Page 2 of Fated To The Wolf (Bay Harbor Wolves #10)

A idan sat on the narrow bed and stared at the wall, waiting for whatever was to come next.

Lunch had been delivered a while ago, but he did not touch it.

It was probably okay because if they wanted to drug him, they could just do it.

No subterfuge was necessary. But regardless, he was not interested in eating whatever it was they served.

He wanted nothing from them except his brother and to be allowed to leave.

The door moved and then swung open, and Jake walked in. He then closed the door behind him, making it clear he wasn't there to free him. Aidan remained seated and simply observed waiting for Jake to speak. Jake looked at the tray of food and shook his head.

“Aidan, you should eat. It's not tainted.” He said and walked over and sat down beside him.

"I know you're confused and angry, but please just try and hear me out.

" Aidan turned and looked at him incredulously, disbelieving that his levelheaded brother would fall so easily for whatever scam this group was running.

"What happened to you, Jake. All it takes is thick thighs and a handsome face, and you believe everything he tells you?" That was insulting, but Aidan was beyond being polite.

"That's not fair, Aidan." Jake shot back.

“You know what’s not fair, letting your friends lock me in a room and leave me, and then you have the nerve to try and convince me that they’re really just a bunch of cool guys that I’ll grow to like.

" Aidan jumped off the bed and started pacing the room, his anger evident.

"It's been less than twenty-four hours, and you're already indoctrinated in this .

. . whatever this is." He raised his hands and moved in a circle, emphasizing his confusion.

He made a sudden move toward Jake, and the door flew open.

“Enough!" Hayes burst into the room and charged at Aidan, who did not move. "You will speak to him with respect, or you will not speak to him at all!” Jake immediately jumped in front of his brother as both men tried to move him aside.

"I'm okay, Hayes; you're not helping," Jake interjected forcefully. Hayes took a reluctant step back but kept his eyes on Aidan.

“What the hell have you done to my brother, you fucking freak!" Aidan shouted and moved toward him, with Jake pushing him back.

“Stop, both of you.” He demanded. The men continued to glare, but they stopped threatening one another.

“Thank you.” Jake shook his head and glanced over at Hayes first and then back to his brother.

"Aidan, this is Hayes, and you're going to have to learn to get along with him because he is going to be a part of my life from now on.

It isn't a fad or a fling, or however you want to demean it.

This is true, and I knew it to be true the second I laid eyes on him.

Please try to see what I see. You two are not so different.

" Only silence ensued, and once again, Jake shook his head.

"I'm fine, Hayes. Please let me talk with Aidan.” Hayes did not look pleased but nodded curtly and then left the room. Jake turned back to his brother with a ‘what the fuck’ look on his face.

"Sit down," Jake said and pointed to the bed.

Aidan did as he was asked but did not look pleased about it.

"Now, I'm going to share something with you that is going to sound outrageous, but it is all true.

" Aidan was about to say something, but Jake cut him off.

"Let me speak, and then you can comment after.

" Aidan raised his hand, asking to speak, and Jaked nodded.

“I have one question before you begin.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Where’s Barlow?”

“Barlow was released. He didn’t see what you saw, and he was deemed not a threat to Pack security.” Jake answered, and it was half true. It was not the time to tell Aidan about the vampire mind wipe. “Now, let me explain.”

Isaiah caught up with Travis after the meeting with the Alpha.

Isaiah was scheduled to work the night shift with Travis on the Bayside.

His usual partner, Hayes, had a couple of weeks off to complete his bonding and get his mate settled into pack life.

Which, considering the events of the last couple of days, was not going to be so easy.

He and Travis headed down to the beach, which was five hundred feet of border that was primarily protected by around-the-clock foot patrols.

The cameras and sensors currently in operation were not adequate on their own to prevent trespassers, either those innocently wandering onto pack lands or those with evil intent.

It was a weakness that needed to be addressed and dealt with before something gravely serious happened.

"Every major breach has started here," Isaiah commented as they stood on the stone ridge and looked down at the sandy beach below them.

"I agree, we need something better, something more likely to deter, but the Alpha tried magics as a solution a few years ago, and still, we experienced trespassers.” Travis intoned dryly.

Isaiah explained the mage magic used by the Coven that was fine-tuned and specific to their needs. "It was designed and installed by Sasha's grandfather and is now under the control of the Master, who adjusts the breadth and intensity as he sees fit.”

“I think some of their security measures are worth replicating and will be of definite value on the cliffs and with securing the wild borders, but I really can’t see the Alpha using magics.

He has a prejudice where magic protections are concerned.

He believes it detracts from his own control.

” Travis continued as the devil’s advocate.

"That might be true with street magics and casters who beg and barter for their power, but we're talking about the power of a mage.” They continued walking along the ridge and then followed the path to the beach. “We have Sasha, Javiar’s mate, who has inherited his grandfather’s abilities.

He could easily set up protection similar and maybe even sharper than what his grandfather gave to the Coven.

” Isaiah was confident in the value of at least adding the mage magic to the mix.

“There is still potential for it to go wrong, and we’ve both seen the outcome of bad magics.” Travis had some valid concerns bad magic could run amuck in some of the worst ways.

"Mage magic is different. It's not flagrant or out of control. A mage is born with their power. It's part of their DNA. It’s magic that is solid and controlled, and the Alpha would have the ability to tweak it any way he desired. Sasha would give it to him once he set it up, and the power would belong to Alpha Henrik.” Isaiah truly believed in it, and he hoped that the meeting tomorrow would go well, but, in the end, it was the Alpha's choice, and they would honor his decision.

They let that conversation lay and continued to walk the border at the bay.

