I explained, “She’s sleeping and we didn’t have a fight. I was getting in a workout before Micah and I left. Hendrix warned me Cora was on the way with coffee…” My dad interrupted, “You don’t drink coffee anymore.” I sighed, “I know that. I didn’t want to get hung up with her, so I just decided to shower here. Sorry if I woke you up.”
My dad said, “No, I was up and about to go for a run myself. I’m glad I caught you though. I have a question and a few statements.” I replied, “I’ll stick around for them if you promise to keep an eye on Cass and Cora while I’m gone. I’ve heard rumors there might be more going down there than I even thought would ever be.”
My dad nodded, “I’ll watch over Cassie since I always do when you leave, but there is absolutely more going on than you know about.” I frowned, “You know?” My dad winked, “A lot of things happen when you leave, son. You do remember when Cassie tattooed the words ‘lying bitch’ across her chest with magic, right? Cora started a rumor which Cassie shut down. Cassie is handling it, but I’m wearing thin on patience for her way.”
I asked, “What rumor?” He winced admitting, “I don’t know. It got locked down before I could find out. Your mate is good.” I rubbed my face, “Well, do what you have to do to keep Cass safe.” My dad laughed, “Me and her family just might take extreme measures. Logan’s children have been cursing Cora for years.”
I winced wondering how I had been so blind. My dad said, “Anyway, back to my question.” He pulled out the engagement ring from my closet that I’d bought for Cassie last year and opened the box. I smiled seeing it again. I’d seen it on a mission and knew it was perfect for my Duchess.
It was a square cut diamond that was her favorite color, golden yellow, sparkling in every direction when the light hit. The stone was set in a platinum band with diamonds down the sides. It reminded me of the sun, and she had sunlight hands.
I shrugged, “That’s not a question.” My dad laughed, “I was looking for a tie. Your mother said none of mine were appropriate. So, I came in here to look at yours you’d left behind, and I found this.” I searched the bond, but it didn’t tell me anything other than he was both surprised and not.
I asked, “Are you disappointed?” My dad snorted, “That you bought an engagement ring? No. Judging by the dust on the box, you’ve had it for a while though. I want to know if our traditions are holding you back from doing what you want.” I frowned, “Huh?”
My dad said, “I know you, son. You would not have bought this ring if you didn’t want Cassie to at least be your fiancée. Why haven’t you proposed?” I answered thinking it was obvious. “Our people usually don’t get married so fast. You and mom were together for eleven years before you got married.”
My dad frowned, “What other people do is not what you have to do. Your mate is not a full blooded Hackura and you’ve always marched to the beat of your own drum.” That was true.
He added, “If you want to get married tomorrow then your mother and I, along with the royal family, would support you. I don’t care about tradition; I care about my son being happy. If you want to propose and get married, then do that. Marriage was not on either your mom’s, or my mind, for a while.” I knew that.
He assured me, “That’s not because we didn’t want to get married. Here we were considered married from the moment we mated and marked each other.” I replied, “I know that.” He grinned, “It’s a beautiful ring, and Cassie will love it.” I frowned, “She might want to wait.”
My dad laughed interjecting, “Do you actually believe that?” I pointed out, “She loves her parents' love story. She’s spent a month in Faerie. She wasn’t here though, and I just...” I trailed off and realized his point. “need to talk to her about it.”
My dad hugged me, “There you go, son. Congratulations, Cayden.” I laughed, “She hasn’t said yes yet. Hell, I haven’t even asked.” My dad smiled, “Make a plan then, because she will say yes.” I asked, “Keep that safe for me, would you?” My dad nodded and I started to go out the window. My dad scoffed, “Go out the damn front door for god’s sake.” I laughed and took off.
Micah was waiting out front for me. He told me, “A certain blonde is crying over the fact you aren’t in the gym.” I rolled my eyes, “Did Hendrix tell you that?” Micah laughed, “No, Max did. He was ready to kill her. He’s getting a workout in here since he wanted to stay with me as long as possible.”
