Page 35 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

To Jason’s surprise, Sabrina had quickly agreed to come with them to Michigan.

But for most of the trip she’d stared out the window and didn’t have much to say.

Even Kyle noticed something was off and kept glancing back at her from the front passenger seat.

Jean Luc had volunteered to drive, which was normally the case.

At least today he wasn’t driving like they were part of a high-speed chase.

The team let him drive most of the time since he was a worse back-seat driver.

Even Misha, the calmest of all of them, had threatened to leave Jean Luc on the side of the road on more than one occasion. Kyle only drove when Jean Luc was not with them, since there would be bloodshed otherwise.

Jason sat in the back of the van with Sabrina. He wanted to reach over and hold her hand, to do something to help with whatever was bothering her, but didn’t know if he should do that with Kyle gawking at them.

Kyle turned again. “So, are Lucas and Alexander settling in at Griffin’s?”

Sabrina blinked as if waking from a dream.

“Lucas has all his instruments set up, and he’s already working on Jason’s case.

” She glanced at Jason. “He wants to examine you again and take more blood. He hopes that we find out some information about your biological family today since that would help.”

“Is that why you brought your doctor’s bag?” he asked.

“If we’re lucky enough to find someone related to you, I am going to ask them for a blood sample, yes.”

“I am curious why you have not told us about your brother or clan?” Jean Luc said. “And it is fine if you do not wish to answer me.”

Sabrina sighed. “I split from my clan over a century ago. It’s hard to talk about.”

Jason reached over and laid his hand over Sabrina’s, Kyle’s reaction be damned. Sabrina clasped it for a moment before letting go.

“My brother and I used to be close, so my leaving added more pain to what he was already going through.”

“Your brother is…” Kyle stopped talking.

A smile ghosted Sabrina’s lips before the sadness returned. “Yes, he is arrogant and rude. But that is a recent change. He’s brilliant and driven. But he’s broken now.”

“Does that mean I have to be nice to him?” Kyle said.

A bigger grin played on Sabrina’s face this time. “No. You can call him out on his behavior if needed.”

Kyle nodded with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Jean Luc glanced over. “You heard Sabrina. Only if needed.”

Kyle pursed her lips in a pout. “Why do you always have to mess with my fun, Jean Luc?”

“That is not my intent, ma petite. ”

“Don’t use French to try and distract me.”

Jean Luc flashed a little fang. “I would not think of it.” He turned back to the road and then looked up at Jason in the rearview mirror. “How would you like to handle things once we reach our destination?”

God love Jean Luc for asking his opinion.

He appreciated that he was still treating him like a teammate and not a ticking shifter bomb.

“I don’t think all four of us should descend on him.

I’ll talk to him, and Sabrina can come with me so that she can see if she senses supernatural.

You and Kyle can be reinforcements if we need you. ”

“Reinforcements. I’ve been called worse,” Kyle said with a grin. “But you have to tell us word for word what happens afterward.”

Fifty minutes later Jean Luc pulled in front of a small house. Even in early spring, the large flower beds were impressive. Daffodils dotted the beds along with the small white flowers his mom called snowdrops. An older man pushed a wheelbarrow around the side of the house into the backyard.

“There is Rowling,” Jason said.

“I think we should call him by his new name. We don’t want to spook him right out the gate,” Sabrina said.

“We will be waiting,” Jean Luc said.

“Good luck!” Kyle added as he and Sabrina climbed out of the van.

“Should we knock on the front door?” Jason asked.

“I don’t think he’ll hear us. Let’s walk around to the back and call out so that he knows we’re coming.”

Jason nodded and she followed as he walked cautiously toward the back. “Hello! Are you back here, Mr. Fulton?” He stepped around the corner of the house.

Fulton turned toward them and dropped his gardening gloves in the wheelbarrow. “I’m not buying anything.”

“We’re not selling anything. We just want to talk to you for a moment,” Jason said.

He gave Jason a once-over before staring hard at Sabrina as if trying to figure her out. “You both need to leave.”

“Why do we need to leave?” Jason asked.

Fulton didn’t respond.

“Because I’m a demon?” Sabrina said.

