Redeemed: True Mates Book 4 (BBW Wolf Shifter Romance) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) (5 page)

Piercing blue eyes peered at me, then flicked over my shoulder, narrowing instantly.

“Ease up, Oliver. This is Jason, the coyote shifter I was sent to find. James thought it might be a good idea if he speaks to Gary. Maybe shake him up a little?”

Oliver paused, his hand on the door, and for a second I could have sworn he was going to slam it shut in our faces. But then he turned and stalked away, leaving the doorway free and clear.

“I guess that was our invite,” I muttered, not really wanting to step into the dark room, but forcing my feet forward.

A large hand slipped around mine, squeezing in reassurance. “You don’t have to see this if you don’t want to. I know what a fixer does. I’m okay with it.”

I fought back the bristle that wanted to run down my spine at the insinuation that I was weak, unable to deal with the reality of what had to be done. I knew he didn’t mean it like that, was actually offering me a way out, but I didn’t like to be thought of as weak. If he could do it, so could I.

I took a deep breath, stepping over the threshold, and immediately regretted it. The air was foul, a mixture of stale urine, blood and sweat that stung my nose. And other things I didn’t want to start identifying. My eyes watered as I panted in shallow breaths, forcing the air in through my mouth rather than my nose.

As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I could make out the outline of a man in the far corner. His arms were bound above his head and strapped to a steel beam that ran the entire length of the ceiling. Naked and bleeding from too many wounds to count, his head lolled to the side, his eyes swollen shut. Scorch marks littered his skin, along with thin cuts, the type you get from paper. It was as if there was a pattern to the marks. I peered a little closer, the knowledge swimming at the edge of my mind, just out of grasp. I looked away, I really didn’t
want
to know.

“Talk to him.” That was Oliver, straight to the point, never one to waste words. Which was a shame. Looking like he did, if he just got out a little more and actually talked to the ladies, he’d be a lucky man.

Unless they saw him like he was now. Stripped down to a ragged pair of jeans—okay, that worked. I could appreciate the flex and curve of his muscled torso. It was the grime and blood embedded in his skin that was a turn off. That, and the cold, blank look in his eyes as he cleaned a scalpel with the intense focus a man might have for their favorite possession. Such as a car, or a bike, or even a plasma TV.

Jason walked toward Gary and stopped less than a foot away. Leaning closer, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Can he hear me, or have you blown out his eardrums yet?”

I didn’t even want to think about how he knew
that
was on Oliver’s agenda.

“Not yet. He can hear.”

As if on cue, Gary’s eyes flew open, or at least they tried, the swelling making the movement sluggish, resulting in him squinting. He flinched, his mouth gaping open as he eyed Jason warily.

“Do you know who I am? Can you smell me above your own stench?” Jason growled, his voice deep with barely suppressed anger.

A garbled sound came out of Gary’s mouth, his hands tugging on the restraints.

“Don’t tell me you cut out his tongue?”

Oliver smirked, an insulted look crossing his face. “That would be stupid. And I’m not stupid.”

I tasted bile, bitter and acrid, in my mouth. I didn’t know how Jason could stand being so close to the mess that was left of Gary.

Jason turned back to Gary, fixing him with a cold look. “Tell me where your Alpha is. The man they call Bert.”

Gary grunted, thrashing around, his body twisting and turning as he fruitlessly tried to get away. “You fucking bastard! Traitor!”

“That’s not the correct answer.” Jason leaned closer, lowering his voice to a low whisper. “Tell me where he is hiding, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find some peace.”

Gary’s eyes narrowed, his lips twisting in a vile smirk. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he, Jay? After everything he’s done for you! He’s going to kill you, you can bet on it! Traitor!” Spittle flew from his lips as he lunged forward, the restraints catching and holding him an inch away from Jason’s unflinching face.

“Jason, what’s he talking about? Do you know him?” I was having trouble processing Gary’s words. For some reason they didn’t make sense.

“Sounds like he does.” Oliver’s low growl alerted me a second before he crashed into Jason, sending him sprawling to the floor. His large body covered Jason completely, pinning him to the floor, but I could see the coyote’s face—could see how it was frozen in confusion.

“Oliver! Get off him!” I screamed, trying to drag him up, but it was like trying to shift a ten-ton truck.

“You heard Gary. The coyote needs to talk.” Oliver grunted as a large fist slammed into his jaw, sending his head snapping back.

“This
coyote
would like to get off this damn floor and try to figure out what the hell that asshole is talking about!”

In the little time I had known Jason, I had never really heard him curse. Had never seen him lose his temper. But, boy, was he losing it now, and fast!

“You better let him up, Oliver, before he beats the crap out of you.”

Oliver adjusted his grip, pinning Jason’s arms. “Like he could,” he sneered.

A quick jerk and a twist later, and a fist pummeled into Oliver’s jaw for a second time.

“I not only run a personal protection firm, I’m also mean and fight dirty. You’ve got no chance of holding me, and if you don’t let me up right now, I will wipe the floor with your face,” Jason snarled, his eyes a violently swirling violet.

Oliver hesitated, and a second later he was the one flat on his back, Jason pinning him easily.

“Damn. You’re going to have to teach me that move,” Oliver muttered, blinking as he was suddenly the one staring at the ceiling.

That was it. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to get sorted with them rolling around on the ground. “Enough!” I grabbed Jason’s arm and yanked him off Oliver.

I’m pretty sure if he hadn’t wanted to move, then I wouldn’t have stood a chance, but he moved with me, rolling to his feet and dragging me against his chest.

“You only had to ask,” he murmured.

