Mates & Allies

Jett vaguely knew the roads around Zeb’s claw mostly from driving his motorcycle. He sped along the highway feeling the thrum of the engine beneath him and the wind whipping past him as he took the curves probably a little slower than he might have otherwise. Leaving his mates had to be the hardest damn thing he’d ever done.

He had to do it. Randy had sent additional information, and Zeb was pissed that Judah had been taken out and was gunning for the lone wolves and Redsand. What he was planning Randy didn’t know, only that something was being planned and a preemptive strike now would take care of the issue and protect those he cared about.

The directions he’d been given were straightforward and he soon passed the sign announcing the edge of the federal land. He counted to the third driveway, then pulled in, finding the cabin well hidden among the trees. There was a lean-to under which he parked his motorcycle, then threw a tarp over it to keep it hidden from view. Then, he went to the door and gave the signal that he and Randy had agreed upon.

The cougar opened the door looking a bit worse for wear. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and a bruise high on his cheekbone indicated someone had swung at him and connected hard. “Come in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had this place watched.” He stepped back and allowed Jett to enter.

“Then why stay here?” Jett looked around the cabin that appeared more like a hotel room with the open seating area and small kitchen. A bed was visible in the back corner. There was only one door, and the windows had screens on them, which would make getting out if he or Randy were trapped difficult, but not impossible.

 “It’d raise more questions if I didn’t.” Randy gestured to the living area. “Take a seat. I have coffee if you want it.”

“That’d be good. A little bit of milk if you have it.”

“Coming up.”

Nervous energy coursed through Jett’s veins, preventing him from sitting. Instead, he went to the window and looked out, then checked the other, wondering what sort of surveillance Zeb’s claw might have. He hadn’t exactly been discreet coming here on his bike. He also didn’t want to cower.

A moment later Randy handed him a yellow mug full of coffee. The mug looked like it came from a second-hand store, and he supposed if this were a safe house, then things probably got broken from time to time. He realized these types of places would be good and made a note to talk to Deke and Tavo about them. Redsand probably had similar facilities; he just hadn’t seen or used them. The lone wolves definitely could use a place like this.

“You got a plan?” Randy asked after Jett had taken a couple sips of coffee.

The drink was barely passable. He thought he saw the cannister for a generic brand on the counter. Better than nothing he thought as he took another sip.

“Other than going to Zeb’s house and challenging him? Not really. Assuming they let me get that far. Someone sees me on claw property, they’re sure to realize I’m there to challenge Zeb.”

“Like I said, there’s a good number of us who wouldn’t mind seeing him dethroned.”

“And what do you expect me to do?” There was the question that’d been swirling in the back of his mind ever since he’d met with Randy. “I have no experience running a claw, let alone one of this size. There’s going to be people who aren’t happy I took over. I can’t keep fighting your battles for you.” He’d laid his position out between them. “I’m here to get revenge on my stepmother. My father might have been a bastard who caved to her, but he didn’t deserve to be done dirty by her. There are some who would say that I just took over my father’s claw. I probably shouldn’t be going after Zeb’s so quickly. That I’m power hungry. Maybe even angry and seeking revenge. On that part, they wouldn’t be wrong.”

As if getting the words into the air between them settled some of the energy, Jett went to the worn couch and sat, stretching his legs out in front of him.

Randy sat on the chair next to the couch. “I know you have to do this yourself, but I feel like you need backup. I want to go with you. I’ll stay out of sight. But I want to be there. Kole and I drug you into this mess. It’s only fair that I’m there to drag you out if it goes sideways.”

Jett thought for a moment. He longed to have Tavo watching his back, someone he knew and trusted. He’d made his decision, told Tavo to stay away just in case things went sideways. Allowing Randy to be his backup seemed like a betrayal somehow. “I’ll allow it,” he said after long moments. “Someone should probably watch my back.”

“I won’t be the only one. Now let’s talk weapons.”

After a conversation about how he would shift to get on the land and carry clothes and weapons with him, he and Randy had some semblance of plan. Jett finished his coffee, then spent the time talking to Randy about the claw he was about to take over. By the time the sun set, he would either be its new leader or he’d be dead.

~* * *~

If he hadn’t been in his cougar form, Jett would have missed the glint of a tripwire between two trees on the way to the claw. Trying to go around it, he caught a glimpse of a trap buried in some leaves nearby. There was a reason why Zeb felt his muscle could leave; they’d trapped the woods the closer he got to the claw’s territory.

The bag weighed on his shoulders and made it awkward for him to pick his way between trees, keeping a keen eye out. He couldn’t move very fast. That bothered him because it meant he wouldn’t have long to make his challenge before night fell. He had a keen awareness of the sun moving across the sky, dipping toward the western horizon. By the time he emerged into a residential area where there was a set of public changing rooms, he had maybe an hour or two to go before dusk. He changed, then walked along the sidewalk as if he were any other resident of this cul-de-sac.

The neighborhood was nicer than any place he’d lived. Certainly made his shed look like, well, a shed. A bit of trepidation washed through him, quickly shoved away. What did he know about leading a claw that was used to living like this? The worry gave way to anger. Considering just how rough he was living and how much his father and their claw scraped by just to meet the basic necessities, there was no reason why Zeb’s claw couldn’t have helped. Unless his stepmother had something to do with that.

He came to an intersection and took a right to go up the hill toward the large house overlooking the slight valley where the claw rested. Residences were laid out like rays around the central location. From what Randy told him in addition to Zeb’s house there was a community recreation center, a small health center, and a school.

