Mates & Allies

Jett squared his shoulders and opened the door to the shed. He kept his cougar close. His long strides quickly crossed the shed, and he flipped on the lantern he’d picked up just outside the door. Stetson closed the door behind him; the bar sliding back into its holder with a solid thump.

Jett turned to Kole, completely ignoring Adam, though he kept an eye on the duplicitous wolf. “I will get the truth out of you one way or another.” He brought his cougar forward just a little more, enough so had the animal been standing with him he would have felt the hot, fresh kill-scented breath on the back of his neck. Of its own accord, his lip curled into a snarl.

Kole sat a little straighter and swallowed hard.

Jett pushed for his cougar, testing, sensing but the bonds to his claw were weak and there was no sense of power, no sense of leadership. Just a desire to turn his throat to the strongest cougar and take whatever orders he could in order to survive. Good, that weakness would serve Jett well.

“Who runs your claw? I know it’s not Judah,” Jett said.

“I don’t know,” Kole tossed out just a little too easily.

Jett sensed fear. That if he told, that if he gave away the game, punishment would be waiting for Kole if he got back to his pack. Or, that punishment would come to him. “You know.” He inched his cougar forward, not wanting to fully unleash the beast. At this point he might tear this asshole’s throat out. He also suspected that wouldn’t be wise, not for Deke’s pack or the rest of his mates. “Tell me. If you cooperate, we can protect you. But if you don’t tell us shit, then we won’t give one. Okay?”

“What’s going to happen to me?” Adam asked, interrupting the connection between Jett and Cole.

Jett turned and unleashed his cougar, pinning Adam where he sat. The need to shift itched along his skin, scratching like claws against the door waiting to be let out. “If you get in the way again, I’m going to tear out your throat.” He snarled.

Adam scurried back.

Jett forced his attention on Kole, backing off of his cougar only enough to stop the tingling sensation just beneath his skin. Fuck it. He’d had enough of this, enough waiting, enough trying to be nice. He wanted answers. He pinned Kole in place with his glare, forcing his cougar out. Jett knew his eyes had turned gold, pupils slit and angry. He watched as the same change happened to Kole, only his eyes quickly returned to human.

“I told the horse, the claw leader is Zeb.” Kole answered. “Zebediah Anshirlen. He pushed Judah out a decade ago or so. Maybe longer. Came from Vegas. Big money guy. Apparently has one big claw scattered between here and Vegas working for him. You don’t want to tangle with him. Just…” His throat worked and no words came out, as if some compulsion kept him from speaking.

“You told me I had support with Judah’s claw. I could take over. You lying to me? Because Zeb doesn’t sound like the sort of guy who would let the claw leave easily.” Jett crouched down, his cougar still out and holding Kole in place. He pushed. “You lying to me?” He asked again.

“You could.” Kole’s voice wobbled. “Judah worked for Zeb.”

“And if I don’t want to work for Zeb?” Jett straightened, wondering if this was just a useless exercise. He gave one final push of compulsion and sensed the moment it finally got through whatever defenses had been placed in Kole’s mind. Bonds of claw, of loyalty and determination, shattered beneath his cougar and the shifter shuddered as if the last vestiges of his connection to the claw shredded.

“Then you die.” Kole’s voice broke. Tears leaked out of his eyes. “It’s Maralyn, your step mother. She runs the claw. She said we allied with Zeb’s claw. That he’d take care of us. She had a plan. Kill your father, your uncle, then marry Zeb.”

The weight of the betrayal took Jett’s breath. “But she’s nothing,” he spat. “Our claw has shit for resources and power. Just a few old men trying to hold it together and relive the old days.”

“Not Judah’s claw. He recruited. There’s probably ten, maybe fifteen guys like myself. You know how cougars are. Hell, we’re loners half the time. I—” His voice cut off, but Jett knew what Kole was going to say. His mate was somehow related to this pack and that was why he’d come here. To try and mitigate some of the damage Judah and Adam wanted to cause.

Jett whirled on Adam. “I should rip your throat out. But I won’t. Don’t make me regret that.” He went to the door, rapped on it twice, then stepped out when Stetson opened the door. “I’ll have something sent for Kole,” he said. “I think the cougar might be sticking around.” Without waiting for an answer he stormed toward the RV and his mates.

~* * *~

Tavo sensed Jett’s arrival and his anger. He excused himself from the meeting Deke was having with Shifters United. A text from his father said Adam should be gone within the hour, and frankly Tavo was glad. They had enough problems and way too many threats to his herd, his mates, and this pack of wolves to deal with. Getting Adam out of their hair would be a blessing.

He stepped outside, closing the door behind him, as Jett practically ran toward the RV. Tavo moved toward him, the need to comfort, to protect, and most of all to rain holy hell on whoever had put his mate in such a state roaring through him. His stallion snorted, kicking out a hind hoof and lashing out with anger. He might not have the ferocity of his predator mates, but he could do some damage.

Jett barreled right into his arms. He growled as he kissed Tavo hard enough to back him up a few steps. Tavo wrapped his arms around Jett and pulled him close, opening his mouth to Jett’s insistent tongue and returning the kiss with all the ferocity he could muster. Jett’s cougar was close to the surface, canines close to elongating, and it was sexy thrilling to be kissing a predator like this. Jett shoved one thigh between Tavo’s legs, pressing up so Tavo could ride it. He moaned against Jett’s mouth, and the cougar swallowed it.

