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“Oh, my gosh! We are the worst!” Papa exclaimed next to me. “We didn’t introduce anyone! My son, Dakota, is next to me.” He pointed at us. “He’s Kade’s best friend and boss. My husband and mate is next to him. Aldrin is a doctor. He attended Kade. Checked him over earlier. No concerns aside from how long the heat is taking. Then we have Deke. He’s Blake’s cousin. Axel, he’s Blake’s brother. Then, of course, there’s Alpha Jason. He runs the Sweetwater bear pack. It split a few decades ago, but they are merging soon.” He smiled at Jasper. “Oh! And I’m James.”
“Thank you, I’m Jasper Brown and this little one is Angelica.”
“Great! So now we are all introduced. You should leave a number with Deke or Axel so they can call you when Kade can see you. Dakota, sweetheart, do you want to take Kade’s family to his house? I’m sure they will want some time to relax before Angelica has to go to bed.” Papa gave me a meaningful look.
“Do you want to follow me in your own car?” I asked Jasper as I stood.
He watched me warily. “That’s a good idea. I have a booster for Angel in my car.”
“Okay, will we head out?”
My phone rang as I neared Kade’s house and I put it on the bluetooth. “Hey, Papa.”
“So?”
“My bear says he’s my mate, but that’s impossible.”
“Maybe The Luna is giving you a second chance? It’s been over thirty years, Dakota.”
“I don’t think it happens like that, Papa.”
“You never know what The Luna has planned.”
“He doesn’t want me. You saw how he acted. He felt something and shut it down.”
“His mate —“
“Ex. They were unbonded.”
“Still, the father of his children was just killed. He hasn’t seen his son in five years and he desperately wanted to see him today and couldn’t. We have no idea what he’s been doing aside from raising that sweet girl all on his own.”
“We don’t know that he was on his own. He might have a mate.” My hands tightened around the steering wheel at the idea.
“I didn’t sense a bite.”
“He could still have someone, Papa. It’s too complicated. Look, I’m at the house and I need to help him change the beds and tidy up, okay? I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”
With quick goodbyes, I ended the call and got out of my truck. I’d left the space next to Kade’s car for Jasper to park in. Someone from the pack had arranged for Axel’s vehicle to get towed and repaired already. Nobody seemed to know what to do with Kade’s car, so it just sat there until he could deal with it himself.
It was tense as Jasper followed me into the house. The alarm was off since Roan had deactivated it with his password. If Jasper and Angelica were going to stay there for a while, I’d suggest getting a new one set up, just in case. I hoped they would move into the compound for safety, but it wasn’t my place.
With Jasper’s help, we got the sheets changed and the laundry on. Kade kept his house pretty neat, so there wasn’t much to pick up. Each time I knew where something was, I felt Jasper’s judgment. “I, uh, helped Kade out when he was ill recently.” I finally explained as the silence prickled between us.
“He was ill?”
“Yeah,” I rubbed the back of my neck, “blockers and scent changing magic don’t mix. He’d been on the blockers for too long.”
Jasper’s eyes widened. “Is he okay?”
Fuck.It wasn’t really my place to say it all. “There were a rough couple of days, but I think he’s okay now.” I couldn’t tell Jasper that the chances of him having grandkids were lessened because of everything he’d been through. Rincoln was after Kade to get Jasper.
He took a deep breath and let it go. “That’s great.”
My bear wanted to stay close to Jasper, but with the house set and beds made, I’d run out of excuses.
“Dakota, will you read me a story? It’s my bedtime.” Angelica said from the smaller bedroom.
“Dakota can’t, darling. He has to go now. You’ll see him again at some point, I’m sure.” He turned to me, his expression closed. “I’ll see you out.”
Guess I was leaving then. I followed him through the house to the front door. “Are we going to talk about this?” I asked as I stood in the open doorway.
“No.” Jasper said with finality, and he closed the door on my face.
