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  Jordan looked at her brother and yelled. “Oliver, the man who killed my parents is still alive? What did he say? That you needed to finish the job? Is that why you are all here?”

  “Don"t be stupid, Jordan. He never told Quin or Jaden anything like that. As far as I know, he was just as excited about finding you as we were. You know we have been working to find the Chosen; we had no clue that you were one of them. We just put it all together. I would never keep something like this from you!” Sid said hotly.

  Her parents were not adding to the conversation and she turned to them. “I want to know what you have known and for how long.” She said quietly.

  Her mother was wringing her hands and looking at her father, who was sitting there with a blank look on his face. There was silence in the room and she dreaded the answer she was about to get. Finally her father spoke.

  “When I found you, there was a note. It explained that your parents had disappeared and were presumed dead. It left their names, and the fact that you had family in the United States. We contacted your grandparents. They were distraught. They claimed that you would not be safe with them.”

  Jordan sat back and began to shake. Her mates took her hands and held onto them giving her support. They had known, all of this time, the people who she trusted all her life had lied to her about her past.

  “Jordan, I am so sorry. They said that if you were found, you would be killed. They said you were a human, a weak link. I did what I did in order to protect you.” Her father said and she could see the anguish in the man"s face. But it did not matter. She had a right to know about her past.

  Her mother whispered. “Jordan, please, think of it from our point of view. We wanted to keep you safe. Your father and I fell in love with you the moment you opened your eyes. Your brothers loved you too. We would do anything to protect you. We did not know that you could not be changed. I am so sorry that we never did any of the research about you. It was out there, but we didn"t. When Quin and Jaden formed the New Council they were so inexperienced, so much was happening in Denver, it seemed like they were being attacked every other day. We waited. We made that decision so you would be protected when you went. When Sid became mated to Devon and Casey, we wrote him. We told him the truth and asked that he approach the Alphas. He spoke to your brothers first, and they made a plan. They wanted you protected before you went, considering how many of the Chosen have been targeted.” Jordan took a deep breath and looked around the room. “So what you are saying is, not only did you know who I was when I was born, but you don"t trust me to run my life, or take care of myself. What? Am I not as intelligent as you? You trust me to run the company, but not run my life. Wait, maybe you don"t trust me to run company. Did you have someone checking my work? My whole life has been a sham!” She cried and buried her face into Romy"s neck. She felt Larkin rub her back and she calmed down.

  Her mates had a calming effect.

  They would help her; they would never lie to her. Larkin and Romy had both told her that they were overprotective, but they would always tell her the truth about what was going on. She believed them; right now, she needed someone in her corner that she trusted.

  “I think this is enough for right now. Maybe we could take a break and come back to this later.” Larkin said quietly.

  “Pussy cat, don"t tell me how to deal with my daughter. I know her better than you.” Her father growled and stood up. Larkin did the same and stood nose to nose with the Alpha.

  Devon finally spoke up and said, “Sir, with all due respect, that is not going to get us anywhere. Jordan, we have a security detail waiting for you. They will be following you until we get back to Milliken. You do understand that since you are one of the Chosen that you belong in Colorado with the rest of the New Council. Quin and Jaden would have liked to come and talk to you but since the last attack, they are trying to figure out who and what we are up against. So they sent me and Casey since we are family.” Jordan took a deep breath, pulled her head from her mate"s shoulder, and looked at Devon. She had liked him and Casey when they met, but now they seemed like the enemy, just like the rest of her family. There were so many conflicting emotions running through her mind right now, she could not sort them out. She needed to get away, with her mates, so that she could think and talk without an audience.

  “Devon, I am sorry to say that I will respectfully decline the invitation to come to Denver. Also, if you send someone to follow me, that is your problem, but I will not accept them interfering in my life. As far as I am concerned you can keep them too, but I have the feeling that you will not listen. So, basically I am going to ignore them. My mates and I are leaving. We will contact you after we have discussed things and made a decision. I can tell you one thing though; I will not go to Colorado while the man who killed my parents is free and unpunished.” Jordan said and stood up and held out her hands to her mates.

  Jordan"s mother began weeping and she almost went to her to give her comfort. But she refused to let them suck her back in. They had betrayed her. She walked stiffly from the room, as her father demanded that she remain. She ignored him.

  Larkin. Romy, and Jordan walked out of the house and got into the car and drove off as the people she called family stood on the front porch watching her, some crying and some yelling. She refused to look at them or acknowledge them. She sat in the back of the car with Larkin at her side and Romy driving. When they finally cleared the driveway, she broke down and sobbed. Larkin pulled her into his arms and rocked her back and forth will Romy drove quickly to their penthouse.

  Their plan for the day changed. Neither of them thought the morning would go down like this. Wow, their mate was one of the Chosen. It was a matter of time before shifters found out. She would be in danger.

  Romy said quietly from the front seat. “Baby, I know that you don"t want it, but I think you need some protection. I understand why you denied it from your family, but would you please allow us to call out Prime and ask for some help? He will understand and provide us with what we need.”

  Jordan just nodded and continued to cry in Larkin"s arms.

