“You don’t have to sugarcoat it, you know,” Jake said. “I know McKay pretty much blackmailed you into taking the job. I hadn’t thought about it much until now, though. I guess I owe you an apology.”
Caleb snorted again, and Jes imagined the big werewolf shrugging his shoulders. “There’s no reason for you to apologize. I was the one who made all the poor life choices, starting with the one that ended up with me becoming an omega instead of an alpha and ending with the one that landed me in that prison in Texas. I thought breaking out of the place was one of my better decisions, until I realized I’d be running for the rest of my life. When McKay made his offer, I figured spending the next three years risking my life for the feds would be worth it for a shot at a clean record and my freedom.”
Jes’s head spun. It was all she could do to keep from running down the steps and into the kitchen, demanding to know what Caleb was talking about. What did he mean about a poor choice resulting in him becoming an omega instead of an alpha werewolf? And what had he done to get tossed into prison? More importantly, if he’d escaped and been on the run, how had McKay found him?
“So, what you’re saying is that while you don’t really want to be here, you won’t do anything to screw up your chance at redemption,” Jake said.
“I’m not sure I’d call it redemption,” Caleb muttered. “But back to the point I was trying to make about Jes earlier. Just because she has some reservations about being on the team that doesn’t mean it can’t eventually work out. I have my reasons to be wary and I’m staying. Maybe she will, too.”
Jes almost fell off the step she was standing on, confused as to why Caleb was suddenly on her side.
In the kitchen, Jake let out another soft laugh. “Wait. Weren’t you the one who just said Jes didn’t trust us enough for this team to ever work out? Now you’re saying I should give her a chance?”
“I never said Jes didn’t trust us,” Caleb corrected. “I pointed out I didn’t think Forrest did, then asked what you thought Jes would do now that she’d seen what you can do as a werewolf. Wherever your mind went after that is completely on you. Look, all I’m saying is that you might want to talk to her before you decide you know what’s going on in her head.”
Jake didn’t answer, like he was thinking over what Caleb said. Before he could reply, a loud ping sounded from the kitchen, echoing in the silence.
“That must be the Skype call you’ve been waiting for,” Caleb said even as Jes heard the stool he’d obviously been sitting on scrape along the floor. “I’m gonna try and get some sleep.”
Jes pushed away from the wall, wondering if she could make it upstairs before Caleb caught her standing there, but she barely had time to form the thought before the big omega walked out of the kitchen and down the hall.
“I thought I heard someone on the stairs,” he said, his gaze level with hers even though she was a few steps higher than he was. “Couldn’t sleep?”
Jes’s heart thudded faster. Was that Caleb’s subtle way of letting her know he’d realized she’d been there the whole time he and Jake had been talking? But when he stood there regarding her curiously, she decided maybe that wasn’t it.
“Yeah,” she said. “I was sitting with Misty and thought I’d come down to get something to eat.”
She walked down the rest of the steps and started past him when he gently caught her arm.
“Is Misty okay?” he asked, the concerned expression seeming almost out of place on his rough features.
Jes nodded. “She woke up a little while ago. Outside of a major migraine and some concussion-like symptoms, she’s fine. Or at least she says she is. Forrest is going to sit with her for the rest of the night just to make sure.”
She thought she might have caught a quick smile slipping across Caleb’s face, but it disappeared before she could be sure. Turning, he headed up the steps but then stopped, his heavily muscled shoulders visibly tense. Jes stiffened, too, sure he was going to confront her about why she’d been eavesdropping before.
“I’m sorry about that crap I said the other night about the bags in my room,” he said quietly. “I didn’t know they belonged to your teammate. If I had, I wouldn’t have…”
“It’s okay,” Jes said, stunned at the apology, even if it was long overdue. “We were all tired and tense. I already forgot about it. You should, too.”
Caleb looked over his shoulder and gave her a nod, then continued up the stairs, his heavy boots silent on the steps.
That left Jes alone in the hallway. She hesitated, torn between going to her room or heading to the kitchen. Surely, Jake had heard her and Caleb talking. Not going into the kitchen now would seem weird.
Taking a deep breath, she made her way in that direction.
Jake was sitting at the island when she walked in. He was focused on his laptop, a big smile on his face. She tried to ignore him as she went over to the coffeepot, but that proved more difficult than she thought. For some reason, Jes couldn’t stop herself from looking his way. The urge to tell him he was all wrong about her bailing on the team and that he and the other werewolves could trust her was suddenly overwhelming, but then she caught sight of something on the laptop that completely fragmented her thought processes.
Two cute girls were wedged in tightly together on a Skype screen, soft features identical, long, straight hair so perfectly platinum Jes wanted to think it came out of a bottle but instinctively knew it didn’t. They couldn’t have been any more than eighteen years old at the most.
Jes concentrated on pouring coffee into a mug, then adding cream and sugar. She didn’t want to eavesdrop on their conversation—she’d done enough of that already—but it was hard not to when they were barely four feet away from where she was standing. The discussion seemed to revolve mostly around what Jake had been doing in London and whether he’d gone sightseeing yet. It was impossible to miss the way he kept steering the conversation away from him and the work he was doing and focused on the two girls and what they were up to. He kept asking if they’d had any guys over, and from his tone of voice, it was obvious the answer better be no.
That’s when it hit Jes.
The twins were Jake’s kids.
Her mind immediately rebelled at the realization. No way was Jake old enough to have two teenage daughters. He couldn’t be much older than she was, and at thirty-six, she couldn’t have handled two kids who looked ready to be filling out college applications.
Then another thought poked her in the stomach hard enough to make breathing next to impossible. Wait…holy crap…was Jake married?
