Braxton turned and clamped his heavy hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to explain yourself to me, brother. The president orchestrated much of this to ensure he got what he wanted. So now we will play this game … just long enough to figure out how to take this leadership down once and for all."
I met his piercing blue gaze. "He’s going to wish he never messed with supernaturals. I’m going to make sure of it.”
If it was the last thing I ever did.
12
Justice Winter
Iwas in a weird situation. Traveling between cities—worlds—with no actual place to call home. It wasn’t the first time I’d been “homeless,” but it was the first time that I was okay with it.
Today, I was in the Compass's living room, surrounded by Jessa, Mischa, and Grace, the mates of three of the quads; all strong, beautiful, capable, and in Jessa's case, scary as fuck.
I admired them all and loved counting them as friends. Even if I did wonder if I’d ever feel as comfortable being here as the three of them appeared to.
"I can't fucking believe the president," Jessa snarled, pacing, her eyes going all wolfy as she huffed. "That bastard set us up and I for one hope they vote to just kill him."
Mischa shook her head. "You know they won't. It’s too shortsighted. I bet they'll come up with some sort of plan to turn this around and make him seriously regret trying to blackmail us."
Jessa's eyes bugged out; she looked like she wanted to shoot a fireball at the wall she was glaring at. Thankfully, she was a wolf shifter and couldn't easily blow things up. It had saved a lot of lives—and walls—I was certain.
"How are things with you and Jacob?" Grace asked, changing the subject. It wasn’t necessarily a subject I wanted to talk about, especially since I’d dropped the whole “true mate” bomb on him and had barely gotten a response in return.
To be fair, we hadn’t had a lot of time to hash it out before Tyson showed up, but Jacob’s non-answer felt like an answer all on its own.
"You know," I sighed, "I actually don't know. We fought a lot—don't get me wrong, but he’s different to what I thought … not as cocky or arrogant."
He was actually considerate, caring, and protective in a way that didn’t make me feel smothered. Fucker was under my skin and I stupidly hadn’t seen it coming.
Jessa snorted, turning her attention from the wall to me. "Not arrogant? That doesn't sound like any of my Compasses."
My…
It fucking bothered me the way she so casually said that, like she was some lady with her own personal Compass harem. Neither Grace or Mischa reacted, and I knew I was being ridiculous, latching on to that word. Jessa had been best friends with the guys since they were babies, and she meant it only in that context, since she was happily mated to Braxton.
But … it still bothered me.
"You're right, it is weird,” I said, shaking it off, “but instead of arrogant he was mostly angry…”And kind and sweet and caring.
“Angry?” Jessa asked, her forehead crinkling like she was trying to imagine that.
"Losing control of his fire power a lot. Sending soldiers into walls with a well-placed blast of wind. Shit like that. It was weird because before we were there, Jacob seemed like the cool and calm one of the four.”
Jessa was concerned. I could see it in the tilt of her blue eyes and the pull on her full lips. Perfect white teeth worried at those lips as she stared right into my eyes like she was seeing into my soul.
"That's not like him at all," she murmured.
Grace sat a little straighter. "Tyson was like that when we first started orbiting each other again."
"Max was too," Mischa added.
Jessa looked between both of them. "Are you saying that Justice and Jacob are true mates…?"
All three of them looked at me and I sighed. "Yeah, I've admitted to him that I think we might be true mates. He unbalances me, and has ever since we first met."
"What did Jacob say?" Jessa asked in a rush, and she didn't sound upset about the possibility, which relaxed the stiffness in my shoulders.
"He kinda brushed it aside, all the while implying that it might be best if we never found out."
