“Then, just like that,” Jackson snapped his fingers, “you were gone from my life, and I spent the rest of my youth under the brutal thumb of my father…who always made sure to tell me I didn’t measure up to his idea of what an Alpha should be. After years of hearing how worthless I was, I decided not to follow in my father’s footsteps. It was a secret I kept, telling no one. And then…the massacre. After that I saw my brothers looking at me, expecting me to lead them. That’s when I realized I was now their Alpha,” Jackson reflected, “a position I never wanted.”
“But from everything I’ve seen, you’re doing a great job,” Hunter said.
Snorting, Jackson thought about yesterday. “Sometimes, but not always…as you, unfortunately, found out. Until you arrived, I handled each crisis, steering my pack through all of them.” Waving his hand, Jackson continued, “No, no…it wasn’t you who caused me to lose my cool…well, maybe indirectly…but that I wasn’t a good enough Alpha to handle so many difficult situations at the same time.
“Then, you arrived…my childhood hero…the Alpha with all the answers…and my father’s words I thought I’d dealt with and buried came roaring back. In my mind, you, Hunt should’ve been Alpha. That thought morphed into thinking you’d try to take my pack away from me. It wasn’t until I scared Theo half to death that Steel helped me see the light.”
Staring at his cousin, Hunter was stunned by his confession. Then, slowly shaking his head, he said, “Jackie, I don’t want your pack.”
“I know that now,” Jackson said, taking a deep breath. “And my mate pointed something else out to me…as Fionn’s mate, and a member of my pack, you deserve to know all our secrets.”
“What secrets?” Hunter asked, just as Jackson’s mate entered holding their son.
“Babe? Everything okay?” Steel asked, handing Daniel over to his mate.
“Yeah, give me about ten minutes,” Jackson replied, as his mate left the room.
Smiling at his son, Jackson handed Daniel his toy wolf. Then, looking at Hunter he began. “When I found out I had a Fated Mate, I also found out from Oracle, Steel’s mother, that I was an Alpha/Omega hybrid wolf, capable of having pups. Within a short time after Steel claimed me, I got pregnant with Daniel.”
What!Hunter couldn’t believe it.An Alpha/Omega hybrid? What the hell did that even mean?“You’re telling me you gave birth to…Daniel? You didn’t use a surrogate?”
“No. I nearly died, but thank goodness Colton saved me.”
“Is that why your Alpha power is so strong?” asked Hunter, still trying to make sense of what he was hearing.
“No, that has to do with your mate, Fionn.”
“My mate?”
“Yes, but before I tell you the rest, would you like to hold your nephew?”
Gazing at the innocent face grinning at him, Hunter saw the spitting image of Jackie when he was a toddler. “Daniel…named after our grandfather, huh?” Reaching out, he welcomed the nephew he never knew he had into his arms, tickling his belly. If Hunter had any doubts about the sincerity of Jackson’s apology, they were gone when his cousin trusted him with his son. “He looks like you did at that age.”
“Steel claims he has my eyes, but since Josiah burned our house down, all the pictures Mom took of us were destroyed.”
“Aunt Hope always sent Mom copies of your family photos. I can have copies made for you, if you want.”
Overcome with emotion at the thought of seeing his younger brothers and sisters again, even if only in photos, Jackson’s voice cracked. “That would be great…really great.”
“Did Cody have pups, too?”
“No, he and Dylon adopted Jake and Jessica after their parents were killed.”
“Why did the Fates pick you?” Hunter asked, retrieving the toy Daniel had dropped and returning it to him.
“Don’t really know…luck of the draw, I guess. It was a shock as you can imagine. Initially, I didn’t believe it, but then…I don’t know how to explain it…everything about my life made sense…like I was exactly who I was meant to be.”
“Is that why it took you so long to answer my request to visit you?” asked Hunter. “You didn’t want anyone to know about you?”
“One of the reasons.”
“Did your parents know about your…uh…condition? Is that why your father was a…”
“Bastard?” smirked Jackson. “No, he was a bastard because I was gay. According to Oracle, neither of my parents had any idea what I was.”
“I heard my mom tell my dad about some of the things your father did to you and Logan,” Hunter said, burying his nose in Daniel’s hair, inhaling the pup scent he loved so much.
“Logan got the worst of it. I never realized how much until he found Kieran, his mate. I owe Ki a lot for giving me back my brother.”
