“Good,” Jackson said. “Having both of you close is the quickest way for Theo to recover.”
Glancing over his shoulder at Theo’s hospital room, Smokey said softly, “His parents never taught him what to do if someone attacked him. If it weren’t for Oliver, Mac said he would have lost the cub for sure.” Then, turning back to Jackson, he said, “I was wrong about Ollie…just thought you should know.”
“You were only trying to protect your mate,” Jackson replied. “I understood that.”
“Yeah…but I shoulda given him a chance before I judged him,” Smokey muttered.
“You did…when you agreed to Theo spending time with his cousin without you hovering over them or shooting the evil eyeat Ollie this morning at breakfast,” Jackson said, smiling. “I learned a long time ago that it doesn’t pay to question every decision you make after the fact so just be thankful Ollie was there and protected Theo…oh, and after the cub is born, maybe you and Norm should give Theo some lessons on how to defend himself in case of an attack, hmm?”
“We will,” growled Smokey.
“Good…and let me know when Theo is awake so I can visit,” Jackson said.
“Okay,” Smokey said, as he turned to enter Theo’s hospital room, only to stop and face Jackson again. Looking at his Alpha defiantly, he growled, “I don’t know what you plan to do about the arrest warrant, but I won’t allow that fucking bounty hunter to take my mates, even if that means we leave here.”
“I won’t allow that to happen, Smokey…not today, not tomorrow, not ever…even if I have to go to war with the Ghost Bear Alpha.”
Smokey studied Jackson’s face for a moment, then giving a curt nod, he silently entered the room where his mates were still asleep.
Jackson hesitated for a moment and thought about the promise he had just made and knew without a doubt he would do anything to keep his pack members safe from the evil that was slowly enveloping their world. The gods knew it, as did the Fates, and now he accepted it too, but thankfully he had the tools in his pack to fight it—and fight it he would so his son and the rest of the children growing up in their world would be free to live a life they deserved. Exhaling deeply, Jackson turned on his heel and headed for the examining room to see Ollie.
Knocking briefly first, Jackson waited until he heard Mac’s voice give permission to enter before pushing open the door. Stepping inside, his eyes first landed on Ollie, who was sitting on the edge of the examination table, before they turned to Mac. “Hey Doc, how’s the hero of the day doing?” he asked with a smile.
“He’s good,” Mac replied, sitting down next to his mate. “A few scratches here and there, a couple of sore muscles but, thankfully, nothing worse. A shift should take care of all of it.”
“That’s good news,” Jackson said, pulling a chair over and sitting down. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Did you talk to Theo?” asked Ollie.
“Not yet…he’s sleeping…Smokey’s gonna let me know when he wakes up.”
“Oh…we were just sitting in the meadow and talking when this man appeared and demanded to know where Norm was.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Of course not,” Ollie said indignantly. “We didn’t know who he was, but he wanted Theo to go with him. Insisted his parents had hired him to find him, but I knew that was a lie.”
“Did he identify himself as a bounty hunter?” asked Jackson.
Shaking his head, Ollie said, “No…and he didn’t tell us anything about an arrest warrant for Theo and Norm. The first time I heard that was when Groose found it in the man’s backpack.”
“You are positive about that, right?” asked Jackson.
Mac growled. “If my mate said that’s what happened, then that’s what happened.”
“Whoa!” Jackson said, holding up his hands in appeasement. “I believe Ollie, but I have to make sure in order to protect Theo and Norm. The law is quite clear that a bounty hunter must identify himself as one and produce the arrest warrant before taking a suspect into custody.”
Ollie grasped Mac’s hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze before he said, “I’m absolutely positive. When I stopped Theo from going with him, the man suddenly shifted and attacked. That’s the truth.”
“Theo had agreed to go with the man?” Jackson asked quietly. If true, then that would present another problem—a rather tricky one.
Chapter 17
The clear, star-studded night sky hinting at cold weather soon to arrive in Northern Scotland was perfect for flying. It was just the way Reif liked it—so different from the place he grew up in Greece, where seasons blended into each other and the weather was warm year-round. Scotland was his home now and, as far as he was concerned, there wasn’t a better place on earth.
Flying alongside Logan’s black dragon had been his desire since Reif first saw him, and it had finally happened. And with their babies safe with Brian on Logan’s back, he was free to soar and spiral all down around the black dragon while grinning with the joy of being alive. There were moments he still found it hard to believe that just a short time ago his people were suffering under the vampires’ control, but that was over; all their tormentors were dead and he now had a mate and five baby nessies who filled his life with happiness he never thought possible.
Swooping down through the chilly air until he was next to the black dragon, Reif glanced at his mate, who had hesitated to go until the Shaman convinced him everything would be all right. He hadn’t known Brian was afraid of flying and it put a kink in his dreams of flying through the Scottish Highlands with his mate on his back and their nessies alongside them, but he hoped that a few more trips like tonight would help to assuage his mate’s fears.