The discussion turned to Hayes and his new mate, Jake Kolly, a topic that had swept the entire pack. “I heard about the uproar at the main house yesterday. Were you there?” Isaiah asked with humor, coloring his words and his expression.

“No, but Hayes called me later and filled me in." He, too, laughed.

“It must have been wild. I could still feel the tension in the air today during my meeting at the main house.” Isaiah had felt more than just tension, but he didn’t mention it.

The feeling had been heavy and seemed to pull at him, but he assumed it was related to the dust-up from the previous day.

“I hear the brother has turned into an even larger concern since the vampire was unable to clear his memories.”

"He's a mate, apparently. They had everyone at the main house check him out, but they haven’t found his mate yet.”

“Did you check him out?”

“First thing this morning.” Travis turned to him with a smile. “Unfortunately, I was not a match. How about you? He is a hell of a handsome man, I'll tell you that.” Travis licked his lips.

“Not yet.” He laughed ruefully. “I heard he was handsome and quite the handful.”

"I wouldn't mind a handful," Travis commented.

“Neither would I.” Isaiah agreed. “Let’s get some coffee.”

“Sounds good.” They left the beach and headed for the dining hall.

Aidan listened as Jake wove a story of fantasy and magic as if it were reality and truth. Wolves and men and the world of the supernatural fell from his lips, and Aidan sat quietly and listened, desperate to understand what these people had done to his brother.

"They couldn't allow you to just leave because of what you saw," Jake said emphatically. "They are not bad people, Aidan."

“What did I see? What are you talking about?”

“The guard forgot himself and shifted in front of you. If Derek hadn’t jumped and covered you with his own body, the guard would have injured you badly." Jake’s frustration was building.

“Shifted?”

"You know what you saw," Jake stated sharply and held him with that accusatory stare he used whenever he felt that Aidan was being obtuse. Aidan remembered what he thought he saw but had written it off as some sort of excited aberration. “A man cannot turn into a wolf. That's impossible.”

Jake knocked on the door, and Hayes instantly opened the door and stepped inside.

He was obviously waiting just outside in case Jake needed him, and Aidan took immediate offense.

“You don’t have to hover.” He barked. “I’ve protected Jake his entire life, and you've only known him a day, so back up and stay in your lane.” Hayes remained silent, but his glare was brutal.

Jake walked over to him and patted his shoulder.

“Aidan is doubting what he saw yesterday.” He said, and something passed between them, a look and a nod, and then all hell broke loose again.

Right before his eyes, Hayes turned from a tall, muscular man dressed in jeans and a light shirt to a black wolf the size of a small horse.

The clothing was shredded and lay about the room, and the wolf stood tall and deadly with his dark eyes trained on Aidan.

Aidan moved to try and stand between the wolf and Jake, but Jake stepped to the side.

Jake walked towards the beast, and Aidan tried to stop him. "Stay back." He said, but Jake smiled and reached out his hand. The wolf nuzzled his hand, and Jake ran his fingers over the animal's head and then dropped a kiss on his nose. "What the fuck am I looking at!" Aidan shouted.

“This is Hayes, the love of my life and my Fated mate," Jake told him about their meeting on the beach and how Hayes had saved him.

Aidan listened this time as the true reality of his situation set in.

Jake described his own disbelief but also described how the growing bond between them helped him to see and understand.

"The supernatural is real, Aidan. They've been here as long as we have, maybe longer.

They live among us, working, thriving, and surviving. "

Aidan watched as the wolf turned back into a naked Hayes, who continued to give him the stink eye and possessively put his arm around Jake, pulling him towards him as if he thought Aidan would try to take him away.

"It's okay," Jake reassured Hayes. "I want to speak with Aidan alone, and then I thought he and I could go for a walk.

I'll show him around the pack lands." Aidan was sure by the look on his face that Hayes was going to balk at Jake's plans, but he nodded, and after a firm squeeze and a hard kiss, he left the room.

“So, now, do you trust what you saw yesterday?" Jake stated, always the smartass.

"Give me a minute, and then I'll answer that." Aidan was at a loss to explain what he just witnessed. Yesterday, he thought it was a delusion. Today, he knew it was not, and that fact was not in the least bit comforting.

"It's all true, Aidan; everything I've told you is true," Jake spoke slowly and purposefully, and Aidan began to believe.

"He's your mate, so does that mean you’re going to be living here now?” He thought he’d tackle the practical before getting too deep in the weeds.

Jake’s smile was worth whatever he had to accept.

It was becoming clear to him that Hayes did not mean him harm, and based on the way he responded to Jake, the connection appeared balanced and respectful.

The whole wolf pack shifter thing would take him some time, but he couldn’t deny it was true to some extent since he saw it with his own eyes.

“We were staying here at the Pack House because you're here, and I wanted to be close to you, but actually, Hayes has his own place here in Bay Harbor.

He said it's a small ranch-style home with two bedrooms, and he hopes that I like it.

I'm sure I will as long as he's there with me.” That smile returned, and it was there, clear as day, all the love and admiration he felt for that man, Hayes Castain.

"You love him, Jake?"

"I love him, Aidan.”

“Okay.” Aidan would try to get along with him, and he would try to be accepting of Jake's new life. Jake ran to him and hugged him, and Aidan held him and hoped that everything was as good as Jake thought it was.

"Let's go for a walk, and I'll show you around. It’s not at all what we thought; it's just a community that happens to be shifters.”

"Just happens to be shifters," Aidan repeated with just a touch of sarcasm as he slipped his shoes on. Jake had returned all of his belongings except for his phone.

"Don't start. You know I'm telling the truth. Come on, and let's go. I'll introduce you to a few people I know so you can see how normal everyone is.” Aidan smiled and nodded, and Jake grabbed him by the arm.