Chapter Fourteen
Jackie walked over and peered out the window into the darkness. Boone had been missing for hours. It felt like days. The sun was just starting to crest over the mountains in the distance. Daylight was quickly moving in.
And there was no sign of Boone.
Jackie didn’t know what he was going to do if they didn’t find Boone. In a matter of days, the man had come to mean more to him than breathing. He would be lost without him. The thought of never seeing Boone again made Jackie’s stomach clench.
He just didn’t think he’d survive it.
“Hugh, there’s a car coming up the driveway.”
Jackie wanted to run outside and see if it was Boone or someone with news of Boone. He didn’t. He had enough sense to know Hugh and the enforcers needed to meet whomever it was first.
Still, he couldn’t pry himself away from the window. He clutched at the windowsill as he watched Hugh walk down the first couple of steps on the porch. His enforcers fanned out behind him, creating a wall between whoever was coming and the house.
Basically, Hugh’s mates.
“Daddy.” Jackie raced for the door. He couldn’t believe his dad was here. He hadn’t seen the man in what felt like forever. When the man said he was coming, Jackie hadn’t quite believed it, and yet here he was.
Jackie pulled the front door open and stepped out, right into an enforcer. “Please, I need to get through.” When the enforcer didn’t move, Jackie tried to go around him. The behemoth simply moved into Jackie’s path. “Move, damn it.”
The man spared Jackie a quick glance and growled. No one was more surprised than Jackie when he growled back.Thatsound had never come out of his mouth before.
But it got the guy to move.
Jackie darted past him before the enforcer could stop him. He started to hop down the steps, but one glare from Hugh stopped him where he was. He pointed. “That’s my dad.”
“Does he know?”
Jackie shook his head.
“Then you need to let me handle it, because the man he’s with is a shifter.”
Jackie’s gaze snapped up to the men standing near the car. He hadn’t even realized someone was with his father. He clenched his hands as fear swelled up in his chest. “He can’t be,” Jackie whispered. “That’s Drummond.”
Hugh turned to look at him. “I thought you’d never met Drummond.”
“I haven’t, but I know that scent.” Of course, Jackie had no idea how he could smell the guy from across the yard. “I’ve smelled it before, down in the catacombs where they were holding us while they experimented on us. The halls reeked of it.”
“Are you sure it’s him?” Hugh asked in a very low tone. “Because Drummond is supposed to be human.”
He met Hugh’s gaze. “So was I.”
The low growl that started coming from Hugh as he looked back at the two men approaching surprised Jackie. Okay, maybe not. Hugh seemed like the growly type. The fact that he believed the things Jackie said was more surprising.
Jackie had no proof, only his word, and yet Hugh still believed him. Jackie suddenly had an idea of what Boone meant when he said Hugh was a good alpha.
“Stay here,” Hugh ordered.
“My father—”
“I’ll send him to you.” Hugh met his eyes again. “Get him inside and away from the windows as quickly as possible. This may turn furry.”
Jackie nodded his understanding.
It took everything he possessed to stay on the porch as Hugh stepped off, followed quickly by two of his enforcers. Jeez, they were huge. Jackie had to grab on to the porch railing to keep from running down the stairs to his father.
When Hugh stopped in front of Jackie’s father and Drummond, Jackie couldn’t stand it. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching him. They weren’t. They all seemed to be watching the confrontation in the driveway.
