Chapter 598 Chapter 598
Asher stood in the corner and looked around at the others in the room. He hadn’t slept much the night before. He, for whatever reason, kept waking up and going to look out the window to see if the pup was still there. He scowled at the liquid in his cup, there was no time in his life to get attached to a wild animal. Hell, he could barely communicate with his animal most days.
Calum came out of the kitchen. “Jesse will be here in twenty minutes.” He grinned, “he got a little turned around with some of the backroads that are closed during winter.
A young woman walked in behind him. She had strawberry blonde hair sticking out of a black beanie cap, and her expression clearly stated to leave her alone. Asher recognized that he’d seen her before, but honestly, he’d seen a lot of faces in the last few years and couldn’t place her.
“McKenna.” Kobie smiled at her. “I’m so glad you decided to come.”
She went over and sat down on the couch beside Nichelle, one of Blair’s clan. “There’s not much for me to do now that we have a home and food.” She shrugged.
“I’m excited.” With a big grin, Nichelle said, “To learn from Shaelan,” she shook her head, “it’s an amazing opportunity.” Asher wondered if the candy apple red streaks in her hair were something she had to redye after shift, or if it stayed. It was unusual to see one of their kind with dyed hair.
Another woman from Blair’s clan, Mika, he thought her name was, agreed. Wherever they were going, where Shaelan and Journee were, there was going to be a medical team, and these women had signed up to learn under Calum’s mates’ guidance. Asher had seen her in action, and in his opinion, there was no one better.
“I’m not going to learn medicine or anything in the health department.” She jerked her chin toward Calum, “he says I have special skills that will come in handy.”
Asher looked over to see Noah nod his silent agreement. He wasn’t sure what her special skills were, but anything that helped them get closer to nailing Aiden Tomas’ hide to the wall was just fine with him.
There were going to be three vans going to this secret location, and he was getting more and more curious about the end game. What was this location about? In addition to Blair, his mate, and the women from his clan going, Gage and Kelsey were going, along with Calum, Noah, and Jesse. That was quite the mix of skill sets.
Cooper entered the room, “got the vans all gassed up for you.” He took off his hat and wiped his hand over his face. “You think you can handle a van?” He was looking at Calum, “It’s a lot more metal than that tiny car you drive.”
Calum grinned. “I will handle it just fine.”
“I think we’ll ride with you.” Gage sent Asher an amused look.
Asher nodded once, not caring who was in the vehicle with him, just as long as they soon got on the road. “How far is it?” He glanced at the door, “the pup can only do about two hours before he’s complaining to get out.”
“A little over two hours,” Calum stated without any further explanation.
The sound of the pup barking loudly had every shifter there looking at the door. Copper turned and hurried out.
“It’s probably just Jesse.” Calum went out into the kitchen.
Noah and Gage followed. Asher quickly acknowledged the women and followed them out into the kitchen. He went to the window to see that the pup was running circles around Jesse’s legs. His team leader had a look of confusion on his face. Asher would have to explain what was happening if he didn’t already know, but he probably knew ten minutes after it happened.
Jesse came in the door. Jesse was always in the know. His expression wasn’t the usual easy-going one, but Asher couldn’t blame him with everything that was happening.
“I’m sorry, Cal, I didn’t have a choice.”
Calum looked at Jesse for a moment, “with?”
“She insisted.” Jesse shrugged.
“Is Leah all right?” Kobie looked concerned.
Asher’s heart sped up, he hoped nothing had happened to her. She was an amazing person—persons? He didn’t know the politically correct way to refer to her and didn’t understand her condition, but she was a good person who had survived a lot.
Cooper came in the door, a duffle bag in his hand. He smirked at Calum. “I’ve carried some strange things in my time, but this is a first.” He held the bag in the air for a moment and then set it on the table. It clanked like it was filled with metal. “Never seen hair like that either.”
Calum looked at Jesse and then at Cooper. “I’m lost here; what are we talking about?”
“Not what,” Cooper smirked.
“Who,” Jesse said quietly.
“Okay, who are we talking—”
“I’m going to have to try me one of those big machines. I feel like it might be my calling.”
Everyone turned to see a middle-aged woman with bright lime green hair at the door.
“Aunt Mari?” Calum’s looked shocked.
