Her Pack by Tamara White
Chapter Thirty-Six
Aiden is leaningagainst the tree out by the road when Jake and I step out on the porch. I thought of inviting him in, but when I see him standing there with excitement in his eyes, I suspect he would decline my offer.
“I have great news, and not so great news,” he says to me, coming across the gravel road to meet me at the bottom of the steps.
Jake groans at his exuberant tone, and I respond to Aiden with a voice just as enthusiastic to mess with Jake a little. “Yay! What is it?”
Jake grumbles and covers his ears, squinting his eyes in pain. “You both suck.”
Aiden chuckles at his reaction. “Come on, we have to walk through the woods for you to find out the greater part of the news. I guess it’s more of a surprise, then news really. Well, it’s both, but yeah, you’ll have to wait and then you’ll find out. So, just hold on to a little patience and you’ll find out in no time.”
I pout, disappointed he won’t just tell me. “Let’s go, then” I mumble, trying not to let my disappointment show.
Surprises suck. I hate not knowing what the surprise is. Jake hangs back behind us and follows at his own pace. So long as he can see me, then he will still be doing his job. But I guess our voices won’t be too loud for his poor remaining brain cells.
Aiden and I walk the path that the cars travel, going in a different direction to where I’ve been before. “Ah, do you know where we’re going?” It appears we’re heading towards the houses, and that means towards the rest of the pack members.
“Just trust me, okay? I know where I’m going, and how to get back. If not, I trust your enforcer back there will be able to guide us if it’s necessary.”
“Okay, good,” I breathe a sigh of relief. “Now are you going to tell me the fresh developments in finding Jason’s mother? Or do you plan to keep me in suspense until you show me this other thing you’re planning on surprising me with?”
Aiden grins over at me, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “Well, it took me a while, but with the information you got me, I found her. I found your mate’s mother.”
My eyes widen, and I turn to give him a disbelieving look. He’s got to be kidding. I thought the news was that he knew where she could be hiding, not that he’d actually found her. “What? How? Oh my god, where is she?”
“Well, it’s complicated. It took me a long ass time to get through the hacking on where she was being hidden, but the short of it was that someone planted her in an insane asylum. From the footage I saw, they had a wolf working inside the asylum who kept dosing her with some kind of specialised silver mixture which prevented her from shifting. So whenever she tried, she looked nothing more than an aggravated woman who believed she had another form. But the thing is, I couldn’t find who had her admitted, or how long she had been there. My guess would be that she’s been there for a few weeks at least. Possibly even a month or two.”
Holy shit, I can’t believe someone would have her admitted and be dosing her with some kind of silver. What would be the motive for doing such a thing?
“Is there some way to get her out? With no one knowing? I mean, I imagine the humans will be hard pressed to believe us that she is sane and can actually turn into a wolf.”
We’ve reached the houses and Aiden goes quiet. Most likely he doesn’t want anyone to overhear anything we have to say. Once we’ve cleared the houses and are starting to walk among the trees, he gives me a wide grin. “I’ve already organized her escape. The surprise I had planned for you, is your mate’s mother. A few friends of mine are bringing her to edge of pack lands so we can take her back. When you go back to the house and your mates, you’ll be bringing one hell of a surprise with you.”
“Oh, my god!” I leap at Aiden, wrapping him in a massive hug. He catches me with ease, and I simply grip him tight, my eyes welling with tears. This will be a load off everyone’s shoulders. And most of all, Jason will finally have his mother back.
I release my hold on Aiden, wiping my tears. “Thank you,” I tell him, hoping he understands just how grateful I am. “You have no idea how happy this makes me and will make my mates. I owe you one.”
“Yes, well, hold on to that thought because I actually have bad news too. Something that will make you furious with me. Just promise to hear me out before you go all alpha wolf on me, okay?”
I frown, unsure what exactly he could have to tell me that would cause me to react badly. “Okay, but I doubt whatever you have to say could really be that bad.”
“Yeah,” he trails off, turning away as if he can’t bear to look at me. “So, I decided to do some digging to find out who the traitor could be. And after a lot of searching, I have an idea who it is.”
“I don’t understand, why is that bad news? If you know who’s been telling Luke of the pack’s movements, then we can stop the person responsible and maybe get the upper hand on Luke.” I bet I’m right and Sarah is still somehow passing on information. She may have said she was only communicating with Sonja, but I find it hard to believe that Luke hasn’t found another way to worm information from her. Even Sarah could be oblivious to what she was doing if Luke was smart enough.
“I agree, dude. If you found the mole in the pack, then it’s definitely good news, not bad,” Jake calls from behind us. I throw him a look to chide him from eavesdropping and he just shrugs. “What? I’m your guard. I have to be in hearing distance,” he reminds me. “Otherwise I’d be a horrible guard and would be reamed out by my partner, and your mates.”
I roll my eyes and turn back to Aiden, waiting for him to elaborate on why this is bad news. Hell, I’d settle for him telling me who the spy is so we can warn my mates to be on the lookout.
“Look, its bad news because the spy is one of your mates.”
I stop walking, unsure I heard him correctly. Jake is at my side, glaring over at Aiden. “You’re a fucking liar.”
He frowns, his eyes dropping to the ground, kicking the loose rocks in frustration. When his gaze rises to ours, his face is filled with pain. “I honestly wish I was mistaken. But I made sure of everything before I brought this up. I did not want to be mistaken and risk upsetting something if it was nothing more than misunderstanding.”
“How can you be sure?” Jake is asking the words I wish I could speak, but my mouth is dry from the sudden influx of panic.
