60. Anna

60

Anna

One by one, I bonded with the others. Lucy, Raven, and Carla. I was desperate not to show it, but bonding the four women in quick succession drained me. Finn and Kenzi left to shower and rest, and Jenson escorted me back to my room.

"When was the last time you've eaten?" he asked in a low voice.

"I had a box of crackers on the way here," I claimed proudly. Okay, a box was stretching the truth. I'd had maybe five or six crackers.

"Rest. I'm going to have food sent up to you," he ordered.

I was tired, but that didn't mean I was going to shirk my duties. "As soon as Finn and Kenzi have showered, I need to talk with them," I protested.

"They've been pushing themselves for days. They're going to need more than a shower. They're going to rest, and we can all have dinner together."

He stopped at my bedroom, and I narrowed my eyes at him. "You are not supposed to order me around."

"Uh-huh. I liked it better when you were a submissive," he sighed. "Rest. Eat. There will be plenty for you to do to in the coming days, trust me."

Because I was feeling orderly, I hopped on Jax's email first and answered some of the queries that I could. When there was absolutely nothing left for me to do, I finally crawled into bed and fell asleep.

When I woke up to a knock at the door, a quick glance at the clock told me that two hours had passed. "Come in," I said as I rubbed my face. I know I'd been having trouble sleeping without Jax here, but a two-hour nap was ridiculous. I needed to pull it together.

"I woke you," Saul sighed as he came in. "I would have let you sleep longer if I had known. Would you go back to sleep if I left?"

I glared at him. "Seriously? Jenson sent you to bring me the food? I'm just a little tired after the bonding ritual. I'm sure that's normal, and I'll eat the damn food. I just don't have much of an appetite while Jax is gone."

The healer set the food down and raised an eyebrow. "I'm here for more blood, but perhaps I should be concerned with other things. Tired and not eating? I don't like the sound of that."

Damn. Me and my big mouth.

"Take my blood and get out," I grumbled and held out my arm. "While you're doing it, you can tell me what you've found. If it's the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe, we're going to make so much money."

Saul chuckled softly, but I noticed he was lacking his usual vibrancy. Everyone was working themselves to the bone. "I'm still running tests. There was something different about the blood I took from you last, so I need to run more tests."

"Different?" I shuddered. "Am I morphing into something weird? Jax is going to be so pissed if I'm a mermaid when he gets home."

"I have no doubt that he'll build you a very nice pond."

I studied Saul as the needle entered my skin. "Speaking of sleeping and eating, how are you doing? I've heard the infirmary is now completely in the hands of your partner, and you're spending most of your time in the lab or the library."

"On the orders of my alpha and his mate, I am going home every night to sleep and eating three meals a day," he said calmly as he withdrew the vial. "I was poised to take two, but I think I'll wait for tomorrow to take the other one. Eat."

I glanced at the tray of food. Cheese. Crackers. Nuts. Fruit. A chicken sandwich. A veggie tray. "Saul, this is enough food for three people."

"I simply wanted to make certain that I brought you something you might eat. Drink the orange juice."

He practically tipped it up to my mouth before I grabbed the glass and glared at him. "All right! Fuck. You're all so damn pushy lately. You know I'm having dinner in like an hour, right?"

"Good. You can eat more there too."

"You don't push Jax around like this!"

"Yes. I do. It's my right as the healer." He gave me a warm smile. "I'll be evaluating the new members of the pack as well. Do you request a DNA test?"

I thought about it. Finn said he'd known immediately by scent, and I trusted him, but we were surrounded by witchcraft. "Yeah. It's not a terrible idea."

He left with my blood. As soon as I started eating, I realized I was ravenous and practically ate the whole tray. Afterward, I changed and headed down to Jax's private dining room. Finn and Jenson were already there.

"Is Amelia joining us?"

"Why? I thought this was just about my sisters," Finn said flatly.

I raised my eyebrow. Someone was in a touchy mood. "All right then. Is Kenzi getting your sisters?"

"If she's not sick of them." Finn sighed. "They're a lot, but I get it. They've been taken from their homes and told an insane story about their family history. They're freaking out. Especially Vynette. She was moving up the ranks in London's hierarchy. Her loyalty is with him, and she's struggling being away from him."

"Yeah. I've read a few emails from London. He's in shock too, which hopefully means that Vynette is safe." I chewed on my bottom lip while we waited. At the time, it seemed one excellent idea to round up Finn's sisters and keep them safe, but now we may be watched by rogues. How soon before Maeve learned that we had her daughters?

"Did you see any suspicious activity when you arrived? We haven't seen any rogue activity on the western borders, but that doesn't mean they aren't there."

"No. We didn't have any issues."

Finn looked cleaner but there was still a hardness in his face that I didn't like. Something had changed him on this journey. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" I asked quietly. "How was it talking to Hector?"

"Fine. We got the information we needed," he grunted. I thought that was the end of it, but then he looked up at me and caught my gaze. "Do you ever feel like your whole fucking life was plotted for you, and you're just now waking up and realizing there's nothing you can do to get off the path?"

"Every day."

"Yeah. I figured you did."

The door opened, and the dining room was filled with chatter. "All I'm saying is, if you had it so good with your alpha honey, why don't you marry him?" Lucy taunted.

"That's mature," Vynette muttered. "He's not my mate. He's my alpha. Don't you feel even a little loyalty to Anna now that you've made the bond?"

"All I feel is a stupid tether keeping me here!"

Kenzi sighed loudly. "Children. Take a moment to respect the power in the room and shut your fucking mouths."

Calling them children was a stretch. Most were older than Finn and me, but apparently sibling rivalry brought out the bratty side of them. I guessed that was true even if they weren't raised together.

I rose, and silence fell in the room. "Thank you all for joining me for dinner. I'm sure you'd like to rest, but unfortunately, time is of the essence. Try to relax. Eat. We're basically going to grill you on everyone in your life. I have no doubt that Maeve has kept eyes on each of you. The sooner we try to identify her people, the better."

Vynette shook her head. "London would know if one of Maeve's people was keeping an eye on me."

I met her gaze. "London had zero reasons to suspect Maeve of anything until a couple of months ago. Prior to that, Maeve has had official and unofficial people going in and out of each of our packs. We all do. That's just how it works."

"She can't control rogues," Raven said softly. "There's a reason those wolves don't answer to an alpha."

"Rogues can be bribed just like anyone else. Emerson ran his own network of rogues for years, under Maeve's orders. Finn was a rogue for most of his life, by Maeve's design. Every move we've all made, she's made it happen."

Carla, the quietest, piped up. "It sounds like our best bet is to run. To scatter. We go somewhere where she doesn't have spies. I know there's a network between the mountains. We can join some of the other settlements further into the mountain range. Hell, we can blend in with some of the human cities."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but we can't risk it. She can use a magic spell to find you."

"And then what? Exactly what is she going to do to us?" Lucy demanded. "No one has explained why we're in hiding. What does she need from us?"

The doors to the kitchen opened, and a couple of wolves walked in with plates of food. As they were placed down in front of us, I smiled at Lucy. "She wants your heart. Literally."