“I don’t know why you’re saying my name like it’s a question. It’s me.” She nodded and took her time looking around the room, “I came because my King needs me, all those little ones being found, with no mamas. I’m here to help raise them right.” She motioned to the bag Cooper had put on the table. “Jesse’s lovely mate, Evanna-Leah took me shopping too. I didn’t know there was so many kinds of forks, but I have them in all sizes now, and one of ‘em is big enough to stop a bull at a full run. I almost got me a machete too, but Jesse thought it would be too hard to store.” She put her hands on her hips and nodded again. “So, who’s in charge?” She looked around Calum into the other room. “Where are those young ones at?”
Calum rubbed his hand across his forehead. “They’re, uh, at Blair’s and Noah’s.”
“Where are we now?”
“This is Ed’s.” Kobie smiled at her.
Nichelle came into the room. “I love your hair.”
Mari smiled and touched it, a pleased look on her face. “The pink days are behind me. I needed something bold for the new times.” She nodded. “Saw me a picture in one of those Holly-wood magazines, and this singer girl had black and green hair, and I thought it was something.” She sighed. “I had trouble covering the pink. It took three tries, so I’m going to have to just be green for now.”
“It’s a statement,” Blair said with a smirk.
“Ain’t it, though.” Mari turned and looked at Cooper. “I’m sorry, handsome, I didn’t catch your name.” She smiled.
Cooper looked shocked and then grabbed his hat off his head like he was being impolite, “Cooper, ‘mam.”
Mari snorted, “Don’t ‘mam me, it’s Marilyn or Mari works. Hey, gorgeous is even better.” She laughed and then looked around the room. “Well, get going. Aren’t the bunch of you on your way to rescue more of our people?” She unzipped her coat. “It will be just fine around here with Mari on the job. Don’t you worry about a thing.” She nodded again.
Calum sobered. “How’s Dale and Billie doing?”
Mari nodded her head several times, “Good. He’s going to be a good daddy,” she sniffled and wiped her hand over her eyes, “he dotes on Billie like she’s a princess. Baby should be here soon, Nona says.” She grinned, and then her expression sobered again. “We sure do appreciate your clan taking in Brooke.” She looked angry. “She just couldn’t stay with us, you know? Not after what happened to her baby’s daddy. I’m sure he was a good fella.”
“Gene was.” Calum inhaled a deep breath. “I’ll have to go check in on Dale and Billie when I get a chance.”
“My clan will always welcome you, Calum. You freed us all.” She nodded and put her hands on her hips. “Your being baby Shae’s man helps too.”
Jesse’s mate came in from outside. “That pup is so cute.” She paused at the door and clasped her hands in front of her. “Thera would be so jealous.”
Jesse held out his hand, “it’s my understanding that a woman was hurt, and it’s hers.”
“Oh, dear.” She looked up at him. “Is she all right?”
“She’s on the mend.” Calum went over and slowly unzipped the bag Cooper had brought in. With a big grin on his face, he shook his head and stepped back from the table.
Asher took a step closer and glanced into it. The duffle bag was filled with forks. Barbeque forks, serving forks, and a few he wasn’t even sure what they were for, but they were big and sharp looking. He looked at Marilyn.
She grinned at him. “I have everything under control.” She nodded.
“Okay.” Gage cleared his throat and gave Cooper an amused look. “I guess you can take Mari over to meet everyone at Blair’s and Noah’s, and we’ll get going.”
Cooper gave him a wide-eyed look but didn’t say a word.
“Will I need my forks?”
“You shouldn’t.” Calum was grinning.
Mari went over to the bag and pulled out one in each hand. She looked from one to the other and then put the one in her left back in. “Just in case. Better to be safe than get caught with your pants down.” She nodded, pulled out a bright orange toque, and put it on over the lime-colored hair.
Asher gulped the rest of his coffee and went over to the sink. He almost choked on it, swallowing it down. He would have loved to hang around and see what else this woman brought if it weren’t for lives at risk. His phone buzzing in his pocket sobered him. Pulling it out, he opened the message and then shook his head.
He looked at the screen again. Illias was at it again. The message was coordinates and then said, ‘memorize and eat this.’ Before he could reply, another message appeared, ‘delete this’. Asher smirked, autocorrect even hassled the tech guys, which made him feel better a lot better.