Page 46 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
Now Kato’s spot had been filled by Jackson himself, with Darren Garth to his left, and the man I’d seen on his right. A woman with dark curls was at his side in one of them, Jackson’s arms around her.
“He looks different in these,” Sasha said. “He was always overly charming, but these pictures make them look arrogant.”
“Sasha, what rank did Jackson have in the pack when you knew him?”
She avoided my gaze but the word came out in a whisper. “His beta.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me that before?” I demanded. “You said no, Darren being it but I thought you were lying, trying to mislead me.”
Her eyes were shining with angry tears. “No! I didn’t lie to you, Conall.”
“No, but you withheld the truth.”
“Conall—”
“No, no, don’t worry. I just… I wish I’d have known. We’d have had surveillance on him more, probably.”
She seemed to grow small, nodding. I crossed the cabin and wrapped her up in my arms, pulling her to me. She all but went lax in my hold, burying her face in my t-shirt.
“Do you need to get out of here?” I asked her quietly.
She nodded, making a small noise against me. I held her tightly. “Give me five minutes, yeah?”
Again, Sasha nodded. It was so strange, still, to see how she flipped from so confident to a shell. The dependence versusindependence that she battled with. Wanting to be held but so stubbornly thinking she needed to hold herself apart from everyone. She was more transparent than she realized. I wanted to protect her—neededto protect her.
I text Fenrys as Sasha slumped against the wall.
Jackson Trent, we’re looking at him to be the new alpha of Kato’s pack. Can we use resources to track him, find out if it’s true?
He answered swiftly.We will as long as you’re doing something too, Con. And with Sasha, I hope.
“Smile for the camera,” I told her, holding up my phone to snap a picture of her in the cabin. She looked startled as the shutter noise went off before snorting a laugh.
“You’re silly,” she said.
“Believe it or not, you’re the only one to bring it out in me,” I told her. “Everyone else just thinks I’m an asshole. Declan, Aidan, Fenrys at times, Thalia.”
“Thalia likes you.”
“Now, mostly since Reina was born. Before that, we used to make the house pretty unpleasant with our arguments. I respected her as Fenrys’s mate and the pack’s Luna, but I didn’t trust her. No offense.”
“None taken,” Sasha laughed. “I’m guessing they want evidence we’re working together.” I nodded, and she sidled over to me, running her hands down my chest, standing behind me. She was short, so had to prop her head up on my shoulder. She smiled, turning her face into mine, and kissed my cheek.
“Kissfor the camera,” she said. “We’re a couple to Silverlake Valley, right?”
“Right,” I echoed, my thoughts racing.People might see us come up on Fenrys’s phone. That’s what I told myself the reason for her doing that was. To keep up the act. But she tugged on my ear with her teeth even when the camera left.
“Wait, what’s that?” she asked, lowering herself back down from her tiptoes. She reached over me, picking up a scrap of paper I hadn’t yet noticed. It was from a diary page.
Meeting w/T – Inferno Lounge @ 10pm.It was dated today.
“Who’s T?” I wondered aloud.
“I don’t know,” Sasha answered. “None of the guys I knew had a name beginning with T. But that’s not Jackson’s handwriting.”
“Maybe his beta?” I questioned. Before we could ponder further, I caught the time. We had less than five minutes to right the office, get out, and head far enough that, even with the suppressants, our scents wouldn’t track us.
“We have to go,” I said quickly. “Put the desk chair back under. Was that screen on sleep mode?”
