Jana Leigh & Bryce Evans (2 page)

“You can’t avoid this forever,” Kane said to Vander who was typing on his computer and ignoring him.

“
I am pretty sure I can ignore this, I have been able to avoid a relationship for a long time, this is no different.  Besides, I have other things to be thinking about,” Vander said absently and continued to work, they had a fucking psycho to find, that took precedence over a so-called relationship.  Vander didn’t have time for this bullshit, some weird woo woo pull to the shifter community while there was a killer out there was not going to distract him.  Plus, his mother was somehow involved in this shit.

“
Dude, we are mates in a triad.  That means you cannot just
ignore
this, it is
not
going to go away because we wish it would.  We have to find her and make sure she is safe.  Don’t you feel it, the pull?” Kane said and laughed at the horrified look on his mate’s face.

Vander may
know a lot of shifters, may have seen the strange way shifters were affected by the mating pull, but he certainly had never talked about mating, he only knew what he had seen firsthand.  And so far, he had not seen a triad, except for his best friends, which just recently happened. Kane asked and tried to explain the difference to Vander but for some reason, Vander refused to listen.

“
I disagree, we can totally ignore this,” Vander growled and glared at Kane and then turned back to his computer.  “I don’t know what pull you are talking about!”  The man was infuriating, and Van wasn't going to listen to this when there were other things going on around them.  A lot was beginning to make sense though, for one, if Kane believed they were mates, it would answer why he purchased a condo in Atlanta just recently after they had met.  And then, the constant calls asking him to come over and hang out every time the man came to town.  Didn't matter if he actually enjoyed the other man's company, he wasn't never going to admit to it. 
Crazy damn wolves.

“
Still being a stubborn ass I see,” his partner and best friend said and laughed as she walked into the room.  Jewel was like no other woman Vander knew, she was a badass, nothing seemed to shake her, well, finding her mates a few weeks ago had. That had been amusing to see.  The great unflappable Jewel had been a mess.  But it was only in her personal life, during work, Jewel had still solved the case, which led them here.  Now that case had flowed into another, and the shit storm didn’t seem to be letting up.  Josh, the crazy ass, motherfucking serial killer, was sitting back and laughing.

“
Fuck off,” Vander grumbled and watched as his partner plopped down in her seat and looked at Kane.  "Where are your bookends?  They let you out of their sight."

“
They had a few business things to attend but they will meet up with me later," Jewel smile then looked toward Kane not missing a beat, "Is he giving you problems? Do I need to take him out and kick the shit out of him?  You know I have a lot of secrets on him, let’s get together later, I will fill you in on the life and times of Vander Collins.”  Jewel laughed and looked at Vander who was shaking his head, but still staring at the computer screen.

“
Hey, I got it!  And don’t you say a fuckin' word J, I will kick your ass,” Vander crowed but warned her at the same time.

Jewel stopped her teasing, looked at her partner, and said, “
What?”

“
Not what, who,” Vander smiled.  “The woman who was taken name is, Waverly Grant, reported missing by the Atlanta Alpha, who would be her father, awesome, we get to go and visit the Alpha.  We also need to get someone on finding my mother.  Get your stuff, Jewel, let’s go see the Alpha,” Vander muttered, then picked up his notebook.  “Hey, why didn’t you recognize her?”

His partner rolled her eyes and looked at him.  “
I know you want to go and talk to the Alpha, but you have to realize there is a proper protocol to getting in to see the Alpha.  Also, for your information, I knew the Alpha's daughter when she was little, before he sent her to live with his brother, Alpha Mitchell and his mate, in North Carolina.  When she came back here, well that was when Josh…" she trailed off, not wanting to rehash that time in her life and then continued, "I haven't seen her since she moved back.  And one more thing, it is not as if every wolf in the world knows each other by the way, jackass," Jewel added when Vander smirked.  "As for your mother, I think it best if one of the other detectives was in charge of that,” Jewel explained dryly.

