sight. But if I resist any of this, I'm going to complicate things.

She searches my face for a moment before giving a small nod. Letting her hand slip from mine, she follows Casey out of the room.

I watch them go, an odd feeling settling over me. Now that Cedara is safe, everything seems to be crashing down on me at once. The exhaustion, the anxiety, the relief…it's all warring within me. I don't allow it to show, however. I'm waiting for the chewing out that I know is about to come.

Jagger watches them leave, then returns to his seat and fixes his gaze on me. The gentle expression of before has been replaced by something harder. "Sit." He gestures to the chair across his desk. "We need to talk," he folds his arms over his torso and leans back in his seat.

Great. Here we go.

I walk to the chair and sit down. "Where would you like me to start?" I keep my tone neutral.

"How about from the time you decided it would be okay to go off the radar?" Jagger snaps. "What the hell was that all about, Chord?" His eyes flit to the door before coming back to me. "And this ‘mate' business? What the fuck?"

"I need to explain," I start.

"Damn straight, you need to explain!" His mouth pulls into a hard line.

I let out a deep breath, bracing myself. "When I first went to scout out the sanctuary the day I left Alpen and the others, I caught the scent of another wolf. A female."

Jagger's eyebrows knit together, but he doesn't interrupt.

"At first, I thought it was just a stray that had wandered too close. I didn't report back on it because I wanted to be sure that I wasn't misinterpreting things; we already had enough to worry about without me leading us off on a wild goose chase."

"Good point," Jagger concedes, though I know I'm still not out of trouble.

"But then I saw her. Huge…golden coat. Definitely not a natural wolf." I pause, the memory of that first sighting still vivid. "There was something about her…a sense that we were the same."

"You knew she was a shifter," Jagger states flatly. "That would have been clear from the start."

"I tried to make contact, but she was completely wild. Didn't respond at all to my calls or presence. Just took off into the woods."

Jagger frowns. "So why didn't you radio it in? We could have sent in backup to try to capture her."

Capture her?

Fuck no!

My teeth grind at the thought, but I school my features. "I know it sounds crazy, but…there was this connection. This pull that I couldn't explain. I felt compelled to follow her, to figure out what was going on."

He arches an eyebrow skeptically. "And so you kept tracking her."

"Yeah." I scrub a hand over my face. "It took ages before I encountered her as a human. Before that, she seemed stuck in her wolf form." I don't mention that happened after she attacked me. I don't want them to think that she's dangerous. She's not.

"Stuck." Realization dawns on Jagger's face. "The drugs…"

"Must have been the same thing affecting the others," I confirm. "Keeping them from being able to shift back fully."

Jagger lets out a low growl of annoyance. "But that still doesn't explain why you went off on your own, Chord. You should have called this in immediately."

I feel the tips of my ears growing hot. "I know, I know. I just…" I huff in exasperation because I can't quite explain it. "My instincts were in overdrive, Law. I had to protect her, figure out what was going on."

"Still, we could have helped and—"

"You couldn't have helped!" I bark, then stop abruptly when I realize how out of line I am. Jagger's expression has darkened; I'm walking a tightrope. I take a deep breath and start again. "Jagger, things were complicated out there. She was running scared. Every encounter seemed to drive her further away, make her more skittish. And how were we supposed to focus on helping her when the sanctuary posed a much bigger problem?" I run a hand through my hair. "What if she'd been caught in the crossfire if things had gone south?"

"That wasn't your call to make." Jagger still doesn't look impressed. "Though, from what I can tell, you weren't thinking like a professional anymore. You were…" He exhales, looking exasperated. "You were acting like a wolf following a mate bond. You still have to explain that, Barrett."

"I wish I could tell you." I rest my elbows on the desk and lean forward. "It was…like nothing I'd ever felt before. It was like…"

"Something grabbed your heart and ripped it from your chest?" He's eyeing me.

I grimace. "Yeah. Pretty much."

"And what does Cedara think about this? I'm guessing she's accepted the bond, too? From the way she was hanging onto you—"

"She doesn't know," I say. "I haven't discussed it with her."

