42. Jax

42

Jax

"Breathe," I told Anna as we approached the house. There was a new SUV parked in the drive. My phone had numerous texts about Emerson's arrival. I responded with a quick on my way which was then immediately followed up with a slew of questions about where I was.

I declined to answer them. Anna and I had both managed to snag some clothes, but there was still some blood on both of us. Luckily, none of it was hers.

Or I'd ask a witch to resurrect Bridget and Dean so I could kill them.

Bridget. Just the thought of her opened up a cold darkness inside of me. She was my third in command. How dare she betray me like this?

"What?" Anna asked.

"You're not breathing. Emerson will not touch you, but if you can't stand to be in the same house as him or even on the same land, just say the word. I'll find some place safe for you."

"So now you're concerned about finding me a safe place?"

There was a tone of bitterness in her voice, and my chest squeezed. I'd been so fucking wrong about her, but I couldn't take the time to fix it. If I made even one mistake over the next few days, Anna would pay the price.

We all might.

"Did they say anything to give you any reason to believe that they were working for Emerson?" I asked in a low voice.

"No. We have no proof, but you better damn well believe that I'm not leaving until we do."

She'd grown so much over the past few months. Even though I knew I wasn't the one to take credit, I was still so damn proud of her.

"Stop smiling at me," she snapped. "What should I expect when I go in there?"

I considered. "Emerson will probably have heard that you're my mate, so I doubt he'll act surprised. In fact, I doubt he'll act like he knows you at all. This is not the place for anyone to learn that he was friends with your father. He's probably banking on you being too afraid to say anything. You should lean into that so he'll feel comfortable."

Anna snarled for a moment and sighed. "Fine. I can do that."

"He'll need to explain why he's late. And everyone will want to know why we're covered in blood. For now, we need to hide the truth. We can't let anyone know about Bridget's betrayal.

The last thing I need is for the other alphas to realize there is dissection among my shifters."

"We can say it was a training exercise that went too far, and you stepped in to protect me.

It'll make Emerson happy to think that I'm both vulnerable and weak," Anna said sourly.

"You are neither. You realize that, right?"

"Hmm. Show time."

The front door to my house opened, and Jenson stepped out, He took one look at the blood on us and stiffened. "Later," I said as I greeted him. "Status?"

"Emerson has arrived. He brought one witch with him and three guards. The witch demanded to be taken to Irene." Jenson's mouth hardened into a straight line. "I wouldn't allow it."

"Did you get a photo?"

"I did."

"Go to Irene and see if she and the others are comfortable meeting with this witch." I paused. "I also need you to get a message to her, but I cannot let the other witches or wolves know. Not even our own. I don't want it written down or spoken out loud. If you can find a way, let her know that Lunessa is here."

"Is that supposed to mean anything?"

"It will to her. Keep that to yourself. I will let you know more when we meet tonight. Is there anything else to report?"

"I had to put new guards on The Fanged Smile. The previous guards reported that Bridget sent them away, and now I can't reach her."

"We'll discuss that later as well. For now, keep the incident quiet. Tell the previous guards that Bridget was misinformed and there is no need for concern."

Jenson frowned, but he didn't ask the question that I saw in his eyes.

Was there reason for concern?

For the first time in my entire life, I looked at Jenson with doubt. Immediately, as it crept into my head, I banished it. I'd never thought Bridget possible of betrayal but only because she'd sworn her loyalty to me and given me no reasons to doubt her. She'd always been steadfast. It's what made her an excellent third.

Jenson, on the other hand, was more than my second. He was my friend. When my brother was alpha, Jenson should have been his second, but my brother denied him because of his friendship and loyalty to me.

To him, nothing else had mattered, and to Jenson, he wasn't willing to give up his friendship with me for more power. When I became alpha, there was never any question who was my second. I trusted him then.

I trusted him now.

"Thank you."

I shook his hand, and he wrinkled his nose and sighed. "Well, shit." He knew things were already going off the rails.

"Ready?" I asked Anna.

She looked anything but ready. I wanted to immediately whisk her upstairs to our room, let her shower off the stench of betrayal and hold her until the danger passed.

It wasn't an option.

The other alphas had gathered on the back porch. There was a lot of power when we were all together, and it made tensions high. No matter how big the room, we always felt a little trapped. It didn't surprise me to find them there.

"Finally. This meeting is going to go very slowly if people keep showing up late or taking off without warning or…" Maeve's voice trailed off and she frowned. "My apologies. It seems you needed to take care of something."

"I've had some of my own training Anna. One of them took it too far," I said breezily.

"Emerson. I see you have finally arrived."

"I have." The other alpha's gaze settled on Anna, and he did nothing to hide the heat in his eyes. Even after all this time, he still seemed to want her. "And this must be the famous mate you've taken. Dirk Kipling's daughter."

I turned my head to see Anna's eyes widen before she shrank back just a little. It should have bothered me how well she was playing her role.

"That is who she was. Now she is my mate," I said evenly. "And if you do not stop looking at her like that, we are going to have a problem."

"My apologies. Mild curiosity," Emerson said with an affable smile. Until Anna told me about Emerson's friendship with her father, I never would have taken him as a threat. At least, no more than any of the other alphas.

Tall and thin, he was hardly imposing as a human. He preferred suits, even when he was on his town territory, and had a seemingly soft personality.

When dealing with other wolves, he might have seemed easy-going, but we could all sense the power, and we'd seen firsthand how violent his wolf could be. None of us were fooled by the gentle appearance.

"And I am sorry that I was late. There was some trouble on my trip here."

"Trouble?" I didn't like the sound of that one bit. "What kind of trouble?"

"On the road, about ten miles from your border, we made a pit stop. When I returned. My guard had been injured and our vehicles disabled. We had to camp overnight while we waited for another to arrive."

"Ten miles? Why didn't you call me?" Something didn't smell right about this story.

"I had considered it, but before my guard was injured, he implied that the rogue wolves who attacked us were working on orders of another."

"You thought it was me," I said flatly.

"Do you have any reason to harm me? I ultimately decided my guard may have misinterpreted something, or perhaps that even the rogues had organized themselves, but I always air on the side of caution, so I arranged for my own transportation. Did I miss anything?

My witch is precious to me. I would see to her safety."

He planted the idea of sabotage and dismissed it. Clever. London and Maeve would spend the rest of the time paying special attention to me.

"And where is your witch?"

"Resting. It was a trying night for her. She would like to visit with the other witches, but your second said they were not to be disturbed, so she decided to enjoy the quiet while she could.

Replenish her magic reserves. Truthfully, I have no idea what she does to rest."

"Her name?" I asked patiently.

"Janelle."

"Janelle?" London repeated with narrow eyes. "I thought your witch's name was Yasmine."

Emerson dropped his gaze. "Yasmine? Did you not hear? My poor beloved Yasmine died about eight months ago. Tragic, really. I found her body just beyond my boundary. She'd been killed by a rogue wolf."

A rogue wolf had killed his witch, and Emerson was putting on quite the performance.

Tears in the corner of his eyes. Hands folded together.

London and I exchanged a look. If our witch had been killed by a rogue, we wouldn't be sad. We'd be furious.

"You tracked that rogue down, I assume?" Maeve asked.

"I did indeed. Yasmine came to me several months ago. She'd heard I had no witch, and she needed protection. She feared a coven was after her."

"Did she name the coven?"

"She did indeed. The Darkwyn coven."