Chapter 118

Sarah POV

Jordan talked in the helicopter back to the villa. And talked.

“Some of the pictures were weird,” he said. “Like, they were small and kinda, I dunno, underdone.”

“They were Polaroids,” I said.

“What’s that?”

“The photos you’re talking about.”

“Most were printed out, and some were, like, you could tell the person didn’t even know they were having their picture taken. Those were the worst, like, but I don’t know why. I mean, they were sad even though the people in them weren’t sad.”

“Maybe you were sad because you knew what it meant to see their photo,” Zane said.

“I guess, but they were like the living people too.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The living people, they were sad, so thin and everything.”

“You mean that they didn’t look healthy?” I asked.

Jordan shrugged with his right shoulder only, almost hitting his ear with it. “I guess. But they didn’t just, I mean, Mom gets sick with hay fever, and she doesn’t look like that.”

“Like what?” Zane asked. I wouldn’t have pressed it, myself, but I think he was doing something about a big alpha to little alpha that I wasn’t really a part of, and I was going to respect it.

“Like,” Jordan said, and then was quiet for a minute. “Like they needed help.”

Zane nodded and shot Jordan a look of approval. Jordan sat up straighter in his seat.

“Yes, they were wolves and humans, and they needed our help. They weren’t being treated properly. They were being mistreated. Do you understand?”

Jordan nodded vigorously, eager to please the pack alpha talking to him. “They weren’t getting enough food or sleep. They needed help.”

“Right.”

Jordan sat quietly for a moment as a look of unease crept over his face.

“Are you OK with seeing what you say today?” I asked him. “Did we ask too much of you?”

Jordan looked indignant, then pensive, then just nodded. “I’m an alpha, and I need to know things like that.” He got an odd look on his face. “What if stuff like that is going on at home?”

Spain had an excellent reputation for wolf and human rights, but I wasn’t going to tell him he didn’t need to worry. All it took was some unscrupulous people and some money, and who knew what could happen?

“An alpha should trust their pack,” Zane told him. “And a pack should trust their alpha. But that doesn’t mean just sitting around.

“I didn’t know about the Abrigan Mine,” Zane continued. “And that’s on me. True, I can’t know everything going on in my territory, but I appoint the people who are to report to me about what’s going on, and I left someone in their position who shouldn’t have been there. That’s on me.”

“You wouldn’t treat people that way,” Jordan said.

“No, but I let someone else treat them that way.” Zane sighed and raked a hand through his hair. I desperately wanted to kiss him. “And that’s my fault. That’s what being a pack alpha means.”

Jordan nodded, obviously thinking solemn thoughts. Zane left him alone, and I followed his lead.

Looking out the window, I saw those photographs again, the hundreds of them. All those people had died or gone missing, and for what? I was almost frantic in my desire to make sure it didn’t happen again, but had to check myself.

Who was I to think I could help so many people? I knew it was all I could do to help Grace and Chloe with their English homework.

I looked down at Joran, sitting so small in his helicopter seat with oversized headphones on his head. He was being made for the future, but what was the future for him?

He leaned forward, making sure the mike wouldn’t pick up his words. I slipped a headphone off my ear and leaned in.

“She told me to do it,” he said. “She said it would be funny to make them argue.”

I looked at him and whispered in his ear, “Who was that?”

“Aunt Ella,” he told me. “She said it would be funny, but it wasn’t. I just felt bad.”

I leaned away from him so he could see me nod. We exchanged equally tentatively but determined smiles.

“Can we keep it just between us?” he asked. “Going to the mine and everything?”

I nodded and then met Zane’s gaze. He nodded as well.

We landed at the villa and went inside. I was unsurprised to find the girls in the playroom, Grace painting and Chloe working with a piece of wood that didn’t know it was about to become a masterpiece.

“Girls,” I said. “Would you mind coming down to the sitting room for a moment?”

They left what they were doing, and, followed by a curious Selene, they came with me to the sitting room where Jordan was waiting.

Chloe frowned at me, and Grace was hesitant to step into the room, but Jordan just stood there, looking every inch the little alpha he was.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was mean to you both, and I shouldn’t have. I mean, like, I should have been nicer, and I wasn’t. So, I’m sorry.”

Chloe and Grace looked at each other. Chloe looked back at Jordan.

“Are you really sorry?”

“Yes.” Jordan nodded vigorously. “I was a jerk, and I’m sorry.”

Chloe and Grace both nodded thoughtfully.

“This is Selene,” Chloe said, reaching for the puppy, who came up under her hand and wagged her tail while Chloe rubbed the top of her head.

“She seems very nice,” Jordan said. “I have a dog at home, though, you know, he’s really my dad’s. He’s a Rottweiler. I’m a little scared of him.”

“That’s too bad,” Chloe said, and Grace nodded. “You can pet Selene if you want. She likes it.”

Jordan walked slowly over to Selene and just as slowly began to pat her. She instantly liked it and licked his hand.

Jordan laughed. “She’s cute. Her name is Selene?”

“Yes,” Grace said. “Would you like to see the maze?”

Jordan looked at her as though she’d handed him a million dollars. “Yes, that sounds great.”

Grace nodded and turned toward the door. “We know it better than you. If you get lost or something, just say.”

The three of them left with Selene in tow.