Page 59 of Broken Bonds

My turn to grumble. “I fuckin’ hate it when you’re right, old man.”

He snorts. “Love ya, kid. I’ll make more calls and loop people in I think need to be involved, if you’re okay with me taking that initiative?”

“I’m totally okay with that.”

We agree on a code phrase for them to use with me after they’ve talked with Father to reduce the chances of any information leaks, and then I end the call.

Fuck.

This day just keeps getting shittier and shittier.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jax

Unexpected Partnership

I wanted to follow Shawn and talk to him, but with everything else happening I realize I have to deal with this growing mountain of shit first. I hate to admit it, but the pack’s problems are far bigger than my mate’s hurt feelings.

This is a serious problem. Problems, plural, although they may all track back to the same source: Randolph Sterling.

That means shipping Mal’s phones to my buddy at the Empire Pack so he can reconnoiter for me. If they’re turned on and Sterling or his people go looking for Mal, that will impact what I do next.

If no one goes looking for Mal, maybe it means we’re in the clear, at least for a little while.

After telling Susan to take messages unless it’s an emergency, I head out with Mal’s phone to the shipping store in a grocery plaza a few miles away and quickly complete that task.

Next, I need face time with our pack’s Alphas, as many of them as I can run down today. This info is best delivered in person if possible, not over the phone. And while at first I had thought about calling a gathering of Alphas, I realized maybe this is safer.

There will be Alphas who absolutely will not want vampires on our land, and I can’t blame them. But it’ll be easier to gauge and deal with resistance one-on-one and not try to quell a vocal uprising at a crowded meeting when everyone thinks they have the tide of public opinion in their favor.

So I pull up the list on my phone and start with the eldest ones. Some of them are older than me, but they took a knee to Father and took a knee to me when he passed the role of pack Alpha to me. They’re all loyal, but while some of them are single, most of them have family and loved ones they understandably want kept safe.

Plus, I need to talk to them about the pup.

The first three talks go about as I expected, with reluctant acceptance of the pragmatic kind, both regarding the vampires and regarding Mal.

It’s the fourth where I hit a wall I honestly wasn’t expecting.

Chaz Gillians, Davis’ husband, is a tiger Alpha. I catch up with him at their property, where he’s working on installing a new irrigation system for their garden.

He listens without interruption, but as his brow deeply furrows and his scowl darkens, I know he’s not happy.

At all.

When I finish, he stands there, leaning on the shovel he’d been using, and I seriously wonder if I’ll have to defend myself against him if he decides to take a swing at me with it.

I don’t interrupt. When he finally speaks there’s more than a hint of tiger growl in his tone.

“You’re telling me that fucking sonofabitch’s kid is the new pup Davis is dying to fuck?

“Yeah.”

“And you’re telling me we’re hosting a bunch of those fucking night-crawlers here? On our pack’s land?”

“They agree to remain in the community center, and we’ll have a secure perimeter. We’re talking kids, Chaz. Human mates. Younglings. Human familiars. They’re in danger, and so are all of us if we don’t put an end to this bullshit once and for all.”

“I don’t like it, Jax. I don’t trust vampires. Never have. Shifty fuckers. How do we know they won’t come in here and slit our throats while we’re asleep, huh? You ever see how fast one of those fuckers moves?”