He frowned. “Knew you were something. Can’t say I’ve seen many demons in my life. What do you want?”

“Do you know who the Bureau of Supernatural Relations is?” Jason said.

He nodded. “Yep. Not a fan.”

Well, this wasn’t going well. “We’re from the Bureau and wanted to talk to you about your time in Chicago.”

Fulton’s eyes flared for a moment before he calmed his expression. “Never was one for big cities.”

“I think you were going by the name Rowling back then.” Jason pushed.

Fulton picked up a rake and held it in front of him like a weapon. “Time for you to go.”

“We really need your help,” Sabrina said.

“I’m not answering any questions for the Bureau.”

Jason scrambled for ideas. “What about for me? You helped my parents adopt me. My name is Jason Watson. I think you knew my mother, Jessica.”

Fulton gaped at him before shaking his head. “Where did you hear that name?”

Jason wasn’t sure if he meant his own name or Jessica’s, so he kept talking. “My mom Lidia told me about Jessica. They had been friends growing up, and Jessica brought me to them to keep safe. I have the papers you sent to my adoptive parents. I can show them to you.”

Fulton raised the rake higher. “Don’t come too close.”

“I’ll put them on the wheelbarrow for you to look at.” Jason took a slow step and then another until he got to the wheelbarrow and set the envelope down. He backed up several steps so that Fulton could look at the papers without fear of being jumped.

Fulton picked up the envelope and rested the rake on the ground with the handle leaning against his shoulder. His hands trembled when he pulled out the paperwork. He sucked in a breath when he held up the picture of Jessica and Jason as a baby.

Fulton looked at the picture and then at Jason, his expression softening. “You look like her. You have the same eyes.”

Jason sucked in a shaky breath. “I need to know more about her and what happened.”

“Why now? Jessica made your mother promise not to tell you the truth if you didn’t shift when you turned twelve. I waited until then before changing my name and moving away from Chicago.”

Jesus. This guy spent years of his life watching out for him.

“He is showing shifter traits now,” Sabrina said. “I’m a doctor helping him with his powers, which is why Lidia and Carter told Jason the truth about his past.”

“And what do you hope I’ll tell you?”

Jason clenched his jaw for a moment to hold in his frustration. “What was Jessica running from? Why did she give me to my adoptive parents?”

He looked down at the picture again. “What did your parents tell you?”

“That she was afraid for me, and that if they knew I was part shifter, whoever she was running from might hurt me.”

A myriad of expressions ran across Fulton’s face as if he debated with himself on what he should say.

Jason stopped himself from stepping closer. “Please. I’m not trying to cause trouble. I need to understand.”

Fulton blew out a deep breath. “Jessica’s pack kept absolute control over their members.

Everything was decided by their alpha. What they did for a living, who they mated.

And they believed that you shouldn’t mix with humans.

And you definitely shouldn’t have children with them.

Jessica’s mother ran from the pack to raise Jessica away from their hate and bigotry.

She moved to Wisconsin with her, and they stayed until her pack tracked them down. ”

Jason frowned. “My mother always thought they ran because she had found out Jessica was a shifter, and they were afraid she would tell someone.”

“No. They had gotten word that the pack had found them.”

“Who sent word?” Jason pressed.

Fulton’s expression closed. “People looking out for them.”

“People who helped shifters escape from the pack,” Sabrina said.

“Yes.”

“And how did you get involved?” Sabrina asked.

“My great-grandmother was a shifter. Other than sensing when supernaturals are around, I didn’t inherit any powers, so I pass as human, which has kept me safe.

My great-grandmother was killed when the pack caught up with her.

Her son, my grandfather, wasn’t home at the time, and since they didn’t come for him, his mother died keeping his whereabouts a secret. ”

“That was over a hundred years ago. Things have changed,” Jason said.

Fulton scoffed. “Just because you say things have changed don’t make it so.”

“The current shifter leader would help if there are still packs out there persecuting people.”

“The brother of William? William was a narcissistic sociopath and a bigot. He didn’t help any of us when we appealed to him; why would we believe that his brother wouldn’t do the same?”

Jason’s head started to throb. “Because he took down his own brother to stop him.”