I joked, “Those Conners’ kids man.” Micah wiggled his eyebrows, “They’ve got stamina.” I laughed, “That they do.” Max jogged up joining the conversation, “Like you wouldn’t believe, and don’t answer that Cayden because you screw my sister.” He slammed his lips on Micah’s. When Max pulled back, he ordered, “You stay safe.” He walked away muttering how he wished I was going with him.
I raised an eyebrow linking, “Max doesn’t know that I’m going with you?” Micah answered, “Maybe he just assumed you were giving me mission details and not coming. I didn’t mean to let him think I was going alone. I know we can’t tell him where I’m going, so I might have just left a lot of details.” I nodded knowing it was hard for them.
Max was more involved with the Conners pack than Cassie was. Cassie was still involved there as the Alpha to a small group, but her Beta and Gamma had a system down pat with that for theirs. I was damn proud she was the first Female Alpha with an all-female leadership group. Hell, I was even part of the pack, which is how I could link Micah. Cassie chose to know everything I knew so she could have my back. Max knew I had Micah’s, but I was positive it ate at him.
I opened a portal, and we stepped through. Micah sighed, “Good old Franklin, Tennessee.” We went to the apartment we’d set up for him. We’d just given him an alias with his actual first name, per his preference, but a fake name as his last name. I ran over mission specifics with him several times peppering him with questions.
When I was satisfied, I declared, “You’re ready.” Micah smiled, “I am. I’ve studied all this information backwards and forwards.” I gave him the contacts we wore on missions. I’d be nearby in a car with tinted windows. Vans were too obvious for things like this. His contacts were actually transmitters. I would see everything he did with them in. I wished we could use them to keep our eyes from going gold, but that wasn’t possible. This way though, Micah was literally my eyes and ears.
I told him, “I’ll be watching everything so if you need me, I’ll be there.” Micah nodded, “My dad is here somewhere too. Which means my other dad is too.” I smiled, “I figured Harper and Gunner would be around. You know that Cali probably tried to talk them out of it.”
Micah laughed, “I’m sure momma Cali tried with my other two moms did too. I’ve got this, Cayden.” I nodded, “Them being here is not an indication that you don’t. You know that right?” Micah nodded, “They worry, and I did get burned on a mission seemingly out of nowhere.” That still bugged me.
He shrugged, “It’s fine. They do it to all my siblings. Let’s get moving.” He left first. I faded back before leaving so I could follow him. I jogged a lap and spotted where Gunner and Harper were. I tapped the car’s window for fun and went to my own car.
I called Harper. He answered, “Cayden.” I teased, “Do I need to send you the feed or not?” Gunner snorted, “Don’t insult me.” I joked, “Right. What was I thinking?” We went silent when Micah got inside with the Hunters. The two he’d been cozying up to welcomed him in.
He greeted, “Wow. This place is intense.” One guy said, “Oh yeah. We are serious about removing Werewolves from existence. They are dangerous.” I felt Micah push his anger down. He nodded, “Sure.” They showed him around.
I wanted to scream in rage because they were armed to the teeth with weapons. All their bullets were silver. I was trying to keep my own anger at bay thinking of Cassie. I fist pumped when the two guys wanted him to meet the leader. YES! We wanted to get someone embedded inside with them.
I knew we’d have to be careful on what information we acted on, but we’d have inside knowledge. We needed to know who was behind this. I watched as Micah was taken down to a basement where far too many kids were hanging out.
I hit the dashboard, “These fuckers are recruiting these human kids. How could they do that?” I zoomed in, trying to see if they were given the Hunters mark. I wanted to rage and kill everyone in charge when I saw some did.
My eyes narrowed on two of the girls. They were not human, and I was pretty sure I knew them. I asked, “Harper?” Harper answered, “Yes, those two girls are exactly who you think they are. Gunner just pulled up our surveillance on Black Path. That’s Addison Davis and Sierra Kiern. Daughters to Alpha Davis and Beta Kiern.”
I asked, “What the HELL are two Werewolves doing with Hunters?” Gunner mused, “They don’t have their wolves yet. They could send them to spy on the Hunters. Franklin is close to Tennessee.” I argued, “That’s incredibly dangerous. Even if they don’t have wolves, they are still Werewolves. They are in a house with weapons designed to kill them.” Harper snorted, “Yes, they are.”
