Jaded Hearts
Chapter 69

Matt

Hey, man. You busy? I just got a crazy call, and I want to talk with you and the guys about it.

I can take a break. I’ll be up in a few minutes.

What kind of call would have Xander calling a last-minute meeting with the team? I was beyond curious. Maybe it had to do with the summit.

I saved my work, then headed up to see what was going on. I ran into Kade on the way, who looked just as confused as I did.

“I take it you don’t know what’s going on either?” he asked.

“Nope, but we’re about to replace out.”

Walking in, we found Alexi, Xander, and Tyson intently looking over a map of the west coast.

“What did we miss?” I asked.

Xander turned to me and smiled. “Colton Witt called me. Looks like his little brother reached out to him to catch up.”

I immediately perked up. That fucker had been missing for over four months. “Please tell me we found him,” I begged.

“Not quite. Colton is smart for a young Alpha and knew that eventually, Drew would contact him. Drew spent his entire life asking Colton for handouts; it was just a matter of time, so Colton had tracers installed on his office phone. Drew was using a burner, and the signal was bouncing off multiple satellites, but they have a general location. He’s definitely in Oregon, but it’ll take a few days to narrow down exactly where.”

“Could you ask Witt to send the results from the trace to us? When I was working, I became pretty good at digging out locations. Maybe I can help speed up the process,” Tyson offered.

“I didn’t know you had those skills, but I did ask for the data. He emailed it as soon as we hung up.”

“Nice. Forward it to me, and I’ll get to work.

“How long do you think it would take? Should we cancel the summit trip this afternoon?” I asked.

“If they are bouncing off satellites, it’ll be a little tougher. So, at best, two days.”

“We’ll take what we can get. Matt, I think we should still go to the summit. I don’t think Drew’s watching us, but if he is, we can’t let him know we’re on to him. We’ll be in Washington, so if he’s in Oregon, we can just hop on the plane and take him out. It’s not that big of a difference time-wise if we’re here or there when we replace him.”

“Did Colton say what Drew wanted?” Kade asked.

“He didn’t want anything, which was suspicious. He just asked a lot of questions about the pack, Colton’s time as Alpha, that type of thing. Again, he’s smart, so most of his answers were bullshit. Drew’s fishing, but we don’t know what for yet.”

I stood and walked to the map.

“Whoever helped him escape is probably still helping him now. There’s no way he could have left the state in the condition he was in. Whoever it is, I want to take them out as well. Any friend of my enemy is also my enemy,” I told the group.

“Agreed. We’ll replace every one of them, and they each will pay. No one f***s around with Blue Moon, not while I’m Alpha,” Xander replied.

“I’d like to keep this just between us for now, if that’s alright. I don’t want to get the ladies’ hopes up of finally replaceing him and have us come up short again. That would destroy Taylor; she’s still fragile whether she’ll admit it or not.”

“I don’t want to go another round with Alaia when she’s pissed, so I’m one hundred percent on board with that decision,” Xander said.

The rest of the room nodded in agreement. The ladies would know once we had him in custody and not a second before.

SIXTY-NINE | A CONCERNED CITIZEN

Matt

Hey, man. You busy? I just got a crazy call, and I want to talk with you and the guys about it.

* * *

Taylor

“Do you have everything you need? Maybe extra clothes or a raincoat? It’s rainy in Washington, isn’t it?”

Matt was leaving for the summit in a little less than an hour, and I couldn’t stop fussing over him. We’d never been apart for more than a few hours, and I didn’t think I could sleep in our bed without him.

“It’s one weekend, tesoro. I promise I have everything. If I don’t, I can always go to the store and get it.”

He placed his favorite T-shirt in the bag, which I quickly snatched out.

“I need this. Take something else to sleep in.”

“I’m going to miss you, too, beautiful.”

He packed another shirt in the bag, then zipped it up. “I’m sure you can replace plenty to do to keep you busy while I’m gone. Unless you simply can’t live without me and you need me to stay.”

I thought about it, I really did. But eventually, we would have to spend some time apart. We couldn’t be together all the time, no matter how much I wanted to.

“No, you can go. I’ll be alright.”

“Please, for my own peace of mind, stay home this weekend. And if you do leave, take Tyson with you. No ‘girls’ night out’ or anything like that, not while I’m so far away.”

“Damn, we were planning to hit up the swingers club in the city and have a grand old time, but I guess you ruined that idea,” I teased.

Matt dropped his voice, then grabbed my waist and pulled me to his chest. “Don’t play with me, Ms. Adams. Home. Understand?”

I didn’t think it was possible for Matt to be any sexier, but this assertive and dominant version of himself made my thighs clench and my mouth water. Through my lustfully foggy brain, I managed to croak out a reply.

