Jackson couldn’t keep from smiling—even if he wanted to—after listening to Lizzie talk to her powerful husband that way. “That’s fine, Lizzie. I run an informal pack. This is my mate, Steel Valentin and our son, Daniel Maximillian.”
“Oh, isn’t he the sweetest baby ever. Look Frank, doesn’t he remind you of our Dylon when he was just a baby,” Lizzie said, as she let Daniel grab her finger.
“Lizzie, this is my brother Cody, Fated Mate of your son,” Jackson said.
Turning to Cody, Lizzie gushed, “Oh my, you are the handsomest man I ever did see. I mean after my husband and my son,” said Lizzie before adding in a stage whisper, “I had to say that just so I wouldn’t hurt their feelings.”
That did it, Cody roared with laughter. “Thank you, Lizzie. I’ll be sure to remind your son of that fact whenever he needs to be put in his place. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, come here,” Lizzie gushed as she wrapped her arms around Cody, giving him a big hug. Finally stepping back, she asked, “Is my son treating you right? You can tell me. He’s not too big to be taken over my knee for a spanking.”
Cody was now laughing so hard, tears ran down his cheeks as he pictured Dylon getting spanked. Finally, he regained control and said, “There’s no need to do that because he’s treating me fine. But thank you for the offer.”
Jackson smiled at the interplay between his brother and Lizzie, quite taken with the sound of Cody’s laughter. Hearing it made him realize it had been a while since Cody laughed like that and it saddened him.Why didn’t I realize my brother was hurting?He made a mental note to find out more about Cody’s foresight.
“Mom, will you stop? Please, I assure you I’m taking very good care of Cody,” said Dylon.
She giggled as she hugged her son. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Cody knows I’ll do it if you misbehave.” That produced a new round of laughter from everyone.
“Hello, Cody, I’m Dylon’s father, Franklin Royd. But please call me Frank. Welcome to the family.”
But before he could say more, Lizzie spotted Oracle and said, “Oracle, how nice to see you, again. I swear, you look younger every time I see you. You have to tell me your secret. And you must be Maximus. Sorry I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you before. So, your son is mated to my son’s Fated Mate’s brother! Wow, that makes us related. Isn’t that wonderful? Oh Frank, dear, I’m going to need a bigger budget for the Long Night Moon Festival. So many gifts to buy.”
Frank answered, “Yes, Lizzie, but first don’t you think we should meet the rest of the pack? Alpha, if that is okay with you?”
“Call me Jackson, Frank. That’s a good idea. Let’s go in so you can meet everyone.”
~/~/~/~/~
Rudy called every pack in California except the Blackwood Pack and all denied receiving a visit from Franklin Royd. As much as he didn’t want to accept the truth staring him in the face, he had to. Dylon Royd mated with someone in the Blackwood Pack. It had to be. It was the only pack left.Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!He pounded his desk.Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Think!But Rudy didn’t like the conclusion his thoughts led him to. If Josiah found out what he had done to Royd’s son, Rudy would be dead.Hell, Royd would order it himself.
Taking a deep breath, he held it for a minute before letting it out. Rudy needed a calm mind to think about what he should do about this clusterfuck of bullshit. He snorted when he thought about Josiah’s job offer of head enforcer to Dylon.Like that fucking little piss-ant would ever want to come back here. But will he cry to his daddy about what we did?He went over everything in his mind about Dylon and came to the conclusion it was better than even odds Dylon would say nothing.
His assessment was based on the man’s conduct at Silver Point. Even when the older enforcers hazed him, Dylon never reported it.No, that asshole wasn’t a cry baby. Well, that’s a break for me.He sighed because it was time to report his findings to Josiah. Locking his office door, he walked down the hall and stopped in front of his Alpha’s office. Giving two sharp raps, he waited for Josiah to respond. Receiving permission, he opened the door, walked in and made sure it was tightly shut behind him. He knew he was getting paranoid but couldn’t help it. Everything that could have gone wrong, had. And now he was sitting here with his neck stretched out on the block just waiting for the axe to fall.
Josiah could tell by the way Rudy was acting he didn’t have good news. “Well, did you find him?”
“Not exactly.”
“What’s that supposed to fucking mean? Did you find him or not?”
“My contacts at the High Council couldn’t find out exactly where Royd went. All I found out was he came to California. I called all the packs but no one had seen him.” Rudy let that sink in then added, “The only pack left is the Blackwood Pack. Dylon is mated to one of your nephews.”
Chapter 14
After introductions were made, Dakota announced that dinner was ready. Following the brothers in, Dylon led his mate and parents into the dining room. Taking their seats, he checked his mate for signs of distress but found only a slight wince when Cody’s sensitive cheeks met the chair.
“My goodness, Dakota, did you make all this wonderful food for us? It smells delicious! Did you go to school to learn how to cook?” Lizzie asked, as the plates of steaks and slices of venison roast were passed around.
“I had one year of culinary school, but before that, my mother taught me.”
Cutting into her steak, Lizzie exclaimed, “This is perfectly done. Would you mind telling me your secret?” asked Lizzie.
“Sure, maybe tomorrow I can show you how I do it, if that’s okay with Dylon and Cody,” said Dakota.
Cody looked at Dylon, hoping he would answer. His mind was overloaded and he couldn’t think of what to say.
Picking up Cody’s silent request, Dylon smiled at his mother and said, “I think that’s a great idea Mom. You know how fussy Dad gets when his steak isn’t done right.”
