AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oh dear. Well, apparently, we all had a new boss and he was a retriever/shepherd mix. The shelter wasn’t really sure.
Which reminded me that we needed to order a DNA test.
9
“You okay?” Owen asked me later as we were sitting in his living room and Mudbug was curled up sleeping on my lap while Evan and Mason set up everything for him.
“This is really nice,” I answered, giving him a smile.
“I mean from earlier,” he clarified, nodding when I winced. “Dylan texted me demanding to know where you were because you left ISLE crying.”
“I really don’t get what’s going on in his head,” I grumbled. “Why he seems to fucking care now is beyond me? Or he’s just saying that, but he’ll go back to ignoring me until I say what he wants?”
“Can I be brutally honest?”
“Always.”
“He fucked up. Full stop. Besides the shit comment you made and a few things I’ve seen that gave him confused signals, I didn’t see anything that was on you.”
“But?” I pushed.
“No but. In addition, I think it’s a case of right people, wrong time. I don’t think Dylan understands what he’s doing because he’s drowning too. ISLE was his wholelife, Jasmine. And it went up in flames right before his eyes. Even before you, he was worried about it. He took the case where he met you because there were red flags and problems. He told you that.”
I nodded, he had. I thought about what Owen said for a while. “You’re saying that if I’d met Dylan a year ago when his life wasn’t a hurricane and mine was more stable even with all of the secrets to come later, things wouldn’t have been so toxic?”
“Yes.”
I was shocked at how sure he was. “I don’t see it. I just see the hurt and blame. Maybe I can later.”
“That’s fair, and he was an asshole how he handled things, but I think he knew he was and waited for things to cool off before he tried again. That’s not the way to handle it, and your life won’t ever be ‘cooled off’ given what you are and a councilwoman now, but his bear was cautious to not blow it up more. I think in that regard, he was trying to do what was best for you.”
I nodded. I could have seen it. I did see it that way originally, but it just kept getting worse. We kept sliding into a deeper hole that was getting worse. I also didn’t want to keep talking about it. My life was more than Dylan, and we honestly weren’t together that long.
I let out a heavy breath. “I’ve got a ton more work to do. I was just going to drop off some valuable intel to Director Stevens to be nice and help ISLE. But honestly, what I found was disturbing, and I need to get back to it. I’m more than a VP or councilwoman.”
“You’re in charge of the German government,” he muttered, swallowing loudly when I nodded. “That’s such a hard fucking pill to swallow, love. I mean, I get it, but I don’tget it.”
I shrugged. “Most would be pissed at us for rigging a democracy, but honestly we can’t ever be a dictatorship the way we structured it all. And we can’t fall into the bullshit traps of everyone buying off senators and representatives here. We truly only care about the people of Germany. We can’t push everything we want through because the people don’t want it. It could get us caught.”
And that kept us honest and from getting too big of a head. I’d seen it many times with Ally and Arthur when they wanted to overstep and be the boss of the country. It came with being ancient and having seen civilizations rise and fall.
But if they couldn’t convince the people of the country that it was truly the right move… What was the point of doing it? That was why people revolted against governments as well.
So yeah, it was all a crazy conspiracy, but it kept us honest too.
I stood and handed Mudbug over to him, but he whimpered in his sleep. I hugged him to me and gave him a kiss on the head as my phone vibrated in my pocket. “I have to go, baby boy.” It went off again and I sighed, checking to see who it was, answering immediately when I saw it was Elijah and horror filled me. “Puppies can go through portals, right?”
“Yes, any living being is fine as long as it’s not like newborn, just popped out,” he promised. “I need you at home base. Stevens is here and wants the information, and you told me I need to see it. Bring the puppy. Kyle says it will make me smile. I doubt it, and I enjoy proving Kyle wrong.”
I sighed when he hung up, always such a pain in the ass. I glanced at Owen who nodded, seeming amused. Mudbug woke up and wanted… I wasn’t really sure. My attention? Anything I would give him including food and toys?
I grabbed a toy just in case as I held him and headed for the portal. Owen told them we’d be back and where we were going. I activated the portal and started singing to Mudbug as we went through so he didn’t get fussy.
He sniffed the air and whimpered, trying to get closer to me, and instantly I was on alert, glancing around at what could be upsetting him.
Right, Director Stevens was a predator shifter. I found him and flinched when I saw Dylan was standing there with him.
“He opens his mouth for more than work questions and I’m allowed to squash him,” Elijah informed me. “He needs to hear whatever had you spooked. Nothing more.”
