Looking up at his angry mate, Steel stopped cleaning the stove, stepping in front of Theo. “Where is who?” he asked.
“Hunter,” Jackson ground out, his teeth clenched.
“Babe,” Steel said, “what happened? Why do you want to see him?”
Shaking his head, Jackson backed out of the kitchen and right into Norm who was rushing in.
“Omph!” Norman grunted, then gaining his footing, said, “Sorry Alpha, I didn’t mean to do that.”
Hearing his fiancé’s voice, Theo cried out, “Pooh bear!”
Glancing at Theo peering around Steel with panic in his eyes, Norm pushed passed Jackson, muttering, “Excuse me.” Rushing to his fiancé, Norm wrapped his arms around him, pulling Theo tight to his chest.
Throwing his sponge in the sink, Steel strode over to Jackson, took him by the arm and led him to his office. Closing the door behind him he scooped Jackson up and carried him to the sofa. Hugging his mate to his chest, surrounding him with his scent, Steel waited until he felt the anger ease out of Jackson’s body before speaking. “Babe, what happened with Hunter?”
Inhaling the familiar scents of orange, clove, and bourbon, Jackson turned his head, nuzzling Steel’s neck. Concentrating on his breathing, he finally relaxed. “Hunter blindsided me again,” he said, exasperation in his voice. “First it was with my mother, then his mate, and now I find out from your mother that his brother…Dr. Mac Evans, accepted the position.”
“What position, babe?”
“Our doctor, of course. According to your mother, he just joined Frontline Doctors and agreed to be the pack’sdoctor for nine months…enough time to deliver Ian, Kieran and Dakota’s pups. But Hunter never said a fucking word to me, and he certainly had plenty of chances. See, this is exactly what I’m worried about…how can I protect Fionn if Hunter is intent on keeping things from me?” Jackson asked.
“Are you positive Hunter knew about Mac?” asked Steel.
Chewing his bottom lip, Jackson thought about it. “I’m not a hundred percent positive, but I’m pretty sure. He kept my mother a secret, and also that his mate was a member of my pack, so it’s more than likely he knew this, too.”
“Babe, I never got the feeling Hunter knew in advance his mate was here. Regarding his brother, it doesn’t sound like you to accuse Hunter without proof, no matter how logical you feel your argument is,” Steel said, kissing the top of his mate’s head. “Now, what’s this really all about? Ever since your cousins showed up, you haven’t been acting like yourself, and that’s putting it mildly.”
Pursing his lips, Jackson knew his mate was probably correct. Trying to pinpoint the exact moment it all went to hell, he said, “Actually, finding out one of my pack members was Hunter’s mate threw me for a loop, but when I found out he’d hidden my mother’s existence from me all those years…yup, that pretty much was the final nail in the coffin.”
“What’s your biggest worry?”
“Easy…Hunter becoming a member of my pack,” Jackson said, biting his lower lip.
“Why, exactly?”
“Hmm.” Jackson hesitated, not wanting to tell Steel because it didn’t make sense and he knew it would sound stupid.
“C’mon, babe, tell me why you barged into the kitchen, spitting fire and nearly caused Theo to crap in his pants.”
“Oh fuck…I did that, didn’t I,” Jackson groaned. “I have to apologize to him… and Norman.”
“Good idea, but unless we sort this out now, I see a lot of apologies in your future. Babe, tell me why…or I’ll tickle you until you do.”
Shaking his head at his mate’s teasing threat, Jackson said, “How can I trust him when he wasn’t honest with me right from the beginning in his first email? Babe, he lied to me…not directly, but by omission. And then there’s his mate. Does he plan to challenge me when he finds out about Fionn’s white dragon or his superpower? He’s an Alpha, meant to lead a pack…he trained for it his entire life. And you know what? He was much better at it than I was. I feel like a little kid again with my big cousin watching me, waiting for his chance to take over. With Fionn at his side, Hunter would be more powerful than I could ever be. And his freaking attitude…always so fucking smirky.”
“Smirky? Is that even a word?”
Batting his mate’s arm, Jackson said, “You know what I mean. My cousin comes across like he knows everything. Fuck, he probably does…at least more than I do about being an Alpha…”
As Jackson’s voice trailed off into silence, Steel waited, making sure his mate had finished, before saying, “Babe, I think Hunter is desperately trying to control his need to seek his mate and claim him. And that’s overpowering everything else in him, making him appear smirky attimes, simply as a defensive mechanism against the one person who…as his wolf sees it…is keeping his mate from him.”
“But I’m not! I told him that.”
“Babe, you’re thinking logically while Hunter is overcome with the mating drive. Did I ever tell you what Colton did in Mexico when he realized Ian was his mate?” After Jackson shook his head, Steel said, “No, I didn’t think so. Your brother was in a jeep with Ian waiting for Slate, Cody and me. The plan was for Colton to claim Ian when we got back here but he couldn’t wait. He bit Ian right then, in the jeep, needing to mark and claim him. This was way out of character for your brother…who’s always so methodical in his thinking and actions. Hunter is an Alpha…a powerful one…and his need to mark and claim his mate must be driving him crazy, just as it was with Colton.
“No matter what you told him, Hunter’s wolf saw his mate…only to find out later, after he agreed to wait so you could deal with your brothers, that his mate was gone. And no matter how often you explain where Fionn is, it doesn’t matter because the longer Hunter is apart from his mate, the harder it is for him and his wolf. All I can say is thank the gods Kieran did his magic this morning and calmed them both.”
“What you say makes sense,” Jackson conceded, “but why do I get the feeling Hunter wants my pack?”