  Romy pulled out his phone and called the familiar number. Larkin and Romy may be black panthers, but they were rich, black panthers and their Prime respected that.

  “Gorge, how are you?” Romy said into the phone quietly.

  “Good, my friend, to what do I owe this surprise phone call?” Gorge said.

  “Larkin and I met our mate. Her name is Jordan, uh, Jordan Grey.” Romy said slowly and heard the sharp intake of breath from his Prime.

  “Well, holy fuck, you mated a dog?” Gorge said slowly, as if testing the word on his tongue.

  “No, Jordan is human, she is adopted. Okay, this is a very long story so I"m going to give you the condensed version. Jordan was adopted, the Grey's found her, raised her all her life thinking she was just a human in the wolf world. Today we found out that they had lied to her, she is one of the Chosen. We need protection for her.” Romy said.

  “Once again, holy fuck. Wait, you mated to Jordan, you and Larkin?” Gorge said.

  “Yep.” Romy said and grinned when he heard his Prime clap.

  “You are part of the Council. This is what we have wanted, someone to represent the cats, in the mutt world. Jordan is part of our Pride; she is one of us now. We will protect our own; tell the dogs we got this.” Gorge said briskly and he could hear him talking to someone in the background. “You going home?”

  “Yeah, be there in ten.” Romy said.

  “Someone is already on their way.” Gorge said.

  They continued talking briefly and then Romy hung up the phone. “Jordan, our Prime would like to extend his congratulations and also an invitation to his house for dinner tomorrow.”

  Jordan who was still crying nodded and whispered, “Whatever.” Larkin pulled her tighter against him and sighed. He hated that his mate had to go through that. It sucked. He could not believe her family, the arrogance that they all showed. Like it
was okay to lie to Jordan, and not tell her who she was.

  Chapter 8

  Devon stood at the door watching the car drive away and felt heaviness in his heart.

  Wow, this went really bad. Sid was pissed, his mother and father-in-law were crying and his brother-in-laws were cussing at the car as it left. How the hell had this gone so wrong?

  He approached his mates who were standing in the doorway talking. Casey was trying to calm Sid down; her huge belly was making it hard to hug him like it appeared she wanted to. He smiled and went to his mate and put his hand on her stomach. “Case, maybe you should go and lay down for a while. Today was a long day with the flight and all.”

  “Don"t you tell me to go and lay down like nothing has happened! Hell, Jordan"s life just fell apart before our eyes, she left with people we don"t even know, and they are cats to boot! Jo is gonna freak when we tell her that her father is a murderer and I don"t even want to think about Cami, Quin and Jaden! This is a fucking mess!” She yelled.

  Devon grimaced, when Casey got pissed she screamed. Then her stomach started the whole glowing thing because their child thought their mother was in danger and they responded. They had noticed over the last few weeks the child she was carrying was very in tune with the emotions of the people around.

  “Casey, I was just trying to make sure you were okay.” Devon said softly. He was a large man and it always surprised her and the rest of the Council how gentle and carrying he was for Casey and Sid. In fact, Jaden took great pleasure in calling him the gentle giant.

  He, of course, kicked his ass for that but did not leave marks so his little Alpha female would yell.

  “I have to call Cami.” Casey said and turned back to go into the house. “And don"t try to stop me.” She called over her shoulder and Devon shook his head. All the damn females on the New Council were best friends. It was scary how alike they were. They talked and planned things. Devon and the rest of the men just held their breaths and hoped that they did not hurt themselves.

  “Would it matter if I asked you to wait until I called Quin?” Devon called out.

  “No.” Casey said and continued to walk. He saw her pull her phone out of her pocket as she waddled into the living room.

  Devon leaned in and kissed Sid. “I am sorry that went down like that. We need to call the Alphas.”

  Sid nodded and followed him in to the office that was in the back of the house. They would have privacy there. They shut the door and Devon pulled out his phone and called his Alpha"s office.

  “Dude, I know. Cami is on the phone yelling about stupid men and blah blah. Can"t you control your mate? It would be nice if for once I would find out something that was important and pertaining to the Pack before my mate.” Quin said grumpily into the phone. Devon closed his eyes, pinched his nose with two fingers, and shook his head.

  “Sorry, they have each other on fucking speed dial. I was looking for privacy unlike my mate who is sitting in the front living room talking to Cami.” Devon laughed.

  Sid groaned. “Quin, this is really fucked up here.”

  “Tell me.” Quin ordered and sat in silence as they told him what Jordan had revealed.

  Quin did not say anything for a minute after they were finished and then said, “Are you sure? Oliver would have told us. I am sure he would never have killed anyone. Let me have him come over. He is in the house with Jo and the baby. I will call you in a few.” Devon nodded and hung up the phone. Sid leaned back and closed his eyes. “I am so sorry. I never thought my family would have hid this from us. I understand why Jordan is pissed, I would be too. I have no way to defend myself without throwing my parents to the cats. She was so cold, so unfeeling. I don"t think this is going to be an easy fix.”