It’s not panic over how wrong he is though, it’s that the moment he said it was one of my mates, my mind immediately seemed to make the connection. Like I knew all along that it had to be someone close to me. I prayed that one of the guys was just accidentally letting things slip to the person actually responsible, but this just fits. And it cuts me to the core.
“I’m sure, because I hacked your lives. Every single one of you who has had any interactions with Dani. I know all of your deepest, darkest secrets. Like you, Jake. Your mom thought you were a girl for an entire week after your birth because she was laid up in bed recovering. She hadn’t had the chance to change any of your diapers, so when your birth certificate was created, your name was Jackie, not Jake. It wasn’t until after your mother had healed that she was able to change your diaper and realize that no one else had even paid attention to your anatomy, or that your mother thought you were a female. Once she realized the mistake, your name was changed to Jake.”
Aiden is grinning over at Jake, who has paled. “Personally, I think you would have made a wonderful Jackie.”
“How on earth did you find that out? No one knows, not even Rick.”
“Wait, it’s true?” I ask, surprised. How could no one have let his mother know she had given birth to a boy? That seems a little horrible if you ask me. If I ever have kids, I’ll be demanding to know the gender on first sight.
“As I said, I’m very good at finding out information. The midwife who attended your mother made notes when she visited. Those notes are part of the system your Alpha has set up for his pack. It details a lot of things. Many things that could cause havoc if they were to land in the wrong hands.”
I shake my head, offering Jake a reassuring smile. It doesn’t bother me if his name was different when he was born. It shouldn’t bother him either. But the important part of this conversation is that Aiden has proved he has the ability to find out all he needs to know.
“Okay, I believe you,” Jake admits with a sigh, his eyes filled with worry. “Who is the traitor?”
“Well, it’s important to know I checked as thoroughly as I could, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the mate who is leaking information to Luke, is Jonnie.”
“What? That can’t be right. He and Mitch are as thick as thieves. If one was leaking anything, let alone to Luke, the other would know.” It could simply be my denial but I doubt Jonnie could ever be able to do such a thing. I saved his life. He made a big deal about what I went through to do so. Why would he betray me? It just doesn’t make any sense.
“I’m sorry, Dani, I know this must be hard to hear, but he’s so clean that I just know he’s dirty.”
“What do you mean he’s clean?” I thought the whole point was to find the traitor. If someone is clean, doesn’t that imply they are innocent?
Aiden sighs and pulls out his phone, opening the screen to show me something. “If you look at each of these digital records, you can see everything.” He swipes the screen, showing me all different pages, until he stops at one with barely a few words on it. “You see, every person leaves a trace in life. The internet has made it practically impossible to become invisible in this day and age. I hacked each of your mates’ phone’s, their laptops, and even school records. There are massive ass trails for each of your mates, except Jonnie. Even his call records have been wiped, and pretty recently too. The only reason I could see such a thing happening, is because he is trying to hide evidence.”
“Evidence of what?” Dread settles in the pit of my stomach, and I find myself nauseous.
“I think you already know, Dani. He has been calling Luke, or someone who works with Luke. He’s been passing on vital information that is capable of hurting you. I don’t know why, but I know that he’s doing it. My gut is never wrong when it comes to things like this.”
Jake wraps an arm around my shoulders, most likely trying to offer comfort from the heartbreak I feel. I blink up at him, tears starting to fall. “What if it’s true? What do we do? Do we tell everybody?”
I collapse to my knees, my chest throbbing in agony. Is this what it feels like to have your heart ripped out?
“Hey, shhh, we’ll handle it. Maybe he’s been set up? Maybe someone has purposefully made it appear that he’s a traitor to break you. We need to have all the facts before we act, okay?”
I lean my head against his chest, hiccupping softly. “What if he is, though? It won’t be just me this hurts, but everyone else too.”
Jake growls, causing me to jump. “If he is, I will rip that bastard’s heart out for the pain he will have caused. I don’t care if there was a logical reason or not, you do not soil the mate bond like that and get away with it.” He takes in a deep, controlling breath. “Until we can confirm whether or not he has sided with Luke, I need you to promise me not to be alone with him. If your mates leave you alone with him, you call me or Rick. Okay?”
“Wait? Are you saying we leave everyone else in the dark?”
He sighs at my tone, no doubt sensing I’m going to argue with him. If he is a traitor, then anything they say could be still relayed onto Luke. They need to be aware of the possible situation they are in.
“Tell me, Dani, if any of them suspected he was a traitor, would they allow you to be in the same room with him? Would they treat him differently? Because I know I sure as hell would. And if we want to get to the bottom of things, then it’s best if no one suspects anything so Rick and I can do a little spying of our own.”
My eyes shoot up at his suggestion. “You’re going to tail him? But what if he finds out?”
“Easy, I can play it off about you being worried about him, or something similar. But if he learns we suspect him of being a traitor, then he won’t make it easy to find the truth. This way, we can try to get to the bottom of this. We’ll work with Aiden and try to come up with someway to eavesdrop on his calls. Maybe we can find out just what is going on and whether he has been framed.”
“I can hack into his calls. But if he has a hacker helping him, they will know from the first call that is received. Still, I’ll help in any way I can,” Aiden offers with kind eyes. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, taking Jake’s hand for support. He helps me to my feet, and I offer both him and Aiden a smile. “Thank you, both of you. If my mate is a traitor, then I want to know, even if it hurts. It’s better than just burying my head in the sand and hoping for the best.”
I take in a deep breath and shove all the bad thoughts swirling in my mind into the little box of things I don’t want to think about and give them both a reassuring smile. “Right, I’m ready to meet Jason’s mother.”
Everything else can wait until later. I need this bit of good to outweigh the bad, at least until I’m sure I can handle what the bad means.
