Her Pack by Tamara White
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“You punched my mother?”
Jason is glaring at me across the table, like I’ve committed the most heinous crime imaginable. I mean, with no context, yeah, I guess I could understand why he’d be a little upset, but I’ve explained why I did it. If he’s still upset, then he can suck a lemon. I wasn’t going to let her hurt me, Jake or Aiden because she was in love with Luke’s ideals.
The rest of my mates are in the room, not speaking but remaining nearby. My guess is they know this is not going to be a fun talk. At least they aren’t all sitting at the table. It gives Jason and I the illusion of privacy.
The Elders and Vivienne are no longer here though, so there is one plus side I guess. They are on the way to Vivienne’s place to lock Maria up. Something that Jason strongly objected to. It took a lot of talking, mainly from Eli, to convince Jason that it had to be done.
When Jason was planning to go with her, I begged him to stay back and at least hear me out. I wanted to explain that she was being locked up because of the threat she posed to us. After everything I told him though, it seems he only heard the part where I hit his mother.
“Jeez, that’s really your takeaway from all that?” I groan in frustration, sensing this is going to get messy. “Jason, she called me a whore! She said I would never be her Queen, that Luke was her King! Can we put aside the fact I subdued her the only way I knew how to in the moment, and discuss the more important details here, like the fact your mother could truly be a traitor? Because if so, that means every pack member we brought back, is a threat too.”
He frowns, his gaze dropping to the table. He seems to think hard, and it takes a few moments before he lifts his gaze to mine. The warring emotions in his eyes makes my heart hurt. Damn, I hate that I caused that. Maybe I should have just left his mother be. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I’ve just caused Jason more pain.
“You’re right, Dani,” he blows out a breath in frustration. “Trust me, I’ve already done the math in my head. I just don’t want to believe it. Because if my pack sided with Luke too, then I’ve been betrayed by everyone I love.”
He suddenly jumps to his feet, anger in his eyes. “No, I can’t believe it. My mom has never once had a good thing to say about Luke. There is no way she would suddenly side with him. There must be more going on here than we know.”
“I agree,” I tell him with a small smile. “Think about it, we showed up and saved your pack from Luke’s wolves. I’ve heard that some of the people think it was a diversion so your mother could be kidnapped. What if that’s exactly what happened? They took her for a reason.” Jason nods slowly and sinks back into his seat, listening intently. “Aiden believes that the reason she was kept in an insane asylum was so that Luke could brainwash her into being loyal to him. Which, when you think about it, makes sense. He’s trying to throw us off. How better to do that than turning someone you love?”
Jason is thinking, his eyes seeming far away. He shakes his head softly, coming back to reality. He glances around at the rest of my mates with a beseeching expression. “Guys, can I please have the room? I would like to talk to Dani.” When no one moves, he sighs, annoyed. “Alone, guys.”
Still no one moves to leave. I wonder why they don’t just all file out. But the energy in the room has gone tense. Like they don’t trust me. No, that’s not it, I realize when I see the suspicious glances thrown at Jason. They don’t trust him.
Jason seems to realize this too. The hurt is clear as he gets to his feet, the chair toppling over. He storms angrily out of the room, no one moving to follow him.
Well, if they won’t leave us alone, then I’ll just go with him. When I’m on my feet, Jonnie is suddenly there, blocking me from leaving. “You can’t follow him, Dani.”
“Try and stop me.” I put my hands on my hips and wait for him to move. When he doesn’t, I grow angry. “Jonnie, you need to move, now! If Jason wants to talk to me alone, then that is his right to ask. Just as if you were to ask me. I would ensure that everyone did as you wished and gave us the time alone.” My gaze goes around to everyone else. “The same goes for any of you. What gives you the right to isolate him from this when he needs me? He’s just as much my mate as the rest of you are.”
Eli seems to be the only one on my side. He offers me an understanding smile. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have listened to them before. Go, talk to him. He really needs you right now.”
“Thank you,” I mutter, then move to step around Jonnie, not quite happy he would think to try and stop me. If it was him, would he be happy that the rest of my mates tried to stop him from getting the time alone with me?
Even with the worry he may be sharing stuff with Luke, I would still do my damndest to ensure he got his time with me. Because he’s my mate. Regardless of what anyone else says.
