“Uhm.” Smokey’s brain knew he was supposed to respond but he had a hard time deciding which question to answer first.
“Kieran,” Jackson interjected. “Nice to have you back, but I need to speak with Smokey.”
“Oh that’s right…the whole Josiah thing. No problemo. Catch you all later, I’ll just go feed Queenie cuz travel always makes him hungry,” Kieran said, walking backward out of the room. “Oh, and Smokey, I know I’m speaking on behalf of the pack when I say, thanks for taking care of crazy Josiah. You did us all a solid.” Then, before anyone could respond, Kieran disappeared as fast as he’d appeared.
Chuckling, Jackson said, “Take a seat everyone. The High Council’s representative will be here shortly, and I want to make sure Smokey knows his rights as a member of the BlackwoodPack.” Then zeroing his eyes in on the grizzly bear, he continued, “especially regarding your gift.”
~/~/~/~/~
Stepping onto the grass surrounding the Blackwood Pack house, Reeve nodded to Turk before leading his men over to where their trucks were parked. Turning to Eddie, he said, “You and the guys can go back to the Silver Point compound. I have to meet with the Alpha about Josiah.”
“Are you sure we should go?” asked Eddie. “The Alpha didn’t seem too friendly.”
“I’ll be fine,” Reeve replied.
“What do you want to do with these?” Eddie asked, pointing to a bunch of bags containing Josiah’s remains.
“Put them in one of the Pack’s freezers until I find out what the Council wants to do.”
“Groovy,” Eddie murmured, tossing the bags into the SUV.
“And make sure to lock the freezer.”
Chuckling, Eddie opened the driver’s side door and climbed in. “What? You don’t want Josiah to end up on the menu?”
Shaking his head at Eddie’s joke, Reeve thumped the side of the vehicle before stepping back. “Go asshole…call me if you run into any problems.”
“Will do, boss.”
Walking over to the far side of the driveway after his men left, Reeve dug his phone out of his pocket and checked to make sure he was alone, before calling Heath.
“Do you have him?” Heath asked, not bothering with niceties.
Snorting, Reeve said, “I guess you could say that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Josiah was killed by a grizzly bear shifter who was pissed at Josiah for shooting him.”
“So he’s dead.”
“Oh yeah, he most certainly is dead. Have you ever seen a grizzly bear kill his prey?”
“Nope, can’t say I have…does it go for the throat like a wolf shifter does?” asked Heath.
“Not even close. All that’s left of Josiah are bits and pieces of his body.”
“Holy shit! What are you going to tell Kahn?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Reeve muttered. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and he won’t ask how his father died.” Then changing the subject, he said, “I’m stuck at the Blackwood Pack for a while, so I want you to stay there tonight and make sure no one tells Kahn or his family that Josiah is dead. I want them to hear it from me.”
“Sure,” Heath said, hesitating before adding, “I know it wasn’t what you wanted, but on the bright side, you’re free to claim your mate now. Take care…and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sliding his phone slowly back into his pocket, Reeve thought about Kahn and wondered if his mate would ever forgive him for failing to find his father before someone killed him.
Chapter 22
Holy fucking shit!Jackson’s mind just kept repeating it over and over as he sat there staring at Smokey.Lord Manetu…holy fucking shit!It was a gift he’d never heard of before; no wonder Smokey had kept it a secret. If the word got out, there’d be no end of unsavory characters trying to capture him in order to gain control of it.Holy fucking shit!Shifting his gaze to Dylon, he shook his head and, after getting the same response from him, he knew they were both thinking the same thing.
