“Here…it’s all in there,” Glenn said, slapping a folder down in front of his friend before hoisting his beer and draining it in one long swallow. Reaching for another, he popped the cap, taking a swig as he watched Smokey’s face.
“Sonofabitch! He went after your mother? What a fucking douchbag!” Smokey exclaimed. Closing the folder, he drummed his fingers on the bar, staring at it, his thoughts elsewhere, putting two and two together. Finally, he said, “So, you want me to join your hunting party. Who else is in it?”
“Riley, me of course,” Glenn replied, “and Ghost, if he’s available.”
“He is. The last I heard he’s living the life of a beach bum, ogling all the wildlife.”
“Good, I’m heading there next. How soon can you join me?” asked Glenn.
Slowly looking around the empty bar, Smoky smirked. “My bag’s packed and I was just waiting for my ride.”
Throwing back the rest of his beer, Glenn stood, grinning. “It’s a good thing I came along, because by the looks of this fuckin’ place, you’d be waiting a long time.”
Leaning over the bar, Smoky snatched his bag from the floor, hefting it over his shoulder. “Let’s go…Ghost better be tellin’ the truth ‘cause my dick’s craving some nice plump lips on it.”
~/~/~/~/~
Rapping his knuckles against Jackson’s partially open door, Logan asked, “Got a minute?”
“Sure,” Jackson smiled, pushing his keyboard aside. “How’s Queenie? Any luck retraining him?”
Snorting, Logan shook his head, taking a seat in front of his brother’s desk. “Kieran forbade me from doing it. He claims Queenie is expressing his inner desires and wemust respect them. I finally gave up and agreed we’d go find him a mate. Oh! Shit, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you…I felt our pup move for the first time.”
“You mean Logan, Jr., right? Amazing isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Logan said, his eyes getting misty. “There are times, I still can’t believe it…Kieran’s framed every ultrasound picture and I catch myself staring at them, wondering how he’ll look… what’ll he be like…will he love me. Sometimes, I’m so eager to meet him I don’t know if I can wait, yet other times I’m petrified I’m not ready to be his father. You know I didn’t have a great role model.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Jackson said. “Our dear pop taught us everything we needed to know about hownotto be a father.”
Laughing, Logan said, “Got to agree with you, Jackie. I know exactly what not to do.”
“There you go, you know more than you think,” Jackson smiled. “Logan, listen to me…you are the strongest person I know. What you went through with our father is the worst kind of emotional abuse that can happen to a kid. Yet, you survived…no, you actually did more than survive because you grew up to be a man capable of giving unconditional love to Kieran, me, your brothers, your nephews, niece…and you’ll give it to your pup. Whatever our father tried to do to you failed…he fucking failed…and there isn’t anything he can do now to change it. You’ll be a great dad. Besides, do you honestly think Kieran will let you be anything else?”
“Nope…and thanks for the pep talk.”
“Any time…now what is it you wanted to see me about?” asked Jackson.
“Kieran told me Quin wants to become a member of the Blackwood Pack.”
“He’s already a member because of Hunter,” Jackson replied.
“I thought so, but I wasn’t sure if that meant he can choose to stay here when the rest of his brothers go back home.”
“Oh, I see,” Jackson said. “Well, Quin’s an adult, so he’s free to make his own decisions, but this is a tricky situation. Hunter has agreed to stay because of my connection to Fionn. Mac will be here for a while and Mason is working with Dire Enterprises, handling some of their investments, so I don’t see him leaving soon. That leaves Robin and Sawyer and I don’t know what their plans are.”
“Does Mason know about Dakota?”
“No…not yet…but I might have to tell him soon.”
“Why?”
“Dakota fainted yesterday while cooking,” Jackson explained, waving his hand at seeing alarm on his brother’s face. “He’s fine, but Mac insists he spend three days in bed. And Slate’s not helping…worrying about our brother, who can pick up on his emotions, which is just making Dakota feel guilty for making his mate feel bad. A real clusterfuck.
“The solution,” Jackson continued, “is to find a temporary replacement for Dakota, but that’s harder than I thought it’d be. I came up with a possible solution but it’ll require me telling Mason about Dakota and, if I’m right, Mason will figure out everything else.”
“I’m missing something. Why does Mason have to know?”
“Dakota’s condition is going to be obvious and I don’t want him to feel we’re keeping him in the dark, especially when we’re asking him for help.”