“Okay.”

“That’s my girl. Now come on, I want to see the baby before we leave.”

* * *

About forty-five minutes later, Matt, Xander, and Alexi were gone, leaving just Kade and Tyson to look after us.

“Kade, I’m going to head over to get started on that project. Give me a shout if you need me for anything. And sunshine, you know the rules, right? I go where you go,” Tyson said to me.

“What’s with you men today? I get it. When’s the last time I’ve been anywhere alone anyway? Chill the hell out,” I snapped back.

They all just looked at me for a second as if I’d grown two heads. I took a breath to calm myself, then apologized. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that. I’m just a little off since it’s my first weekend apart from Matt. You’ll be the first to know if I go anywhere, I promise.”

“No harm done. I’ve got some work to do, so I’ll see you later,” Tyson said with a smile.

When he walked off, Kade came and stood next to me. “Don’t worry, he’s got a thick skin. I’ve been taking shots at him for months, and they haven’t affected him yet.”

“Yeah, but I’m not an a*****e like you are,” I replied.

“Ouch! And here I was, thinking we were friends.”

He walked back in the house just as one of the house omegas rushed past him, almost running right into his chest.

“Whoa, slow down, Tessa. What’s got you in such a hurry?”

“I apologize, Beta. I have an urgent matter I wanted to show the Alpha before he left.”

“He’s gone already. What’s up?” Kade asked.

“Um, I was out with my mate running along the pack border, and we found this letter. I would have given it to a patrol guard, but I hoped I could make it in time to catch the Alpha.”

She passed Kade a beautiful golden envelope. On the front in perfect red handwriting read:

Gamma Adams

Kade sniffed the envelope and frowned, his eyes switching to deep pools of black.

“This is written in b***d. Where did you replace this? Take me there now!”

“Yes, Gamma. Right away.”

He shoved the letter in his pocket, then turned to me. “Get Tyson back to the house now. Then go up to the playroom with Alaia, Morgan, and the kids. Don’t leave until I get back—any of you.”

Kade didn’t give me a chance to ask questions or refuse. He and Tessa were gone in the blink of an eye. I linked Alaia, then sent a text to Tyson and Morgan, letting them know to head to the playroom. Walking past one of the windows, I noticed warriors in their wolf forms surrounding the house—Kade worked fast. When I made it to the playroom, the girls and the kids were already there.

“What’s happening? Kade’s blocking me, and I’m tempted to have Xander turn around and come back,” Alaia said.

I told them the little I knew just as Tyson walked in. “Where’s the letter?” he asked.

“Kade has it. Should we call the guys back?” I replied.

“Not yet. We don’t know who sent it or what they want. Let’s just wait.”

When Kade did finally walk in, Alaia immediately started firing off questions. “What the hell is going on, Kade? And why did you block me? I need to know what’s happening with my pack!”

“Our pack, Alaia. You’re my Luna, and I love you like a little sister, but calm the hell down. I’ve got this under control. Xander would not have left otherwise.”

“Fine. Then would you mind filling us in?”

“Actually, I would. Tyson, come down to my office. I need to talk to you.”

“You cannot be serious,” I chimed in. “That letter was addressed to me, and you’re keeping it a secret?”

“I have to, just for now. When it’s time for you three to know what’s going on, you’ll know. Just let us handle this. Please.”

Then men left, leaving the three of us pissed and confused.

“This is bullshit. Male chauvinistic bullshit!” Alaia yelled.

“You’re his Luna. Make him tell you what’s going on,” Morgan suggested.

“I can’t. I’m the Luna, but technically, he’s the acting Alpha. He outranks me until Xander gets back.”

* * *

Tyson

“Whoever left this didn’t leave a trail. I don’t even know how they managed to get to the border without being noticed,” Kade said, clearly frustrated.

I looked over the letter, then lifted it to my nose. “This b***d is strange. It’s a mixture of wolf, bear, human, and vamp. Smart. That way, we don’t know exactly who we’re up against,” I said.

Kade nodded. “Open it. I know it’s addressed to Taylor, but Matt left her in our care. If this was a friendly letter, it would have come in the mail, minus the b***d.”

I ripped it open and stared down at the contents.

67310 Maple Bark Lane

Gamma Adams,

The degenerate and disgraced wolf your pack has been after is currently at the location above. If you, your mate, or your Alpha would like to have him back, move in at sunrise after the next full moon, as there will be minimal guards or opposition. All I ask is that you finish the job that was started and end his pitiful existence.

-A Concerned Citizen

“What the f**k? It can’t be that easy,” I said in disbelief.

Kade took the letter then smiled. “Hopefully, you’re up for one last job. The full moon is Sunday night.”