The Mating Rules

Caden’s POV

Despite what I’ve been saying to Jamie-Lee, I’m worried, we haven’t gotten a scrap of intel from anyone about Hadley’s whereabouts and I’m getting more and more concerned that he isn’t in any Council run prison.

I’ve never heard of any prisoner not having family know where they are, it’s rare for them not to also have visitation unless they are extremely dangerous. Hadley’s crime, and I use that damn word loosely, was low risk, his whereabouts should not be this hard to find out.

I lean against the side of one of the SUV’s as Mark uses the bonnet to spread out a map that has a few X marks showing the prisons we know of in this area. We’ve been hammering the Council workers non stop for information but they’ve been stonewalling us constantly. They won’t come right out and refuse our requests for information they just keep brushing us off with excuses like he was being processed and a prison hadn’t been assigned yet. Then it was a problem with paperwork, one receiver of a phone call pretended to not even know who Hadley was and assured our Gamma that someone who did would call back soon, they never f*cking did.

Isaac had barely slept since we hauled a*s out of the hotel, working from his office back at the pack, he’d been a thorn in the Council’s side, refusing to give up on his sister’s mate. We were all in agreement that no-one should go to the Council building directly to question. We didn’t need more pack members being hauled away, nor did we want to risk Jamie-Lee by having someone forced into telling them where she was being hidden.

‘Alpha’ Mark sighed, glancing up at me from the map and rubbing his eyes tiredly as a pang of guilt washed through me. The poor guy had stood guard outside of our room for Jamie-Lee’s entire heat, refused to leave. Said as he was the highest ranking warrior, she was his responsibility and no one was getting near her. After her heat was over, I told him to go sleep but it seems he hadn’t taken my advice and the guy was running on fumes.

‘You need to get some shut eye man’ I grumble as I move toward him to look over the map, noting that two of the crosses are already scribbled out. ‘Are we sure about these?’ I asked, pointing to the scribbles.

Mark nods, ‘we got allies who work in those prisons’ he replied heavily, ‘they checked every cell Alpha, in this one’ he points to the further away of the two, ‘the guy even hacked his own security system to make sure they weren’t hiding him somewhere. We are as sure as we can be that he’s not in either.’

I nod, as the warrior sighs again, glancing up, I raise an eyebrow, ‘spit it out man’ I mutter, waving a hand encouragingly.

Mark nods, ‘I think we should move the Luna to a new location’ he says reluctantly, snapping my attention to our surroundings as my shoulders tense.

‘You have the feeling we’ve been compromised?’ I demand.

The warrior shakes his head, ‘no, I think we’re still undetected’ he replies, ‘but I also feel like a sitting duck the longer we stay here. If anyone is after the Luna, they won’t stop looking until they find her so at some point they will stumble upon us and I’d rather be in a more secure location than this.’

I wait, getting the feeling the man has more to say, he glances upward before returning his gaze to me. ‘The Alpha picked here because it was close and cash only but . . .’ he swallows nervously, ‘I think maybe we should move on before we outstay our welcome. This isn’t the kind of place people holiday at and the woman who owns it is starting to give us some looks that are way more than idle curiosity. I don’t expect her to keep her mouth shut if someone offered her a fifty for information on the long renting tenants at her establishment.’

I curse under my breath, the warrior is right, anyone who charges in cash and is happy to not take a name or ID is also someone who can be bought pretty damn quickly if they happen to overhear people talking about a young woman they are searching for.

Inclining my head toward the man next to me I drop my voice, looking around us, ‘get the others ready, we’ll move out this afternoon, do you have any thoughts on where we should go?’

Mark nods, pulling the map closer to himself and tapping an area about thirty miles away. ‘When I needed to get our unmated men out of the way yesterday’ he starts, giving me an apologetic look. ‘I sent them out to scout new Motels, they found a few but this one here is cash only, the owner is an old guy who met them in reception with a shot gun and a sneer and seemed mighty put out that anyone would actually want to stay with him.’

I frown thoughtfully, ‘you think he’d keep his mouth shut if anyone came asking questions about us?’ I murmur questioningly.

The warrior grins, ‘I think he’d shove that shot gun where the Goddess can’t touch it if anyone so much as asked him the time’ he replied. ‘From what the boys said, this guy is old school, he doesn’t want to make friends, he isn’t interested in a bribe and he sure as hell doesn’t live anyone that gives off even a hint of being government.’

‘He’s human?’ I ask, glancing at the man.

Mark nods, ‘yeah, and he doesn’t like strangers’ he admits, ‘but that also means that the Council can’t scare him into helping them if they do come sniffing around.’