Fulton shrugged. “Not sure how altruistic he is since he ended up with the throne.”

“He has spoken out against prejudice against humans. He dated a human for a time himself.” Okay, so Kyle was part demon, but Jason didn’t need to bring that up at the moment.

“Seamus Griffin has been in charge for fifty years, well before you were born, and we still had to hide you away. And he did nothing to stop your mother’s pack.”

“You keep saying ‘we.’ What aren’t you telling us?” Sabrina said.

Fulton shoved the photo back into the envelope and set it down. “I didn’t do this on my own. I had help.”

“Jason wasn’t the only pack member hidden away,” Sabrina stated rather than posed it as a question.

“I won’t tell you anything about them.”

How widespread was this? “Did my mother help you?”

His eyes flashed with pain. “Your mother was a hero. She could have run away with you. She’d escaped her pack as a child and could have been done with it all, but she wouldn’t leave the others behind. She helped them escape.”

“And you helped too,” Sabrina said. “Were there other adoptions like Jason?”

Fulton nodded. “There were, but I only handled the paperwork for your adoption. We couldn’t risk me being a link to all the children or adults who were in hiding.”

Jason took a step forward. “Do you know what happened to my mother?”

Fulton’s eyes saddened. “She was killed helping a shifter escape the pack.”

Jason’s stomach churned as he choked down bile. “How could this have happened without the Bureau or main pack knowing about it?”

“Because evil is two-faced and insidious. Looks you in the eye and says what you want to hear while stabbing you when your back is turned.”

Jason braced himself before he asked his next question. “Do you know who my father is?”

“He was a human soldier killed in action. I don’t know much about him other than losing him pushed her over the edge. She had been involved for years in helping pack members escape, but she became bolder and more determined to rescue those abused in the pack get to freedom.”

“Are my grandparents still alive?”

Fulton shook his head.

Jason wanted to scream. Sabrina rested her hand on his arm. She shook her head slightly and then took a small step toward Fulton. “If Lidia had called you years ago and told you that Jason had shifted, what were you supposed to do?”

He blew out a breath. “I was supposed to take him to a shifter that Jessica had chosen, who could raise him and teach him about his powers.”

It’s a good thing he hadn’t shifted at twelve, because both of his parents would have fought tooth and nail to keep him. “Can I have their name?”

“Nope. I’m not exposing anyone to you.”

Frustration crashed through him. “Can you reach out to them and ask if they would be willing to talk to me? It would be their choice.”

He frowned. “I can try. But I don’t know if the contact information I have even works now. I haven’t spoken to them since I called and told them you hadn’t shifted, and that was twenty-five years ago. They could be anywhere now, living under a different name like me.”

“I would appreciate if you would try.” Jason picked up the envelope with a shaky hand and wrote his phone number on the flap before tearing it off and handing it to him. “What about the pack you talked about? Are they still abusing their members?”

Fulton smiled. “No. After centuries of abuse and with our help, the pack rose up and took care of the alpha and his soldiers. The members have since scattered.”

“So your network doesn’t have to help shifters any longer?”

“I didn’t say that. There are always shifters in need, and the group will help them when they can.”

“You as well?” Sabrina said.

Fulton shook his head. “I’m retired. The younger generations have taken up the torch.”

“We’ll leave you to your gardening. Thank you for talking to me. And…thank you for keeping me safe.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to know Jessica. She was a beautiful soul.”

Jason tried to calm his breathing as he walked with Sabrina to the front yard.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know what I am. I feel like I learned nothing yet everything. Do you believe him when he says he’s retired?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think you retire from protecting people. But if we push him anymore, he’ll spook.”

Jason agreed even though he wanted to turn back around and insist Fulton give him the shifter’s name. “I hope he tries to reach out to the shifter. Maybe they'll know more about my mother. And we struck out on any blood samples.”

“Yes, but you know more about your past and your mother now.”

His mother. A hero. He wasn’t sure what to think of that. She’d sacrificed herself to help others. And as much as he loved his parents—and they would always be his parents—he wondered what it would have been like to know Jessica. And his biological father, a soldier like him.

Sabrina reached for his hand as they walked toward the van, and this time—thankfully—she didn’t let go.