His sudden closeness both thrilled and shook me to my core. I wanted to melt against him. My wolf was yipping and jumping around inside of me, lapping up the attention from her mate. But my human side needed answers.

It didn’t help that during the scuffle his hair had gotten all messed up, and was now tousled and falling over one eye. Irresistibly messy, it almost brought him down from his too-good-to-be-true status.

One minute, I was staring up at him, the next, my hand was pushing the white-blond strands out of his eyes, smoothing them back in a slow caress.

“What did he mean, Jason? Why does he think he knows you?” I held his gaze, searching for any hint of deception, any sign of a lie.

“I don’t know him, and I don’t
think
I know this Bert, though he must have been the one to punish me and—” His voice broke and my heart clenched in my chest, breaking a little for him.

I wanted to believe him, I truly did. If I chose to trust my wolf, then I had no doubts. She couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t believe our mate.

But— “He knew your name…”

“Jay,” Oliver added, watching us from the doorway, his face creased in a frown.

He obviously didn’t approve of Jason, but at this precise moment, I didn’t give a shit. Didn’t care what anyone thought. I was having a hard enough time trying to figure him out myself.

“You don’t believe me.” It was a statement, not a question, but I answered anyway.

“I want to,” I whispered, not able to bring myself to lie to him, “but you’ve got to admit—it’s a weird coincidence. We could ask him again, get him to explain what he meant—”

“No point. He’s not going to tell us anything, just feed us with more lies. If I want a real answer, and to prove to you that I’m not working with these idiots, then I need to go to the source.”

He let go of me abruptly, his jaw clenched, and strode to the door.

Oliver moved out of the way without a word, his gaze watchful. “Stay safe, stay careful, Macey,” he called after me as I followed Jason out of the door. “I’ll keep working on this son-of-a-bitch.” He slammed the door shut behind me, and I could hear the bolts scraping closed.

CHAPTER SIX

Macey

“Wait! Where are you going?” I hustled to keep up with Jason, who was striding toward the main house, his long legs eating up the ground.

He didn’t wait, didn’t answer me. Just continued walking.

“Jason, wait! Listen to me!” A hint of panic threaded my voice. I didn’t know how to do this. We’d only just met and I was messing things up.

He paused, still not looking at me.

Shit!
What was I going to say?

Huffing a little, I finally caught up and grabbed his arm, just in case he suddenly decided to tear off again. “What I said— I didn’t mean I
don’t
believe you, it’s just—”

He sliced a hand through the air, cutting me off mid-ramble. “Don’t. Please. If I need to prove myself to you, then I will. That’s all there is to it, nothing more to talk about.”

“He’s a man of action, this one,” a masculine voice rang out from behind us.

I spun round, praying to the Mother of All that my ears needed testing.
Fuck!
“Dad,” I croaked out. What the hell was he doing here, at the packhouse of all places?

He strode toward us, his steps powerful and full of purpose, his eyes fixed on Jason. “I asked you to come back and see me once you’d found your coyote. I understand now why you didn’t.” He nodded briefly at Jason, then carried on up the steps, pushing open the front door.

“He’s your dad?” Jason asked, his voice low as we both turned to follow the older man inside.

When my dad summoned you, you did what he asked. That was the end of it. I nodded quickly, dreading what I knew was going to be a big reveal.

Ahead of us, I could already hear the clatter of people standing, chairs skidding back against wooden floors, the low voices of greeting.

How was I going to explain this secret?

I sidled into James’ office, for once not cutting straight across the room to perch on the windowsill, this time clinging to the wall as close to the door as possible.

“Why is everyone looking at him like that?” Jason’s voice was a low whisper in my ear, so quiet I doubted even another shifter could hear him.

“You’ll see,” I muttered under my breath. My chance of a normal life was about to blow up in my face.

James had risen from behind the desk to greet my father, his hand outstretched in greeting, a puzzled look on his face. “Council Member, it is an honor to have you here at Colstone Pack. How can we help you?”

“Ah.”

I snuck a glance at Jason’s face. He didn’t seem shocked, or in awe, not like the rest of the pack. Then again, he had been living with humans for so long, shifter politics probably didn’t interest him.

“Call me Gregg,” my father replied, shaking James’ hand, then taking a seat opposite him, James following his lead.

“So, Gregg, what can we do for you?”

“I just thought I’d drop in and see my daughter if that’s alright with you? How are you and your lovely mate? Is she around? I’d like to give her my best while I’m here.”

James’ face froze in puzzlement, and I could tell that he was frantically trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Of course, Kara would love to see you. Your…daughter?”

“She hasn’t told you? Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. She does like to do things her own way, prove herself.”

James shook his head, and I glanced around the room. Everyone had the same look on their faces, one of disbelief and confusion. Everyone except Cole, who sat on the couch, a wide grin on his face, sliding me smirking looks.

There was nothing else for it. I had to out myself, before either Cole or my father did.

I pushed away from the wall, straightening up. “That’d be me.”

James sat back in his chair, a stunned look on his face. “That explains a
lot
of things.”

“That’s exactly what I said, too,” Cole added.

James’ head swiveled to eye his lieutenant. “You knew?”

“Only recently. And she asked me not to say anything.”

“What is going on? Why are you all so shocked?” Jason’s voice was low, but it carried across the room.

“Turns out Macey is the daughter of a Council Member,” Cole explained.

My dad was just sitting there, a small smile on his face. What was he playing at?

“And? What does that mean? Why does it matter?”

Finally my dad deigned to speak. “I am a Council Member because I rose in power level until I outranked all those below me. It meant leaving my pack to take my seat at the Council, but I decided that it was a fair sacrifice. My job allows me to protect shifters as a whole, protect our way of life.”