“My mother.” Keith clenched his fist. “She had been with him. For some reason, she came to Green Field, took up with the pack Alpha, got pregnant with me, and then my father died. Nobody seems to understand how.” He looked up and met Brian’s gaze. “Sound familiar?”
It took a few seconds for what he was implying to register. “You think your mother killed your father?” Brian asked, horrified at the possibility.
“I was a baby when she died so I never knew her, and like I said, she hadn’t lived in Green Field long so my packmates didn’t really know her either, but I think at the very least, she helped Rupert kill him. She showed up there, seduced my father much like Claire tried to seduce you, and once she did that, she was carrying the heir, which locked in her spot.” He drew in a deep breath. “And then she brought Rupert Jackson to Green Field.”
Brian put the pieces together in his head. “You think she was scheming to make Rupert the Green Field Alpha the entire time?”
He shrugged. “If she was, it worked, right?”
Brian nodded slowly. “How did your mother die?”
“They said she was sick, but I don’t know what type of illness.”
“Do you think Rupert killed her too? Tied up the last loose end?”
“Not the last one.” Keith pointed his thumb at his own chest.
Whenever Brian had faced challenges, he had always done so with the certainty that he’d meet them and beat them, so he hadn’t been afraid. But in that moment, he was petrified. “He won’t ever stop trying to kill you, will he?”
Keith shook his head, his lips turning up in a small smile.
“Try to look less happy about that.”
“I’m not easy to kill, mate. I believe I’ve effectively proven that a time or twenty.” He brushed his fingers through Brian’s hair. “But other people are and I don’t want collateral damage. I also need to free Green Field from the Jacksons.”
“There’s something very wrong there.” Brian squinted into the distance, trying to remember exactly what he had sensed when he entered the Green Field territory. He shuddered. “I don’t know how to describe it, but as soon as I entered that pack, something was off.”
“I’ve been living on my own for years, and when I came back to Green Field, I wasn’t in the best shape but, yeah, it’s all wrong.”
“You were a breath away from death. If I hadn’t come there when I did…” Brian’s chest seized at the knowledge that his mate could have been lost to him forever.
“I’m here.” He took Brian’s hand in his and squeezed it. “Maybe the Ruperts have sullied the atmosphere with their evilness.”
“I don’t think that’s a thing.”
“Maybe not directly, but if the Alpha isn’t connecting with Mother Nature or his pack members, or worse, if he’s repelling them, then sure, it’ll infect the whole atmosphere. That’s probably what you sensed and it’s why we need to go to Green Field and end Rupert Jackson’s reign.”
Brian opened his mouth to once again insist that he’d handle the mess in Green Field when he registered exactly what Keith had said. “We?” he asked.
“Caught that, did you?” Keith grinned. “In the interest of moving things along, I’ve come up with a compromise. We’ll go together.”
“Fine, but I don’t want you to get hurt. I’ll handle Rupert Jackson, his son, and his minions. You can be there to put the pack members at ease.”
He expected Keith to be upset and push back at the idea of Brian doing all the fighting but instead he looked amused. “Alright. You can take the lead, mate.”
Chapter 12
“Good morning,” Keith said the moment he sensed his mate waking. “I made you a protein shake.”
Forehead creased, Brian rubbed his eyes. “What?” He squinted up at him. “Why aren’t you asleep?” He blinked a few times, raised himself onto his elbows, and turned toward the window. “It’s still dark out. What time is it?”
“It’s early o’clock. Also, those curtains are total pervs. They stare at us when we’re going at it. Have you considered switching them out?”
Brian flopped back down, covered his eyes with his forearm, and sighed. “Did you just say an inanimate object is watching us?”
“Uh-huh. The pattern looks like eyeballs. I normally don’t care about design choices, but if they’re going to have the privilege of seeing us do the naked dance, they should at least cheer or something. They just hang there, quiet. It’s rude.”
He raised his arm and reached out to Keith. “We can change the curtains. Come back to bed.”