A school. There were children in this claw? That wasn’t something he expected or knew how to deal with. He’d have to rely on Redsand for support, because he knew nothing about children and the way he was treated, he certainly wouldn’t want any other children treated that way. He’d been bussed to the public school in town after a mile and a half walk out to the highway. He hadn’t even finished school, though he had obtained his GED with the help of Aristotle and Redsand.

“Everyone deserves an education, son.” He remembered Aristotle’s words to him. “And you know more than you think you do. We’ll help, but you have to put in the work.” He stared longingly at the school, wondering just for a moment what it would be like to have gone to a school full of shifters. Then he thought of Deke and whether Shifters United had schools for shifter children.

If he didn’t know about the drugs or Zeb and Judah wanting to kill him and his mates, he would have thought this was an idyllic small town. Certainly a hell of a lot better than where he’d grown up. And yet, here he was, headed to the alpha’s house, ready to challenge and kill him.

Jett almost turned back. Part of him hated that he had to uproot these people’s lives like this. Hell, he didn’t even know how to manage a place like this, and surely someone managed it. He thought he’d seen a sign that it was a town or something with the county.

He couldn’t turn back any more than he could simply allow his stepmother to do whatever it was she came here to do. Take over. Get power. It wouldn’t work.

He reached the main house. Too late now to try and be stealthy, and frankly, he didn’t think he’d be able to sneak up on the house anyway. A gun rested heavy and cold at the small of his back. He walked up to the door and knocked.

A kid opened the door. Christ, a kid. Either it belonged to Zeb or he was using it for a shield. Shit. He hadn’t expected a kid any more than he’d expected the school. He hadn’t thought to ask and Randy hadn’t explained.

“Is Zeb here?” Jett asked.

“Yeah. He’s in his study. He said not to bother him.” The boy must have been about eight and he glanced down at the floor where he scuffed his sneaker against the hardwood.

“Why aren’t you in school?”

The kid’s head snapped up. “You’re not the boss of me.”

“No, I’m not.” Not yet. “Anyone else here?” Had he been alpha he could have compelled the answer out of the kid. He really wasn’t that interested.

“Stella.” He didn’t sound like he cared for her much.

He filed away the information that his stepmother was here. “I need to see Zeb. It’s important.”

“His den is that way. He’ll yell at you. Good luck.” The kid turned and hurried down a long hall then upstairs.

Jett stepped inside the house that rivaled the main one on the Redsand herd and went directly to the door the boy had indicated. He didn’t knock, didn’t wait for an invitation. Closing his hand around the doorknob, one hand behind his back to reach for the gun, he opened the door and stepped inside.

“What the hell? Who are you?” Zeb sat behind the desk, looking like any gray-haired middle-manager type. A slight paunch around his stomach indicated he spent too much time here, and the computer and papers on his desk looked shuffled through, as if he’d been working on some big project.

“You sent Judah to kill me and my mates, Zeb. I hear Ethan was working for you. I think it’s time we cut the head off the snake, don’t you?”

Zeb’s eyes widened and he glanced toward his desk, a tell that probably indicated he kept a gun there. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who’s Ethan?”

“You’re lying.” Anger bubbled up inside him, driven from a deep well he’d tried to suppress. “You know who Ethan was. He sold drugs for you.”

“Get out of my house.” Zeb reached for the desk drawer.

Jett pulled the gun. “Don’t move.” He sensed someone behind him and glanced back to see his stepmother standing there, a gun trained on him.

“You should have left well enough alone,” Stella said. “You killed my Danny and your father—”

“I didn’t kill my father, you did,” Jett snarled at her.

Zeb’s eyes widened. “Stella, you said—”

“Whatever it would take for you to bring me in. No, Jett, Zeb wasn’t dealing the drugs. I was, because otherwise how in the hell could I get out of that stinking hellhole your father left me in.” Stella strode forward, the gun still trained on him. “You should have stayed with the horses, Jett.”

“And you should have not been a bitch, but here we are.” He glanced at Zeb. “You’re not innocent either. So spill.” If Stella was going to shoot him, she would have already. She had another plan, another scheme up her sleeve, and he waited to see if Zeb was in on it, or if she’d surprised them both.

“No, I’m not. The drugs were Stella’s business, not mine. Now since neither one of you have shot me or one another yet, can I assume that we talk about this like civilized people and not snarling beasts?” Zeb laid his hands on the table, palms down.

Jett wanted to believe him. “I’ll put the gun down if she does.”

Stella’s hand shook. “No. You’re going to manipulate things like you always do. I came here thinking that you’d be my ticket to making something of myself. Instead, you treat me worse than a dog. I’m always in the kitchen like a god damn slave.” She turned, bringing the gun to bear on Zeb.

“Stella, you don’t want to do this,” Jett said, wondering why the hell he was defending the very man he wanted to kill, but he didn’t want things to go down like this.

“She’s been wanting to do this ever since she came here. I didn’t get to be alpha without reading people, and she’s just a white trash bit—”

The gun fired. Stella gasped, as if she hadn’t really intended to pull the trigger, then staggered forward, turning the gun toward herself as she went. She landed on the desk. The gun fired once more, and Stella lay dead.

Jett stared in shock. He’d come here to challenge the alpha. This was the outcome he wanted, and yet, it seemed not right. Swallowing hard he put the gun down. As he did so, he noticed a new glint of gold on Stella’s ring finger. Next to a very worn wedding ring, one he understood had come from his father, was a new band, shiny with specks of blood on it. The alpha and his wife were dead.