AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seven
Jasper
Momsleptmostofthe way back to Twisted Pines.According to the plan I’d agreed on with my brothers, we drove the extra thirty minutes to come onto our land the back way, without going through town.There was no need for the clan to know that we were so desperate for any information about mom’s illness that we’d go see a kooky conspiracy theorist.
I left the truck idling as I hopped out to open the gate onto clan land.When my mother took over Twisted Pines and turned the Lodge into a resort, we’d divided the land into public and private areas so the clan would still have their privacy.There were an abundance of No Trespassing signs, and my brother Micah had installed motion-detecting cameras and floodlights to discourage visitors.Still, the occasional lost tourist or hiker had found their way to us over the years.
They didn’t always find their way back out.
A shadow moved in the darkness.I braced myself, then relaxed as I recognized two figures on horseback.The tall one who was gesturing comedically as he spoke was my brother Micah.Beside him was Dominic Thorne, silent and compact.It could have been his son Dylan, but Dom’s hair was snow white and formed a small afro around his head, while Dylan kept his head shaved and sported a goatee.
I raised my hand in greeting as they approached.“How did you know I was coming?”
“Didn’t,” Micah called back.“This guy decided that we really needed to go check the fences near the gate after dinner.In the dark.”
“There was still plenty of light.It’s summer,” Dominic pointed out.All of us knew that he’d been looking for an excuse to wait for Mom, but it was just like him to figure out a way to get some work done while he waited.
“How did it go?”
“It went,” I said.“Let’s talk about it when we’re all together.”
“How’s Melinda?”Dominic said.
“Fine.Sleeping.”
Dominic nodded, then stepped down from his horse and handed me the reins.“I’ll drive her back.”
“Keys are in it,” I said, jerking my thumb over my shoulder.
Without another word, Dominic headed off to the truck.Micah and I shut and locked the gate as the truck rumbled off toward the Lodge.Dominic’s house was in the village with the rest of the clan, but we all knew that my mother would want to sleep in her trailer right next to the Lodge.“You ever think there’s something going on between them?”Micah asked.
“Who?Mom and Dominic?No.He’s her Beta.They’ve worked together for years.”
“I’m just saying.He’s been sleeping at her place for months now.”
“Just because she’s sick.So she’s got someone to take care of her.Jesus, Micah,” I said.“Just because you’re a horny asshole doesn’t mean everyone is a horny asshole.”
“Whoa,” Micah said.“I will cop to horny, but I’m not an asshole about it.Otherwise, the ladies wouldn’t keep coming back.”
I shook my head in annoyance.“They would never jeopardize the clan by being selfish like that.”
Even in the darkness, I could see Micah’s frown.“Why would it jeopardize the clan?I think they’d be good together, actually.”
I gritted my teeth.“Mom and Dad were fated mates.You don’t think it would piss people off if she hooked up with someone else?”
“I think those people should mind their own business.Dad is gone.Dominic’s wife is gone.Why shouldn’t they find a little happiness together?”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It should be.”
“Well, it’s not.”
Micah exhaled.“Look, I’m sorry I brought it up.Obviously, Mom and Dominic are completely selfless and have no physical desires whatsoever except to serve the clan, and neither of them has any emotions outside of that.Cool?”
Only Micah could agree with me while making me sound like an idiot.But he wasn’t the reason I felt itchy and deprived.“I need to run.”
“We’re too close to the road,” Micah said, his surprise clear in his voice.Normally I was the one enforcing the rules.
