Chapter 30: Dean

30

DEAN

“I t’s like watching a car crash.”

Callum meets me on the main track back to the packhouse and falls into step at my side. He glances back toward the cabin, where Jamie’s angry cursing and banging can still be heard.

“I’m going to ask one more time, are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Surprised at how much I enjoy the thought of Jamie securely confined to my cabin, I smile. “Absolutely.”

She might be mad, but she’s safe.

“It doesn’t look like it from here.” Callum’s brows draw down into a deep furrow, and he stares at the house, reluctant to leave.

“Come on.”

If she was free to run around, getting herself into trouble, vulnerable if Samuel decides to come back and finish what he started, I wouldn’t be able to leave her side.

“She might set it on fire,” Callum warns, completely serious.

I hesitate and look back at the cabin.

She actually might.

The banging has stopped, but her silence now seems ominous not promising.

“She won’t give up until she figures out a way to escape.” Callum is saying it like it’s a bad thing, where my wolf and I think it’s admirable. And it’s exactly why I need to deal with my to-do list as fast as I can.

Joel knew the jig was up the moment Callum arrived back, without me, and immediately admitted to his part in bullying Jamie out on the course. He might have thought Callum would go easier on him than I would, but he underestimated my beta. A night locked in the cells has probably remedied that.

But Joel denies having anything to do with Samuel cutting the bridge. He claims he panicked and ran when his friend took things too far and was too afraid to confess when he got back.

I’d be sympathetic, if he hadn’t left Jamie clinging to the canyon wall, fighting for her life. A real man would have helped her and dealt with the consequences after.

Samuel remains at large. I have no doubt he was the presence I felt at the bridge. He was probably hoping for a chance to get rid of Jamie before she could talk and wasn’t banking on me showing up.

But he won’t be free for long. Jax, the best tracker in our pack, is on the case. With a hunt to keep him entertained and away from my cabin, he won’t stumble across Jamie. Sending him off kills two birds with one wolf.

“Have you worked out what they’re really here for?” Callum asks. “Wyatt wants to win and has a good chance. But Jamie?”

He doesn’t need to explain. I understand why he’s confused. From the outside, it doesn’t make sense.

There are some she-wolves with animals large enough to compete with any man, but Jamie’s not one of them. She’s clever and brave, but in a fight with a big male, she’s likely to be overpowered quickly. Nothing I’ve seen or heard suggests she has any expert martial arts skills that would negate the difference in strength.

Bluntly, if she made it through to the fighting competitions, chances are high she’d get her ass kicked.

Even more confusing is that Jamie has very little interest in the prize. Every other wannabe alpha has asked me and Blake questions about the size of the pack, how they feel about being handed over to an unknown alpha, whether they could bring their own beta with them, stuff like that.

“Her motivation isn’t winning. But I’m not sure what it is yet.” he muses, waiting to see if I know more than I’m saying. Which I do. But just like I can’t tell Jamie about Maggie until I’ve spoken to her, I can’t tell Callum, either, even if he’s like a brother to me.

“I think she entered to stay with Wyatt. She didn’t want to be alone.”

Callum nods but continues to watch me closely. I hate this. I feel like I’m deceiving everyone when I pride myself on being honest.

“Maybe she was hoping to find a mate?” Callum ponders out loud as we walk, hands shoved in his pockets. “She’s gorgeous. I’m sure lots of guys here would be happy to bring her home.”

My wolf’s hackles go up, not liking that suggestion one bit.

“You think? Even though she’s a rogue?” I ask, trying to tease out his thoughts without giving myself away.

He shrugs. “Why not? She’s hot. It’s not like she’s feral. And when the serious contenders arrive for the next round, those guys aren’t the kind to shy away from a challenge.” With a wink, he adds. “You might have some competition.”

I scrub a hand down over my face, feeling sick at the thought of her with someone else.

“Maybe she just wants to support her brother and have his back,” I suggest, but there’s a hollow ring to my words. Even I know better than that.

“That woman is not here to provide moral support,” Callum scoffs. “And Wyatt is well able to take care of himself.”

And once I make an example of Samuel, nobody else will dare touch her, or anyone else, while they’re on my land.

“She was snooping, Dean. Asking lots of questions. She’s looking for something.”

Callum scratches the back of his head. “Maggie wants to check her over. Maybe she can get more out of her.”

I stop in my tracks and groan. Very, very, rarely, does Maggie volunteer to meet with anyone.

“What did you tell Maggie? Did you tell her about the dance? Fuck.”

Callum smirks and edges away. “I might have mentioned that this girl has you tied up in knots. And you told me you’d kill me if I touched her.”

For fuck’s sake. What a tattletale.

I need to warn Maggie before she goes to the house. “Tell Maggie yes, but later. When I’m back.”