  “No worries, we are family, she is family. We will make this right. I"m sure Quin and Jaden will get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, we have to figure out a way to get through to Jordan. I don"t like this guy who contacted her. He said that they were mates, which does not sound good. If he thinks that Romy and Larkin forced a mating with Jordan, he will attack.”

  Sid sat up quickly and said. “Did you send the guys with her?”

  “Of course, no matter what, she is still one of the Chosen. We have to keep tabs on her.

  Let"s find out where she went.” Devon said and texted the protection detail that followed the car when they left.

  “They are at an apartment building, a few blocks from hers. I would assume that it"s the guy"s. We need to find out all we can about those two.” Devon said and then pulled up to his father"s computer and began to search.

  Casey stormed into the room, stood with her hand on her hip, and yelled. “Cluster Fuck that is all this is! Cami is checking all of this out but when I hung up the phone with her, she had gone to Jo and Tey's room and Oliver was there. Jo was crying and Tey was yelling at her father. I have no clue what is going on, I got disconnected, but it sounds like there is a real possibility that whoever that guy was is correct. Oliver did kill Jordan"s parents. How are we gonna work through this mess?” Sid groaned and threw up his hands while Devon frowned. “Cluster Fuck is right. I may even go as far to say Jaden"s favorite phrase, FUBAR.” Casey plopped down in the chair and put her feet up. “Jordan will never come to Colorado with us.”

  “She has to.” Devon said firmly.

  “No, my lovely man, she does not.” Casey said quietly. “If someone told me the man who killed my parents was the father of someone I had to work with daily, and that man was free and visited her new home often, I would pitch a hissy fit. Jordan is no different. She may not have known her parents, but right now they are who she is identifying with. No matter what the excuse or story, Jordan will never accept Oliver as a member of the family like we do.”

  Devon sighed, hit his head on the desk, and said, “Romy and Larkin are rich, like butt ass rich. They could take her and hide her anywhere they wanted. We have to figure this out and soon.”

  Chapter 9

  Quin sat back in his chair that was at the head of the Council and ran his hands through it. All the New Council members were there and Oliver was sitting by himself at the end of the table.

  He had just explained to them what he remembered about Jordan"s parents and the details surrounding their deaths. Jo sat next to her mate, sobbing as the man she had come to love confessed to killing the couple in cold blood. Quin was floored. How had no one known about this?

  “By the time I came to, they were dead. I can only say that my grief and the alcohol must have caused me to have uncontrollable rage. I have never killed someone without provocation before that night, or since that night. I would never do that. I can"t explain it. My Beta took care of things. I was a mess. He hid the bodies and told me that everything was fine. That if the truth came out that I would lose the title of Alpha, which was the only thing I had left. I know it was stupid and cowardly. I will accept any punishment to you deem necessary. I just ask that you don"t make Jo vote on this.

  Exclude her from making this decision.” Oliver said with tears streaming down his face.

  “I honestly do not know what to say about this, Oliver. If you had come to me when we first started the New Council, it would have been different. But waiting so long, and then only telling me when Jordan found out.” Quin said and looked at the man he had respected for so long.

  “I can only say that I wanted to spend time with my daughter. I honestly was prepared to come forward a long time ago. But once again, I listened to bad advice. I am sorry.” Oliver said.

  Qin nodded and then looked around the table. Everyone was uncomfortable. Cami sat with tears running down her cheeks and she was not able to look at Oliver. He could feel her pain. He knew that Jo could also, as the White Wolf of the Pack it was her gift. This was not doing anyone any good. Until they spoke to all the members involved, they could not make a decision. Oliver was the Old Council Alpha; this would require protocol that he would have to research.

  “Oliver, I orde
r you be held in the Council jail until such a time that we can get all the information and make a decision.” Quin said and nodded to the Enforcers who stood to the side. They went and took Oliver by the arm and led him out of the room.

  Jo sobbed louder and Tey tried to calm her down. Cami just leaned over and put her arms around her best friend. They sat in silence for a few moments before Lacy spoke up. “I know I am new here and all, but what are we going to do?” Quin sighed and said, “I don"t know. We have to find out exactly what happened that night. It may have been years ago, but someone had to be there and remember. Who forgets your Alpha going crazy and killing two trusted member of his staff?”

  “Well, I could try and put together a memory potion. It takes a few days to make, but it may help Oliver remember.” Lacy said. “Well, I will have my mother make it; she is the best at those types of spells.”

  Quin nodded and then turned to Jo. “Jo, will that be okay?”

  “Anything, anything that will tell us the truth. I heard what my father said, but he just doesn"t have it in him. I can"t see him actually killing those people.” Jo said.

  “It was a long time ago, people change.” Levi said quietly.

  “I just need to do what I can.” Jo said.

  “What about Jordan? She is the victim here and she is the one who is out in the cold. I hate to say this, but she has a right to be here. We are supposed to protect the Chosen.” Teagan said.

  Jo began crying again and no one knew what to do. Their loyalty was being tested. Quin and Jaden started this quest on the premise the New Council is what was important.

  They would be loyal to the Council. Everyone who joined the Council was sworn to loyalty. This was the first time it was tested. It would not be the last, but it would certainly be the worst.