Nate steps away from the wall, his eyes furrowed in concern. “We all talked while Maria was being carried away, and Jonnie raised a good point. What if Maria really is Luke’s ally? What if Jason is a spy and has been all along? We can’t leave you alone with someone who could have ulterior motives. You could be hurt.”
My eyes go wide in shock. Jonnie truly said that? That’s why they’re being so protective? But if they honestly think that Jason is a traitor, then I can’t trust any of them. I study Jonnie, wondering why he would even think such a thing, let alone say it to the rest of my mates. Is Aiden right that he’s a spy and is just trying to sow discord amongst us?
“If I can’t trust Jason, then I can’t trust any of you.” I glare around at each of my mates, making sure they understand I am one hundred percent serious about my next words. “So, what is it? Do I trust my mates, the people I care most about in this world, or do I need to use my abilities to figure out what is going on in all your heads? Because I don’t do any of that with you. But if you truly think I can’t trust one of you, then I can’t trust all of you.”
Maybe I need to use my ability to sense lies when I’m with them. I only pushed it away because I wanted to offer them as much privacy as I could. But maybe after the talk with Aiden, I need to start letting my abilities do what they please.
At least then I can figure out whether or not Aiden’s suspicions are correct.
“Dani, we’re not saying we don’t trust Jason, it’s just with everything going on, your safety is the most important thing right now,” Jonnie says, trying to appeal to me but I won’t have any of it.
“No, I can protect myself. I took you all down easily enough when we first met, I can do it again if needed.” With those last words, I walk around my mates and out of the room.
I can hear footsteps behind me, and I don’t turn to see who it is. When I see Eli approaching my side, I relax and allow him to stick by my side rather than telling him to go back to the others. I’m still hurt that they could turn on Jason so easily.
“I thought I should give you a hand. Jason won’t be easy to find.”
“What do you mean? I figured he would go to his mom.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. He needs to think. There’s only one place he would go to do that.” Eli takes my hand in his when we step out of the house and pulls me towards his mother’s house.
When we reach it, we simply walk around back and off into the woods. “Where are we going? Are you sure Jason wouldn’t just go down to the cages and sit with his mom?”
“Jason used to visit a lot while we were growing up. There was one place we used to go when shit got too real.” He sighs, his eyes getting lost in his thoughts. “On the other side of the forest, runs an underground river that is hidden in a cavern buried deep in the mountain. We stumbled upon it when we were ten. Well stumbled upon it is a little misleading. We went exploring as cubs and got lost. We were thirsty and were getting scared when we found the river. It’s one of the most awesome places I’ve seen occur in nature. All around it, moss has grown over the rocks, and there are these bugs that glow in the roof. It’s peaceful. I go there a lot when the world is just being a little too much. At least then I can shut everything out and focus on the beauty in the world, at least for a moment.”
That actually seems like a wonderful idea. I’m a little excited to see this place he’s talking about. I guess that’s the beauty of his pack living in the middle of the woods. There are mountains everywhere, and plenty of chances to find all the hidden gems the woods hold.
After almost thirty minutes of walking, we crest a hill. Man, I wish I had brought some water for this trip. It’s taking a lot out of me, especially after the walk this morning. I wonder what Aiden is doing right now? He pretty much disappeared after we got to Eli’s house. Most likely to avoid all the fallout from bringing her back unconscious, but still. I’ll have to check in on him later and see how he’s doing.
“We’re here.” Eli whispers softly, turning to me with a grin. By here he means a large cave that could be hiding bears for all I know. And it looks awfully dark to just be wandering in on my own.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“Yes, please,” I breathe, a little relieved that I won’t be going in alone. “As much as I know he wanted to talk to me in private, I would appreciate you at least showing me where he is. I don’t want to get lost or run into a bear.”
Eli snorts at me, before sobering when he sees how serious I am. “Dani, you shift into a wolf. How can you possibly be scared of a bear? The moment you growl at a bear, they run away, unless you’re fighting over food. Then it’s probably a safer bet to just walk away from your kill.”
“Hey! I think it’s perfectly normal to be afraid of bears. Do you know the strength of a bear’s jaw? They can snap us in half like we’re nothing more than twigs. I for one do not want to be in a position where a bear can break me, thank you very much.”
Eli just shakes his head at me, all the while smiling over my extremely human fear. He leads me into the cave, and I do my best not to think of bears. But if I even hear a grunt, I’m sure as hell throwing Eli in front of me. Better they eat him first than me.