I give the warrior a funny look, I never mentioned to him about why we were off grid like this, so his mention of the Council makes me tense up.

Noticing my change, the man beside me shakes his head, ‘I don’t know what’s going on regarding the Luna, Alpha’ he murmurs under his breath, his eyes straying to the men standing guard outside of my motel room. ‘To be honest, I don’t want to know so if I ever get in a situation I don’t want to be in, I haven’t got anything to tell. But I’m not stupid, we rushed out of that Council building without Warrior Hadley, packed up and hauled a*s down here where we’ve been hiding like criminals. I know you don’t want us to be found and my gut tells me that maybe my future Luna is in danger. I will put my life down for your mate, Alpha, without a thought so if Jamie-Lee needs to be hidden then that is what I’m going to do.’

I release a breath, my shoulders relaxing as I reach out and grab the man’s shoulder, squeezing it. ‘I appreciate that Mark, and so does my Mate, you are right, we do need to keep her away from prying eyes, the less people who know where we are the better. You and your guys were handpicked because we trust you explicitly with her safety.’

I watch the man straighten up, determination in his features, ‘I am always at your service Alpha, our Luna is safe with me, as long as I have breath in my body, I will protect her.’

I squeeze his shoulder again gratefully, ‘thank you warrior’ I say, my voice catching slightly. I’ve had members bow to me before, treat me like I’m special but this is the first time a member has made me feel like an Alpha. The man beside me sees me as his future leader and Jamie-Lee as his future Luna and accepts us as such. He trusts me to lead him and his men, keep him alive and in return is pledging his life to me, and I have to say, it’s a pretty great, though terrifying feeling.

Releasing the man, I head back to the room, nodding to the guards who bow their heads in respect and step to the side, allowing me entrance. Pushing open the door, I find Jamie-Lee sat cross legged on the bed, her eyes closed as she concentrates.

‘Baby?’ I call out gently, not wanting to scare her as I’m unsure she even heard me enter.

‘Shh’ she hushes me curtly, her eyes remaining closed, her brow furrowing deeply.

‘Baby’ I try again, not having a clue what she’s doing.

‘Dammit!’ she growls, her eyes snapping open as she glares at me, ‘I told you to be quiet!’

‘Sorry’ I sigh, taking a seat beside her and wrapping an arm around her body comfortingly, secretly thankful that despite my interruption, Jamie-Lee still sinks into my side immediately, curling her arms around my waist, her head pressing to my chest. ‘What were you doing? You looked pretty serious just then.’

My mate sighs as she straightens up, dragging her fingers through her hair in frustration, ‘I thought . . ‘ she starts before cutting off, glancing away from me.

‘Thought what?’ I probe softly, grabbing her chin gently between my thumb and forefinger and turning her head to face me.

‘I thought I could feel . . ‘she mutters.

‘Hadley?’ I ask, my chest tightening with a strange feeling, my fingers digging into her side hard enough that she winces. ‘Sorry, sorry!’ I mutter, easing my grip immediately and rubbing my fingers over her side through her top.

‘No, not Hadley’ she replies softly, though she hesitates, ‘well I don’t think it was, that’s what I was doing when you walked in, concentrating on the feeling. I thought maybe it was him connecting to me but then it was gone again before I could figure out what it was.’

I glance down at her worried face, watching how she chews on her bottom l*p as guilt gnaws at her. Raising her eyes to me, she releases her l*p, and I note how it trembles slightly. ‘What if it was him’ she whispers, ‘what if he was reaching out to me and I missed it. I’ll have let him down, II will have let all of you down, I should have tried harder to follow whatever it was.’

I press my lips against her temple hard, ‘you haven’t let anyone down’ I growl out stubbornly, ‘if it was him, it means he’s fighting whatever it is that is blocking you and will try again. If it wasn’t him, then maybe it’s better you didn’t connect to it.’

Jamie-Lee frowns up at me in confusion and I release her waist only so I can link my fingers with hers. ‘It could be that Avrilak guy’ I murmur, a biting edge in my tone at the thought of that guy. ‘We don’t know what he is capable of, maybe he’s found a way to contact you which would then give him a way to track you.’

My mate’s eyes widen as I feel a pang of fear run through our bond and I grip her hand tightly in my own. ‘No one’s getting near you baby’ I growl determinedly, ‘he can search all he wants but I’m not letting you out of my sight.’ Standing up, I pull my mate to her feet and then scramble under the bed for our suitcases, dropping them on the mattress. ‘Now get packing because we are moving on to another motel today.’

I expect Jamie-Lee to argue or at least ask me why, but instead, she just nods and hurries over to our closet and starts pulling clothes off the hangers to fold up into our cases.