His partner was right, he was going to have to make sure the detective
who was investigating his mother reported to him.  But it wasn't giving them the answers they need right now. “Fuck the proper protocol.  I don’t give a damn who he is.  We are working a murder case and his damn daughter is missing.  He filed a report.  I won’t ask permission to do my job,” Vander said as Jewel shifted in her seat, looked over at Kane, and rolled her eyes.  He was taking his frustration out about his mother, there was nothing they could do about it right now, it would have to work itself out.

“
Listen, buddy, I’m not saying we have to ask permission, but we will be dealing with my kind now and it is proper protocol to let them know we are coming.  I’ll take care of it.  This does not mean we are not going to get to do our job.  I know the Alpha and he is a good man, and a strong Alpha.  This is my pack, Vander.  Every pack in the country is like this.  We have certain standards and protocols we follow for the safety of the pack.  They won’t let us in at the gate if we don’t go through the Beta first.  Okay?” Jewel explained as she looked over at her best friend and partner. 

Jewel could tell Vander was on edge with al
l the new revelations about Kane and Waverly being his mates.  He was human and did not want to understand.  He liked being single, or at least that was what he wanted everyone to think.  Jewel knew that Vander was looking for somewhere to belong.  They had only talked about it when he was drunk, causing diarrhea of the mouth.  Jewel never wanted to bring it up to him when they were sober, she knew her friend well enough to know he would claim he was drunk, but she understood.  However, this was all going to come to a head very soon, and with mating involved, Jewel hoped her friend could separate what was going on.

Jewel rolled her eyes and continued
, “I knew Waverly as a child, but since she's been back, I hear she is a hardass just like the Alpha and his right hand man so to speak, okay?  From what I know, they say she is cool and the Omega of the pack too, which is hard for her.  It was one of the reasons the Alpha had sent her to live with his brother.”  Vander squinted his eyes and looked at her not knowing what the hell an Omega was.

“
What’s an Omega?” he finally asked, trying not to appear too interested, it was hard though.  Vander felt the need to know.

Kane leaned up making the chair squeak
.  “The Omega is a very special wolf.  They feel all the feelings the pack members are feeling.  When they are in pain, she is in pain.  When they are happy, she is happy.  She can help the members that are in pain and take it away as much as she can.  Only a strong Alpha wolf can be an Omega because of all they have to go through.  For example, if their mate or child has died, that emotional pain can become too much to bear and she can ease some of that pain.  It can give them hope and allow them to breathe again or even sleep soundly without nightmares.  The Atlanta Pack is a diverse group of wolves.  Some come with the pain they had to endure from other packs that were not so kind to them.  Lots of stories and she can feel them all.  She is a strong wolf and from what I hear, and she has other powers.  Omegas are rare so if you are an Alpha you want one in the pack to help its members.  Not every pack has one.  So, we may want to look at that angle too.  Someone may have taken her just because she is an Omega.  We need to find our mate, Vander.  Ret and Lex have given me free reign to help with the investigation.  For now, I protect Jewel at the same time as finding our mate,” Kane explained.

“
Look, Kane, you are not a part of the police force, and I can’t have you nosing around our investigation like that.  However, I will ask our commander to allow you to observe for your Alphas since the Redeemer is involved.  And no offense, but I’m not your mate or hers.  I will do my job and find her, but…”  Vander just stopped talking and got up from his seat. 

Kane and Jewel watched as Vander walked out of the office
.  Jewel knew him, he was blowing off steam and would be back when he had time to think about it. 

As he walked to the commander
’s office to file the request, Jewel knew he was probably confused.  Vander had become a police officer for a reason; it was who he was.  His mates were going to have to realize that not only did Van have this case going on; his mother was also lingering in the background just waiting to rear her ugly head.  He was hanging on by a thread and one little push was gonna be all it took.

Kane blew out his breath then looked down at the picture
s he was holding in his hands. The first one was of Vander’s mother, and the second was a picture of Waverly.  Both women had a hold on Vander, but he didn’t even realize it.  Kane looked up when Jewel started talking.

“
Kane?  Vander is a smart man and he will come around.  I always felt he would be in my life more than just being my best friend and partner.  We connected the first time I met him.  He will come around with you and Waverly.  Just keep talking to him.  He won’t be able to ignore the mating pull for long.  He has already started watching you when you’re not looking.  Remember, he is human and only knows what I have told him about mates and mating.  He thought that we could only mate with wolves so this is hard for him.  So give him some time.  You should also know about his mother.”