Something had changed with Jett. Not the ferocity with which they kissed nor the need for his stallion to come out and challenge the Jett’s predator, but a sense of feeling at one in his skin, as if he’d come to terms with something during his conversation with Kole. Jett’s alpha shone through. Tavo recognized it as similar to Deke’s alpha wolf, the pack leader who would keep them all safe. The claw might not operate like the pack, but Jett was undoubtedly ready to step into his role as leader, and to Tavo it was incredibly sexy.

Jett pulled back, breathing heavily. “As much as I would like to fuck you right here, I need to talk to Deke. Kole told me everything and shit is so much deeper than we ever imagined.”

Tavo pressed his forehead to Jett’s, gulping air to bring his desire under control. “He’s meeting with Shifters United, but I’m sure we can convince him to step away.”

“No need,” Deke called as he walked out of the camper. “The heat you two were putting off was too distracting to focus. Now as much as I think we’d all like to take that to completion, I feel like there’s more important business.”

Colt followed Deke outside. His eyes widened when he saw Jett, probably getting a hit from his alpha. “Is it always going to be like this?” He asked, looking between Jett and Deke. “Because that’s a lot of alpha.”

Deke chuckled. “I’m sure you can handle whatever we give you.”

Heat flushed over Colt’s cheeks.

“I take it Kole talked?” Deke walked over to the picnic table sitting next to the camper, silently inviting them to join him.

Colt ducked inside and grabbed four bottles of water, then brought them back to the table as everyone sat.

“Kole talked,” Jett confirmed. “My step-mother is a bigger bitch than I even knew. She planned to kill my father, which she did, and then ally herself with Zeb who is the strength. I don’t know what she thinks she’ll bring to that alliance, but that’s the plan. That we took out Judah was just icing on her shit cake.” He took a deep breath. “And as you can tell, I’ve accepted my alpha power. Kole tells me that I have to take over not just my claw, but Zeb’s claw too. He has about a dozen cougars under his control. To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about that.”

Tavo inched closer, lending his support. Jett sensed ponyboy’s confusion, his shock, and his worry that Jett was going to get himself hurt…or worse. Deke appeared determined, as if perhaps he’d known this all along. Like Tavo, Colt looked at Jett with worry on his face, except Jett didn’t think that it was about his challenging Zeb, but rather how they’d manage a claw and a pack, not to mention two alphas.

Jett figured his being an alpha wasn’t a problem. He’d submit himself to Deke anytime, anywhere. There’d be no challenge, and he’d always thought of them as a group of equals, rather than an alpha and subordinates.

“I won’t say I’m surprised, because I’m not. I didn’t know about Zeb, and I hope you can tell us a bit about the claw. But I knew something wasn’t right with your father’s claw when I met with him.”

“What do you mean?” Jett asked Deke.

“Cougar. Wolf. Even Aristotle. The leader has a certain vibe. Even if the alpha isn’t tapping into that power, in whatever form it takes, it’s there, palpable, ready to be invoked at a moment’s notice. That’s something I can tell you is pretty near universal among shifters, and I’ve met with the big predators like bears, or even ocean predators in dealing with the orcas, but it’s also among the deer and the smaller shifters. There’s a beaver clan in the Cascades…” Deke’s voice faded off and he smiled at some memory. “They were fun to deal with, but even there, their leader had that same alpha energy. Your father had it, but didn’t seem willing, or able, to use it. And it sure as hell wasn’t as strong as yours. Normally sons inherit the alpha strength of their fathers.”

Deke’s words didn’t square with his memory of his father, though he remembered it was his step-mother who had ordered him to the shed, and his step-mother who had forbid him from having anything to do with the family. “My father deferred to my step-mother in pretty much anything. It could have been love, though it didn’t feel that way. More like control. Like she had her plans, and he was helpless to go along with them.” Jett shivered because the more he thought about it, the more it felt like an extremely unhealthy relationship, and he wondered now if perhaps he’d been too hard on his father.

“It’s a lot to juggle,” Tavo said. “This pack. Jett’s claw. If we were worried about not having time for one another before, it’s going to get worse now. Don’t get me wrong. I think Jett should claim Zeb’s claw for his own. It seems fitting after the way his father treated him that he reclaim what is rightfully his. But it also means we’re going to have pissed off cougars and wolves after us.”

“I don’t want to put any of you in danger—” Jett started to speak.

“The cougars are already involved. I think Kole’s proof of that. And you have to do what you have to do. Just like I had to challenge Ethan.” Deke looked at each of his mates, then focused on Tavo. “We need to tell Aristotle.”

“In person,” Tavo agreed. “I don’t want anything getting intercepted over radio.”

“Do you think we can trust Kole?” Deke asked Jett.

“I think so. I get the feeling that his mate is here.” Jett frowned. “I’d say that seems strange, but I’m here aren’t I?”

Tavo grinned. “And here I thought you just liked being a pain in my ass.”

The sound of trucks interrupted the conversation.

“I think the herd is here for Adam. I think without him here Kole might be willing to talk.” Jett said.

“Good. Because I think he’s going to be key to our next steps.” Deke rose from the picnic table just as a pair of trucks from Redsand pulled up next to the camper.

Aristotle drove one, and Jett watched Tavo’s eyes widen as he saw his father. It wasn’t often the herd leader took care of business directly, but this must have seemed important enough. Good. They could fill him in and then figure out their next steps.