Just as Jace was stowing his now-clean sandwich plate and trying to decide whether to barge in on Jaxson and Olivia’s post-mating honeymoon, the pair stumbled into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and smelling of the hot sex they no doubt had been having all night long.
“Hey, you two,” Jace said with a growl. “Can you wipe off the smiles? The rest of us are trying to have a miserable morning.” He couldn’t help the twinge inside when he thought about Jaxson finally finding his true mate. Olivia was wonderful, and Jace didn’t begrudge his brother a second of their happiness, but it was hard to look them in the face and know they had something he never would.
At least now their pack had a fully mated alpha to lead them and lend them strength. Jace could have filled that role, except for the glaring fact that he couldn’t shift—not without endangering the very people he was supposed to protect—and due to that, he could never mate. Other than that, he was the perfect candidate! The truth was, Jaxson was the right brother to be their pack alpha, but Jace hadn’t, technically, even submitted to him—at least, not since Jace was discharged. He had pledged his allegiance in human form, but that meant no magic bond to strengthen his alpha and his pack as a whole. If he had been able to take a mate, that bond would have been even stronger.
Just one more way Jace was unable to fulfill his duties.
He shoved those thoughts deep into the dark place where his inner wolf stayed locked away, at least during the daylight hours. He needed to stay on task, and right now, that meant helping Piper find her missing brother, Noah.
“Good morning, brother!” Jaxson declared with excessive joy, his hand tucked at Olivia’s waist and a smile wide on his face.
She gestured to the window behind her, with its view of the blue-tinged mountains, now turning hazy with the pink dawn and early morning mist. “How can you be miserable on a gorgeous day like this?” she asked.
“Some of us didn’t enjoy the night quite as much as others,” Jace said with a smirk.
Olivia blushed, but her smile and glowing happiness stayed strong.
Jaxson’s grin dimmed when he finally took a good look at Jace. He hadn’t bothered with a mirror this morning, or a shave, but he was sure there were black shadows under his eyes and the makings of a ragged beard. And Jaxson was always worrying about him even on the best of days.
His brother tried to resurrect his smile as he lifted his chin to Jace. “Seriously, man. Jared is the brother who’s supposed to be miserable all the time, not you.”
“Yeah, well, I need to talk to him, too.” Jace glanced toward the stairs. No one had yet wandered down, and Jared slept hard. “I’ll pay you hundred dollars to wake him. Last time, he nearly took my face off with those daggers he claims are claws.”
“Something’s up,” Jaxson said, frowning. It was a statement. Neither of them would bother waking Jared unless it was an emergency.
“We had a visitor last night,” Jace said, “and she’s still here. Daniel’s sister, Piper, crashed the safehouse at three in the morning. Says her brother is missing. A younger one, not Daniel.”
“Missing?” Jaxson’s scowl grew darker. “And you think it’s connected to the others?”
Jace shrugged. They had so little intel to go on. “I think we need to get busy and find this Agent Smith character. I hate to interrupt your honeymoon, but…”
Jaxson pulled Olivia closer to him, fingers laced together. “We’ll have a real honeymoon once this is all over, right, baby?”
She nodded, a tight smile on her face. “Missing shifters trumps everything.” She looked at Jace. “Do we know when Piper’s brother went missing?”
Jace rubbed the back of his neck. “Not exactly. Not even completely sure he is missing. His name’s Noah. And he’s an Army grunt.”
“Military shifters?” Jaxson loosened his hold on Olivia and straightened.
“Yeah, and he went missing overseas. I don’t like it, Jaxson. Could be more kinds of bad than I even want to think about. And Piper is crazy freaked out. Of course, she’s a Wilding, so…” He left that hanging because the Wilding’s really took after their pack name.
“I’ve never met her,” Jaxson said, frowning. “Is she another Terra?”
Jace huffed a short laugh. “Yeah, if Terra were counterintelligence with a penchant for breaking and entering.” He shook his head. The whole pack was clearly out there, but you didn’t get into counterintelligence, even as a civilian, without having something on the ball.
Jaxson’s eyebrows lifted. “counterintelligence? Alrighty, then.”