Mates & Allies

Eduardo looked like a man defeated when Jett went to him and told him about the meeting. He’d assured Jett he had a way to get to the meeting, and sure enough, he sat in a chair off to one side, looking around like he was kind of surprised to be there. Jett stood on the stage, Kole and Randy on either side of him. The two men who had helped Randy accompanied them. Zeb’s lieutenants had checked in, Jett had used the previous texts to supply the right words, and as far as they knew nothing had changed.

As Kole had said, Zeb only had about a dozen cougars. The town he’d walked through, he realized, was mostly human, a settlement of workers and people to support the claw’s operations. Jett remembered his father saying they didn’t shop there, and thought it was because of not wanting to run into his uncle. Now he knew that the animosity had gone deeper. But by taking control of the claw, he now had much better ways to help Deke’s pack and to give back to Redsand.

Tavo’s home he was building would always seem like home, but an idea was stirring in the back of his mind, a way to make Deke’s work with Shifters United even more meaningful, and a way to help the lone wolves. He glanced at Kole, wondering what the cougar would think about it.

Mal stood next to him, shifting his weight from side to side. Jett leaned down. “Why don’t you go sit back there next to Kole? You’re not on display.”

“Okay,” Mal said, before turning and brightening a bit as he walked back to the empty chair between Kole and Randy. He sat down, and Kole immediately sat next to him.

Jett nodded at them, then he stepped forward and spoke into the microphone, inviting everyone to sit. “I want to thank you for coming here to this meeting.” He released a little of his alpha power, feeling it wash over those assembled. Even Kole and Randy looked at him, eyes widening. “I will get right to the point. I am your new alpha. Zeb and Stella killed one another when I went to visit them, and I’m declaring myself alpha. The cougars on the stage with me have accepted this, and one by one, I’ll need you to come by the stage and accept it as well. From now on our two claws are merged.”

Hushed conversation and gasps went through the crowd. “Over the next several weeks there likely be additional changes, new residents. I am not a cruel alpha, but I state this without question, the drug trade will stop now. If you are earning a living through illegal activities, I will find out about it. We can help you transition to something better, but the violence will stop now. Am I clear?”

Somewhere in the back of the auditorium someone muttered “the money will stop too”. Jett chose to ignore the comment for now. He’d thought about that, had already begun looking at the ledgers in the safes he’d taken. There were assets that could have been used to better the claws. Under his leadership they would.

“Everyone, please line up in the center aisle.” Jett went to the front of the stage and opened his alpha power. He let it wash over those in attendance, realizing that without an actual battle, he lacked the connection with them Deke had forged with the lone wolves, though with their loyalty pledges he was already connecting to the cougars on the stage with him. Even young Mal had pledged his loyalty, his blue eyes full of hope as he said the words.

Opening himself up like this meant he also felt his mates. Pride flowed into him from Deke and Colt. Tavo’s love and belief that he’d seen this in Jett the entire time nearly drove Jett to his knees. He held onto that too, just as he did Mal’s hope, that perhaps he wouldn’t fuck this up. That he would make this the kind of claw he’d wished he had.

To his surprise he received very little push back. Either Zeb ran his claw so tightly that the cougars didn’t dare try to rise up against him or they were thankful to have Zeb out of the picture. As soon as everyone pledged their allegiance, he dismissed the meeting, then asked Kole and Randy to accompany him and Mal back to the main house.

He found food in the kitchen and soon had burgers sizzling in a skillet and was chopping up lettuce for a salad. Mal sat at the table watching him with wide eyes, as if he was surprised Jett was cooking for them. Randy and Kole found the place settings, ran the dishwasher, since they weren’t sure if the dishes were clean or dirty, and put the package of buns on the table. As soon as the burgers were done, Jett put them on a platter and brought them to the table.

“Dig in,” he said, thankful he could do this for his claw. A sense of pride filled him as he watched Mal grab a bun and then use the spatula to slide a patty onto it.

Mal added a thick slice of cheese, lettuce, a piece of tomato and some mustard, than took a big bite. He barely waited until he’d swallowed before looking at Jett with wide eyes. “These are good!”

“Thank you.” He didn’t elaborate on how Erielle had taught him to cook, saying that every man should learn how to help out in the kitchen.

They ate in silence, then Mal yawned and headed up to his room. Jett stopped him on his way out the door. “Hey, what do you do about school?”

“I go to school in town. Stella usually drove me. I’ll need someone to take me. We leave at 7:50.”