Jagger snorts out a laugh. "Oh, buddy." He shakes his head. "She knows alright. That female was clinging to you like a limpet."

"That's just because I helped her when they brought in the hunting parties. She wouldn't have got out otherwise."

"Hunting parties?" Jaggers brows beetle.

"After what went down at Whispering Pines, they brought in the authorities. They're looking for the escaped wolves – they know that they were behind the attack."

Jagger has stiffened. "Are you shitting me? And you didn't think to lead in with this? What the fuck is wrong with you, Chord? This bullshit isn't like you at all!"

Well, shit.

"I'm telling you now?" I try.

"Jesus." Jagger rubs the spot between his brows. "If only you know how badly I want to rip you a new one right now." He lets out a breath, clearly seeking patience. "Okay, let's not waste any more time. Take it from the top. What's happening out there?"

I launch into the facts, sticking to the important details. I need to redeem myself. He's right. This isn't like me. I don't get tangled up like this. "After Alpen broke out of that shithole, all hell broke loose. When I got down there, the place was swarming with local cops."

I pause, picturing the scene in my mind's eye. "They blocked off the access roads and started sweeping the perimeter. Search teams with dogs and infrared scanning equipment. They were freaking out because they'd discovered that there were ‘specimens' missing from their cages."

Jagger's eyes narrow dangerously at my last words. I can see the fury simmering behind them at the thought of our kind being caged up.

"That's when they called in reinforcements from the county," I continue briskly. "More officers, helicopters doing aerial sweeps of the area. From the comm chatter I overheard, they were even considering bringing in military support if things escalated."

"Escalated how?" Jagger's jaw is set in a hard line.

"They seem to think whatever research was happening there involved creating some kind of…I don't know, super wolves or something." I shake my head in disgust. "The breakout was caught on surveillance camera. They got footage of Stone in there – though I don't know if there was enough to ID her. The Wildview pack hadn't shifted to human, so all they saw was a whole lot of bloodshed, with wolves in the center of it."

When I pause, Jagger nods for me to go on. His brow has furrowed deeper with every detail.

I forge ahead. "Last I heard, before getting the hell out of there, they were planning to bring in professional hunters and trackers to try to hunt down any wolves still in the area."

Jagger's jaw tightens, and I can see the wheels turning behind his eyes. He's putting it all together – the danger this poses to all of us.

"This is a shit show," he mutters, dragging a hand down his face. "We can't have some wolf hunt spilling over into our territory."

"My thoughts exactly." I lean back, trying to project an air of calm despite the knot forming in my gut. "If they get a hint that there are more ‘wolves' around here beyond a few strays…"

Jagger's nostrils flare as he lets out a harsh breath. "They'll be all over us like flies on shit."

We lock eyes for a moment, the unspoken concern hanging heavy between us. If anyone catches wind of Steel Lakes…that we're not just some kind of "artists" commune…

I shake my head, refusing to dwell on the possibilities. "We need to get ahead of this," I say, keeping my voice level. "Maybe set up a patrol, put out some feelers to monitor their movements."

"No patrols," Jagger counters. "Not until we know more about their numbers and capabilities." His shoulders are taut with tension, the muscle in his jaw working furiously. "The last thing we need is one of our wolves getting spotted and shot full of tranquilizers."

"True," I agree. I've been so preoccupied with getting back here, getting Cedara to safety, that I've taken my eye off the ball. This development could have far-reaching consequences.

Jagger rises, pushing his chair back. "I'd better call a meeting. Can't have our people going out there and shifting, then getting caught." He's resolute.

I stand, too. "Listen, Jagger…" I pull in a breath. "I'm sorry. I messed up. There are a lot of things I should have done differently."

He eyes me for a moment, then gives a terse nod. "I get it. Yeah, it was fucking stupid, but I did a lot of stupid things, too, before Sierra and I sealed our bond." He shrugs. "The good thing is that we've caught this thing before it could turn into a disaster. Just try to keep your head out of your ass from now on."

"I swear, I'll—"

The door flies open, and we both spin around as Casey barges through.

"Chord!" she says sharply. "They need you down at the clinic. Now!"

"What?" I'm confused for a second.

"That female you brought in. She's gone wild."