Up ahead, Lynn stands at the foot of the steps, clipboard in hand, pen stabbed through her messy bun. She purses her lips when she sees me, and I already know I’m not going to like what she’s going to say.

“You’re in trouble now.” Callum chuckles to himself when he sees Lynn’s expression. For once, it’s me and not him in the firing line, and he looks damn smug about it.

“Don’t start,” I warn. “It’s just until we find Samuel, and I know he’s not going to attack her again.” I hold up a hand, deflecting the objections I know Lynn is getting ready to throw at me.

She narrows her eyes and swats at my hand.

“So as soon as we find Samuel, she’s free to go then?” she asks. “I can just let her out.”

“NO,” I snap. “I mean, yes.” Damn it. “Not without checking with me.”

“Wow,” is all Callum says as he veers off, avoiding Lynn’s angry glare, and darting in through the open doors ahead of me. He makes a turn for the kitchen while I squeeze past Lynn, pretending I can’t tell how displeased she is, and heads straight for the nursery.

“You can’t keep her prisoner, Dean. She’s the victim!” Lynn whisper-shouts at me as I stride into the colourful room and soak up the big gummy smiles that greet me. It’s the best part about being alpha. All the kids love me. When I find the one that I’m looking for, I pick him up and give him a big squeeze.

“Dean, you didn’t come for dinner.”

Fucking adorable. Dinner with Freddy is a non-negotiable entry in my diary each week. This is the first time I’ve ever missed it. Lynn ruffles his hair affectionately and gives him a peck on the cheek.

“I’m sorry, buddy. But someone really needed my help.”

Bopping his nose, I set him down and give an apologetic wave to Molly, the nursery schoolteacher who must be part witch, because she’s somehow managed to get them all seated in a circle for story time.

“I heard. Is your girlfriend okay?”

I give him a brittle smile. The teacher shifts awkwardly as I squat down to speak with him. But she doesn’t move away, instead making herself very busy nearby, ears trained in our direction.

“She’s not my girlfriend, Freddy. Just a friend that happens to be a girl.”

More half-truths. The words are bitter on my tongue, and when Freddy senses my evasiveness, he frowns. A corkscrew tight blonde curl falls to the middle of his forehead as he looks up at me with big blue eyes, swimming with confusion.

“So, you haven’t kissed her?”

Shit. I can’t lie, or everyone will scent my deceit. “Playtime’s over buddy. For me. I’ve got boring alpha stuff to do.”

Lynn tries to keep a straight face as I look over his head at her.

“Not a word,” I warn.

She mimes zipping her lips closed and throwing away the key, barely able to contain her laughter. Maybe I need to keep Freddy with me at all times to keep her in a good mood. She laughs along at my antics when I lift him into the air upside down, dangling him by one ankle.

“I better go before I get into trouble.” When I roll my eyes and jerk my thumb toward Lynn, the kids all giggle while Lynn sighs, exasperated. “See you later Freddy.”

After righting him and giving him a tight squeeze, I set him down carefully and grin as he races back to his chair.

Back in the hallway, Lynn’s smile evaporates immediately. “This is not okay, Dean. You’ve kidnapped a woman.”

I wave away her concern. I did not kidnap anyone. Jamie walked into that house, and she’s safer where she is, whether she realises it right now or not.

“She’s having a shower and some food, Lynn. It’s hardly a torture chamber that I’ve thrown her into. And I’m not going to leave her there for long.”

Returning to the front door, I bid farewell to some of the exhausted shifters preparing to leave my territory. We gave a lot of people the opportunity to stay on. It only seemed fair after many were forced to take cover from the storm and missed the cut off. Or had to turn back because of the downed bridge.

But for most, last night was a reality check about their chances of winning, and with jobs and families to get back to, they’re cutting their losses now.

Lynn smiles and waves, then turns her glare back toward me. “This isn’t right, Dean. You’re better than this.”

Am I though?

Lynn’s parting shot is a good one, because while my immediate reaction is that she’s being melodramatic, here I am, following the same treacherous path as my father.

Obsession.

Kidnapping.

Lying.

Check, check, and check.

I’m one bitter pack feud away from being him.

Maybe Callum’s right. This is a car crash. And it’s only going to end one way, badly.

“Fine. Once we’re done here, I’ll go back.” I don’t go as far as to say I’ll let her go, but it’s enough to appease Lynn for the time being.

Pushing thoughts of Jamie aside for now, I lift a hand in greeting to Alpha Steel as he approaches, a serious look on his face.

“You made it back in one piece,” Blake says, checking me over. “How’s Jamie doing?”

That’s a loaded question.

