55. Anna

55

Anna

I had questions. Why was she asking? Who was she asking for? Amelia refused to tell me, and I hoped it wasn't for her. Whatever she and Finn were going through, she didn't deserve to miss out on the chance of having a mate. Especially when they were both so great.

Jax and I had dinner alone. I peppered him with questions about the day-to-day operations of the pack, and he answered all of them patiently while reminding me that Jenson would also be here to help me.

Not the other way around, which I strongly suggested.

After getting settled in the bed, he pulled me across his lap and wrapped his arms around me. "We can drive for eight hours of the trip, but then we'll have to travel for a day and a half on foot. Lunessa will be hiding much of her magic so she just seems like an ordinary witch, and I'll be pulling in my power as well. Evalina is also providing us with glamour bags so no one will recognize us."

"A witch might see the glamour bag," I said with a frown.

"It doesn't sound like the cult has pulled any real powerful players, so we'll probably be all right, but Lunessa will be on alert. She can use her magic to report back every day, and, in extreme cases, she can pop in."

"Pop in?" My stomach twisted. "In case you die? I think I'll feel that."

"In case I get taken, so you'll know what happened. Anna, we're going to be careful, and if it looks too dangerous, we'll abandon the mission."

Lies. He'd just told me a few days ago that he would do whatever it took to keep me safe. If there was anything in that compound that would do that, Jax would risk his life for it.

"What's your future for us look like?" I murmured as I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. "When Maeve is gone and the packs are at peace. What are we going to be like?"

"There's always something, baby. Sure, there are periods of peace. I live for those, but Maeve isn't going to be the only obstacle in our life. She's just the one we're facing right now."

I wrinkled my nose. "That doesn't make me feel any better."

A quiet laugh rumbled in his chest. "My point is that when I look at the future, I see the ups and downs. I treasure every moment that I have with you Anna, including this one right here. Whatever you want for the future, we can have it right now. The Fanged Smile is yours whenever you want to reopen it. You can build a string of bars if you want. Start a square-dancing club if that tickles your fancy."

"You would look pretty hot in a cowboy hat. Keep that in mind next time you do an order for the pack."

"We can have a mating ritual when we get back. A huge celebration. We can do or be whatever you want, Anna. We don't have to wait for Maeve to be dead."

I did like the sound of that. I didn't want to keep putting my life on hold anymore. I wanted to be like him. To treasure every moment that we had together.

Tonight, I would treasure him.

"No."

From Jax's office desk, I frowned. "What do you mean, no?"

"I think the no is pretty self-explanatory."

"I didn't ask a yes or no question. I asked how you chose night and day rotations for the guards."

Jax had been gone for ten hours. Ten very short hours, or long hours, depending on how one thought about it. It was a short time to prove that I was not going to be very good at running the Black Diamond pack. It was a long time to try to work things out with Jenson.

To his credit, I didn't think it was because Jenson didn't trust me to be in charge, although it was hard to hear what he was muttering under his breath.

"That is a lengthy conversation that would require me to pull the paperwork for all our current guards, which would probably lead to other questions since the paperwork is out, and it is already eight o'clock. I'm hungry, and I need to check on security before checking on Irene."

At the irritation on his face, I couldn't help but smile. I hadn't realized how late it was, nor did I know how long it would take to answer the question. All I knew was that the guard shift was happening, and I was curious.

"You could have said something an hour ago."

"I did," he growled. "You didn't even pause."

"You could have said something loudly, where I could hear you," I snapped, no longer amused. "You've spent more of the day with your head down staring at your phone than talking to me."

"Because running this pack takes more than having a conversation in the office. I've been communicating."

Great. Now I was going from not amused to downright pissed. "That's the kind of thing that I'm supposed to be doing! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Because I'm not a fucking teacher! I do. I don't show. I tried to tell you that six hours ago when you called me in here. I know Jax left you in charge, but you're meant to shadow me, not tie me down and ask me a shit ton of stupid questions."

"You didn't say that!"

"I said, hey Anna, I need to check the storage reserves, and you said, okay, but I just have one more question."

Oh. Damn. He had said that. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm doing my best, all right, and I agree that shadowing you is probably for the best, but then I'm going to have a million questions for you while we're out in the pack."

"And?"

"And it's going to be obvious that I have no idea what I'm doing! I might have been part of this pack for years, but it's not like I got to wander around and see how it works! I'm going to look like the loner rogue that their alpha married who's suddenly and stupidly in charge!" At my outburst, I closed my eyes and silently cursed.

I knew how it sounded. Running the pack wasn't supposed to be about me, but how could I do a good job when all I felt was anxiety? "I'm sorry," I told Jenson in a smaller tone. "I'm a prepper. I absorb the knowledge, and then I weight the pros and cons, and then I make a decision."

"That's fine, Anna, but one of us has to run the pack while you're doing that. I don't care how stupid you act out there, no one is going to think that. The whole fucking pack is in love with you. They think you're pretty awesome," he said gruffly.

"Because I pulled on their bonds and saved their alpha? That doesn't even make sense."

"Because they could feel your love for him when you did that. And his love for you. All the love, and that's what they needed. Security. Before that, he was shrouding your pack bond from them, and no one knew what to think about you. How to feel about you. They could only go on the fact that you were a serial killer's daughter and responsible for a beloved member's death."

His voice grew a little hoarse, and my gaze sharpened. Hadn't I heard somewhere down the line that he and Cora had dated briefly? "What do you think of me, Jenson?"

"I think that you are my alpha's mate," he said evenly and rose. "Are we done here?"

"No. I'm coming with you. Even to check on Irene."

"Because I wouldn't give you the answer that you wanted?"

"Because as you pointed out, I need to shadow you instead of keeping you from your duties." I paused. "And because you didn't give me an answer at all. If this is going to work, I need your honesty. I need to know how you feel about me, even if you hate me."

His eyebrows went up. "And what about you, Anna? Do you hate me?"

"No. I reserve my hatred for wolves far worse than you, because I've spent most of my life around them. Are you ready?"

His phone went off again, and so did mine. I felt the panic in my chest so strongly that I gasped.

A pack bond.

"Rogues," Jenson snarled. "They're attacking."