“Colton, Ian?” Jackson waited while his brother and Ian reached an agreement through their mind link.
Colton turned to Jackson. “We agree also. No action will be taken; however, we reserve the right to attack in the future if it’s warranted because I guarantee that our pup will never meet Josiah.”
“Then it’s agreed,” said Jackson and, turning to Dylon, added, “after the meeting, I’d like to ask you a few questions about your time with Silver Point.”
“Sure.”
“Logan, I know Zane is better these days, but this might bring up some bad memories so please keep an eye on him. Cody, I’m going to take up the matter pertaining to the boys first and I don’t anticipate any problems, but there might be when I shift to Josiah’s complaint. Any questions?”
“Nope but since Logan’s here, I wanted him to know I’m assigning Kieran to him today. Zane is busy writing a new software program so Kieran would have nothing to do,” said Cody.
“Fine,” said Logan. “Are you and Dylon going to bring him and if so, please plan on staying for a while. I have some ideas for Jake and Jessica’s nursery I want to show you. Are you still planning to use the suite next to yours as a nursery?”
“We’d like to,” Cody replied, “but still need to run that past Jackson. In the meantime, though, we can look at what you’re planning.”
Standing, Logan said, “Works for me. What I want to show you will work in any room you choose.”
“Okay, let’s get this show on the road,” Jackson said, as he and Steel rose. The rest of the group joined Jackson and Steel as they left the study and headed to the great room where Dakota, Carson, Zane, Kieran, Theodore, and Norman were scattered around waiting for the start of the meeting. Taking his seat with Steel nearby, Jackson could feel the air of anticipation in the room. This was the boys’ first one and he noticed Kieran was sitting next to Zane with Theo and Norm on the other side of him. Noticing Oracle and Maximus missing, Jackson asked Steel if he should wait for them and, after receiving a ‘no,’ he began.
“There are two items I’ll be covering today. The first one concerns our newest pack members, Kieran, Theodore and Norman. They are Blackwood Pack’s first new members who joined voluntarily and I’m proud they chose my pack. However, it’s been brought to my attention that I’ve been a tad over protective.” Looking around and seeing the smiles, Jackson chuckled. “I was reminded they are adults, capable of making decisions the same as any other members of this pack. Unfortunately, I was focusing on their ages when they fell into Arald’s clutches and I will not make that mistake again. They deserve my respect and trust when making decisions regarding their lives.
“Now, I see from some of you that you are confused about why I’m bringing this up in a pack meeting instead of addressing it with them in my office. Well, because other members of this pack have done the same thing. What do I mean? Like talking about Kieran, Theodore or Norman as if they’re not present in the room instead of including them in the conversation. It’s rude and very disrespectful to them as adults. Or not asking for their opinion or not listening to them when they give it. I’m not pointing fingers, but I want everyone to monitor themselves to make sure the treatment of our newest pack members is up to the standards I expect. I also want you to understand that it will take time for them to feel totally at home here. And I encourage everyone to spend some one-on-one time with each of them to help build bonds between all of us. Any questions?”
Colton spoke up. “I’m guilty of doing it. I’m so sorry Kieran. I promise I won’t do it again. And when you want to, I would really appreciate it if we could talk. I’m usually not such an asshole.”
“I know, Zane told me. Thanks for the apology and maybe later today,” said Kieran.
“Anything else about this topic?” Seeing nothing further, Jackson continued. “There is no easy way to say this so here goes. Yesterday, I was served a complaint by the High Council. Our uncle, Josiah, Alpha of the Silver Point pack, filed against me, Logan, Cody, Colton, Carson, Dakota, and Zane claiming we are responsible for the massacre of our parents, younger siblings and the rest of the Fox River Pack.”
Kieran didn’t understand what it meant, but he knew his new friend and fellow pack member was freaking out next to him—he could feel Zane tremble. Without thinking, he reached over and placed his hand on Zane’s arm. Within seconds, his hand heated up and he removed the fear that had caused Zane’s reaction. Once it was gone, Kieran allowed his hand to cool but kept it there as a show of support.
Two brothers noticed what Kieran had done. One of them could see Zane’s fear in Kieran’s aura and watched to make sure it faded. The other, again felt jealousy burn through his body.
Jackson looked around the room as his bombshell penetrated Dakota, Carson and Zane’s psyche. And then it exploded.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Are you saying our uncle is claiming I killed my father and my mother? How dare he insinuate that shit! Are you just going to stand there as if it’s nothing?” Carson couldn’t take it. Standing, he started to shift, but Dylon grabbed him from behind, preventing him from doing so.
Chapter 14
“Let me go!”
Jackson jumped up and ordered, “Carson, stop. You will not shift!” Then using the full force of his Alpha power, he forced Carson to stop struggling and tilt his neck. Once he had his brother’s attention, Jackson continued. “I understand how you feel and if I had let you go it would have spelled the death of every last one of us. Do you understand?”
Carson’s wolf submitted to Jackson, but Carson was still furious.How dare my brother stop me from defending our family honor?But unable to do anything but comply, he said, “Yes Alpha, I understand.”
“Good, Dylon release him. Sit down, Carson.” When his brother had done so, Jackson continued, “I have no intention of allowing Josiah’s complaint to stand, but our pack has been put on notice by the High Council about our actions. As of this moment I want you all to know that if any harm comes to anyone in the Silver Point Pack, then we’ll be held responsible.” Jackson looked at each of his brothers and after he received an acknowledgement from them, he continued.
“After discussing it with Penn, I’ve decided on a strategy as to how we’ll proceed to fight this bogus charge. It will be a two-pronged attack…the first will challenge the legality of the complaint and Penn will handle that. The other relates to the trip we made to Las Vegas and how we prove we were there. To handle that, I want each of you to remember where you went, with whom and when. Write it down. Once we have that, Steel will compile it into a timeline. Then Zane, I need you to search for proof showing we were in Las Vegas during that period…”
“I can tap into the camera archives in the casinos right away if you can give me a list of the ones any of you were in,” said Zane, reassured there was something he could do to help.
“Perfect. So maybe everyone should make a quick list of the casinos and Zane can get started. I did my list last night, but I want Logan to look it over as we were together there. We can probably have it to you by the end of the day.”
“Sooner, Zane,” said Logan. “I remember all of them, so it won’t take me long to go over Jackson’s list.”
“Good,” Jackson said. “There’s only a very short period of time we need to account for as Josiah thoughtfully provided proof we were at school until the morning we left. And Mystia will be our witness as to when we arrived at Jimmy’s.”
Carson had calmed down and now understood how he almost put his brothers’ lives in danger. Cursing himself for his lack of control, he thought about what he could contribute to show Jackson how sorry he was. Then it hit him. “Jackson, I’m sorry about before and thanks for stopping me. I have an idea that might prove we were in Las Vegas other than the cameras.”
