Page 66 of Sigma
“So, you’re not going blindly into a trap, bro,” Linc goes on. “Blakely has had a tumultuous relationship with us lately because of issues around Riley’s mating, but that’s new. He’s close to the pack, tight with the retired council, like Cicely’s old man.”
“Cicely’s old man is a retired council alpha?”
“Yes,” she answers at the same time as Linc says, “Yup. Blakely’s also close to Cat, to Mase’s and Riley’s fathers, too. We aren’tgonna let you get fucked over and I honestly don’t think Mitch wants to do that.”
“You don’t know that they won’t have an SCC SWAT team there to collect me, Linc. Could be your pack has no sway over how it’s handled.”
“We don’t know that they will, either, bud.”
Cicely pipes up. “Whatever you told Mitch–”
Linc says, “Sorry to cut you off, but it’s not on me. Never told him Jared’s wolf has violent tendencies but yet he knew. He didn’t say who called him.”
Now she cuts him off. “Dad is friends with Mitch, and I was gonna say I would bet money my father called him and told him whatever you left out. Because he wants me safe.” She looks at me. “But it’s clear now my dad called him to try to either get him to help or because he wants Jared arrested. He saw the footage of what happened outside, and he’s parked beside Cade and Clinton just up the road with a live stream on his phone.”
I’ve got my work cut out for me with Cicely’s father. That much is obvious. He took the keys to my restraints. She came back from retrieving them more emotional than when she left so they had words. And even if I didn’t have the footprint on my ribs I’d still be able to tell by her reaction that he’s amped.
I don’t blame him. If she were my daughter, I’m sure I’d have dragged her away from here kicking and screaming. And I might’ve done more than kick me in the ribs while I was down.
“Message me the footage,” I say. “I want to see it.”
“No good’ll come of that, Jared,” Linc tries.
“He’s right,” my woman agrees, putting her hand on my arm.
“Send it anyway.”
“I’m gonna go find out what Dad said. Be right back.” She storms out.
“Sending it?” I ask Linc.
“I’ll send it when we finish the call. Chew on the Scotland idea for a couple hours. Call me back before you turn in tonight?”
“Yeah. Bye.”
I hang up.
And two minutes later, a video comes in. It’s taking a minute to load.
I’ve set up my camera twice in the past to capture what happens when I shift.
When I reviewed footage after the first time, all I saw was the transformation, what my wolf looks like, and it ran off. The next time, I set up four different trail cams in a forest and got multiple looks at it, including watching it take down a regular alpha wolf after killing three other wolves from that pack, one being the alpha’s female who was trying to protect her mate by putting herself in the line of fire while my wolf tried to get his throat.
And the image of what that looked like was burned into my brain, so much that I had nightmares where instead of my monster ripping into wolves it ripped into my family members. My dreams became my playback of the night my mother and sister died, and I’ve never known if it’s a real memory or a manufactured imagining.
The video Linc sent finally loads and turns my stomach watching myself become that beast, that beast that hurts my female.
The look of fear in her eyes when she faced the camera briefly. It was clear she was trying to talk to it, reason with it. The rage in the monster’s body language as it raked claws across her hand.The blood on her hand. The way those claws shredded the back of the shirt she had on as the two other males moved in.
She comes in while I’m on my third watch of the video.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, then her expression hardens. “I told you not to watch it.”
I throw the phone aside and open my arms wide.
Fuck, I need her. Need to touch her, smell her. Need her to know how much I fuckin’ hate that it hurt her.
She climbs onto my lap and wraps her arms around me.