“I can do that,” Jett said, pushing down the anger that his stepmother drove this child to school just as she had Daniel while leaving him to fend for himself. “See you in the morning.”

“Yeah,” Mal said, then hurried out of the dining room. A few moments later his feet thumped on the stairs as he went up to his room.

“We’re staying here with you,” Kole said. “We’ll take shifts.” He paused for a moment. “Look, Randy and I have been talking. We know you have mates, but they’re not cougars. You need a Second and some lieutenants. For now, we’ll do.”

“Thanks. But before you accept, I need to tell you what I’m thinking.” Jett outlined his plan, and by the time he finished Randy and Kole promised to find him a list of empty properties that were owned by the claw and to see what they could to give Deke’s pack something that they hadn’t ever had before—a real home.

~* * *~

Jett watched Mal bound from the car toward the school, moving in line with the other parents as they dropped off kids to be funneled into the building. Mal ran up to a blond boy about his age and the two were quickly engaged in an animated conversation. Good, he had friends.

Last night Jett had rummaged through Zeb’s desk and computer during his watch shift but couldn’t find any will or documents that laid out what would happen to Mal if he died. His mother, it turned out, had died some years ago. The death certificate had listed cancer. Jett wondered if Redsand would help him come up with a document to grant him custody of Mal and then was shocked when he realized what he was thinking. Taking Mal to the herd was one thing, but it’d also take him away from whoever the blond child was and any other friends he had. He’d uproot the boy from his school, his home, and worst of all, he feared it’d give Mal the impression he wasn’t wanted. Jett knew that pain all too well. The last thing he wanted to do was perpetrate it in Mal.

He returned to the house. Zeb’s lieutenants were due to return. A text on the phone this morning said they should be back around noon. Randy and Kole had filled him in, but here, this was the real fight to be the alpha of the claw. Zeb and Stella killing one another had been inevitable; this was personal. Because he’d only been here just a day and he realized that he would protect Mal with his life, and this claw, for all of its faults, was a hell of a lot better than the one into which he’d been born. His father was a weak man, ready to go along with Stella’s plans. And she was a scheming conniver. Stella only wanted what improved Stella’s life. He wanted what would improve the entire claw. Taking down Zeb had been a way to stop the feud between his father and uncle, to protect Deke and his pack, and to keep all of this from spilling over onto Redsand.

Randy had explained most of the claw didn’t know about the drugs and didn’t benefit from the money. The town was pretty much live and let live, with no real government structure, only that everyone recognized Zeb as the authority. “You’re the authority now,” Randy said.

He still couldn’t wrap his head around how this existed. A claw of maybe two dozen and mostly empty houses as people left the small town. What infrastructure remained had been taken over by the claw. There were a few humans and mostly they supported the claw and kept to themselves. He’d believed his father when he’d warned Jett away from here, away from Judah and what he was doing with Zeb. Maybe his father just didn’t want him to get involved in the drugs; maybe his father believed he deserved a better life. He knew his father deserved a better death.

Jett checked his watch. He had fifteen minutes before the lieutenants were due to arrive. He refilled a water bottle, then took it to the desk, putting it on a coaster, then ran his hand over the top of the dark, hardwood desk. To go from a shed to a palatial home like this. Once this was dealt with, he’d take a video of each of the rooms, and then he was going to Redsand to see his mate.

Twelve minutes later three of the biggest cougar shifters Jett had ever seen walked into the office. They took one look at him, dropped one hand to the guns they had secreted in their waistbands. The biggest one, Randy had called him Fenton, glared at Jett. “Who the fuck are you and where is Zeb?”

Jett stood, keeping his hands on the desk in plain sight to try and diffuse the situation. He had a gun, a few of them in easy reach, and he was sure the three lieutenants knew that too. “I’m Jett, Stella’s stepson.” He doctored the story just a tiny bit. “I arrived to find Stella and Zeb had shot one another. Mal is too young to take over as alpha, so the claw pledged their allegiance to me. I’m your alpha now.” He released just enough of his alpha energy to reinforce his words, but not overpower their free will. He suspected Zeb would have had them on their knees, necks bared by now.

“The hell you are.” Fenton said. He stepped forward with a glance at the other two, clearly the leader of the three. If Jett could get him to yield, then—

The second cougar, Gells, drew his gun and pointed it at Jett. “I think the bastard shot Zeb and Stella. We knew how she talked about you. You’re a worthless pup, just like your father.”

Jett drew a deep breath to steady his nerves. It wouldn’t do to kill these three…not yet, anyway.