“Good. Once she got warm and had a rest, we were able to travel back.” My alpha doesn’t need to hear the long version. I have a sneaking suspicion he might agree with Lynn about the appropriateness of her current accommodation status. And he’d definitely disagree with how I distracted her from the storm.

“Jax has located Samuel. I’m going to go and handle him personally after we speak to Joel.” Blake’s tone is even, but I can sense his anger simmering just below the surface. Alpha Steel’s wolf is taking this personally. To attack someone during the games, right under Steel’s nose, as part of a competition he’s running, is the ultimate disrespect.

Blake nods and my wolf settles. We’ll get our revenge.

Gesturing for Blake to follow me, I skirt around the outside of the house and down some stone steps which lead to the basement level. Completely separate to the basement section Jax has commandeered as his hideout, these cells have been empty since the night I killed my father. I spent plenty of nights here myself. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, except perhaps Joel and Samuel.

Pressing my palm against the sensor, I wait for the click before pushing the door wide and allowing Blake in first.

“How do you want to handle this?” I ask, knowing that gutting Joel where he stands won’t be one of his suggestions, unfortunately.

“I think we should have a friendly chat first.” From the way his jaw is clenched, I doubt Steel’s words will be anything friendly. “Let’s hear him out before we decide anything.”

As we travel down the dark corridor toward the cells, the lingering scent of wet fur hits my nose. He must have slept in wolf form last night to stay warm. When we arrive at the last cell, we find Joel curled up in a ball on the thin cot mattress, shivering. He stands, head bowed, arms clasped behind his back, at least doing a good job of acting ashamed of himself.

My wolf growls, furious that this wolf had the chance to help Jamie instead of leaving her out in the elements like that. Yet his story matches what Jamie said. That he was trying to scare her rather than hurt her. And it was Samuel who took things too far.

“Obviously, you’re out of the competition,” Blake says quietly, stating the obvious. Joel bares his neck in submission immediately, already terrified about what the head alpha will do to him. It’s Blake’s calmness that’s so scary, because you know there’s rage simmering underneath.

Joel looks at me nervously, appealing for leniency. He’s looking at the wrong man. “I thought she’d fallen into the river. Honestly. If I’d known she was there, I’d have helped her.”

Closing my eyes, I fight back the need for violence. To inflict pain. So, he kept his mouth shut and ran because he thought Samuel had successfully killed her? And he thinks that makes him sound better?

“You had the chance to tell us what happened as soon as you got back, but you didn't. We could have found her sooner.”

Joel drags a shaking hand back through his tangled hair and forces himself to meet my gaze.

“I panicked. I don’t know what else to say. My wolf was telling me to talk to you, but you have a reputation for being… unreasonable. And I have a lot to lose.”

Bullshit. I growl, pissed off that his cowardice prolonged Jamie’s suffering.

Blake gives me a look, and I force my wolf to be silent. I am trying to rehabilitate the pack’s image, after all. Killing the man for calling me unreasonable won’t help my case, no matter how justified it is.

“We found Samuel. If I was you, I’d talk now before he gives us his version of events.”

Joel avoids eye contact with me. Instead, his eyes glaze over as he mind-links Blake, who as head alpha can speak with all the wolves under his command.

“Understood,” Blake says stiffly, before jerking his head toward the door, indicating I should follow him back outside. No way. It can’t be that simple. No threats, no bloodshed.

My wolf feels cheated. This had better be good.

When we step back outside into the sunshine, I wait expectantly for Blake to spill the beans. My skin crawls with impatience.

“Joel didn’t tell you what had happened because…” Blake trails off, looking torn.

“Because…” I prompt. My willingness to put up with guessing games is non-existent. Even for my alpha.

“Because he found his fated mate, here, in your pack. And he thought you’d kick him out.”

Of course he found his mate. The first fated mates pairing from the games involves one of the men my wolf wants to rip apart. This is just great.

Groaning, I tilt my head back to look up at the sky. The warm sun hits my face, and I pray for something, anything, to go my way this week.

“And I take it that his mate wants to stay here.”

When I look back at Blake, he’s nodding, entertained by my predicament. This should be a cause for celebration. I can’t kill the first outsider mated to someone from my pack. If I throw him off my territory and punish him too harshly for what he did, that happy occasion is ruined. And nobody else will want to find their mate here.

“You couldn’t make this shit up,” I mutter, conflicted on how to proceed.

Blake pats me on the shoulder, knowing how tricky this will be to handle. Some of my pack will want Joel harshly punished for what he did, but at what cost? Forcing his mate to leave too? A rejected pack member?

Fuck. Sometimes being an alpha sucks.

Maybe I should put this conundrum to the wannabe alphas and see if any of them come up with any amazing solutions. Because right now, with my wolf still seething and baying for blood, I can’t think of any.

“But on the bright side, you can still make Samuel’s life a misery when we drag him back.”