“
What about her?” Kane asked.

“
That picture the Redeemer left of Vander’s mother showed they were married.  He claims they are mates.  Needless to say, Vander and his mother don’t have a close relationship.  She abandoned him when he was young.  However, he is my best friend, and I can tell that he knows you are meant to be together, just let him get his head on straight,” Jewel said.

“
Really?” Kane questioned.  Kane looked like he had just won a prize.  Kane was finally feeling the hope of actually getting the mating his wolf wanted.

“
Yes, really.  Now I’ve got to call Marcus Grant,” Jewel said and smiled.

“
You really going to go through the Beta first?” Kane half smiled at Jewel.  Now that she was mated to Retten Wexford and Lex Doyle, it made Jewel an Alpha.  Kane knew that Jewel was always upfront and honest.  She would do the right thing, well…maybe what she considered the right thing and others considered the right thing would be completely different.  Ever since his Alpha mated with her, Kane was continually surprised on the things she did. 

“
Of course.  They’re still my pack too.  I would be pissed off if someone went over my head.  Flynn has been good to me over the years.  It’s just the way it is.  I haven’t been active in a long time, but they were my pack and will always be a part of me.  I talk with them on the phone but I don’t go to the pack meetings anymore.  Marcus and Flynn have always supported me even when the pack could have helped me in the past with what I went through, they never pressured me to be active in the pack.  They keep trying but they didn't demand that I join in the activities.”  Jewel pulled her cell phone out and called Flynn Mitchell, the Beta of the Atlanta Pack.

Diane Collins stood in the room where her husband and mate
had brought her all those years ago.  He taught her about ‘true mates’ and ‘mates’, she was human and had no clue the bond that a true mate had with their spouse, but she had learned.  They were mates, which is why she kept her last name.  Her husband, only known to her as Josh Campbell, or the Redeemer, refused to allow her his last name unless she proved her worthiness.  That was what mates did.  Being a ‘true mate’ only meant the female could carry his child; a mate was a kindred soul who was chosen.  She was special damn it, not some biological freak who had sniffed others asses.

She proved she was his
mate every time she wiped the world of a worthless female who spread her legs for anyone.  Just like Diane had been when Josh found her, strung out on drugs and sleeping with men who didn’t care about her, but she learned.  Even though she was human, she understood what her mate wanted to do.  Rid the world of impure women who tarnished the mating with strong pure blood wolves.  She had been weak.  She saw that now.

It all began years ago, when the first male shifter went outside his race to marry and mate with a human.  Since then, the blood of wolves had been tainted.  It made them weak, when they sh
ould be the strongest of the strong on the planet, ruling the humans.  Then the Redeemer was born, to rid the world of women who should only be mating with pure blood wolves, but went out of their race to find a mate.  It was absurd.

In this very room, the
Redeemer had shown her the error in her ways, cleansed her soul, and brought her into the Pack he was building.  Even though she wasn't his ‘true mate’, she was still human, and would never be worthy to bear him children.  For that, he needed a vessel.  One that he would choose above all others.  Diane knew that she was not his true mate, but she already had a plan for that.  But that time was long from now, first they had many things to accomplish, including making sure her mate’s work was taken care while he was incarcerated.

Diane pulled her phone from her hip and dialed. 
His son’s bitch will be coming here, so she could learn.  She had no idea that leaving her son with her sister would lead to this, him being involved with immoral and dirty women.  Josh assured her that once this was all done, her son would see what she had been working for. 

Then Josh would turn him, and her, like he promised
, then they would be a family.  Their Pack would rule the continent, the strongest and most pure Pack. The Atlanta Pack was going to be theirs.  They just needed to find the shifters’ weakness.  The Redeemer wanted to know how to prevent his death so he would be immortal.

“
Bring her to me.  And, Josh, the time has come for you to do my mate’s bidding.  Go to New York while the Alphas are here.  Use their backyard to find men and women to change and join us.  The place is riddled with homeless, when you have enough followers, return, and we will take over,” Diane said and grinned.  "Soon."