Sharon’s Wolves(18)
“What does it want?”
“That’s the mystery. When it comes, it’s always like this. A warning. A clue. It doesn’t communicate. It simply hovers at the most inconvenient moments, taking the witnesses by surprise and forcing them to take heed.”
“And we’re supposed to do something about it?” Jackson asked.
“Eventually,” Cooper added. “When we figure out what that is.”
“Is this some sort of game?” Jackson stiffened beside her. And then his gaze jerked back to Cooper. “Wait. Did you say your last name is Hamilton?”
“Yes.” Cooper lowered his hands to his sides.
“As in the Bartel-Hamiltons?”
“Jackson…” Sharon saw the light bulb come on quickly.
He lifted his arm back over her head and scooted away. “Sharon, I was perfectly clear earlier. And I wasn’t kidding. I don’t share.” He scrambled farther down the couch until he wasn’t touching her anymore, forcing her to release his thigh when he yanked free. He slapped his forehead. “How did I not realize what this was?”
“What are you talking about, man?” Cooper asked.
“You.” Jackson’s voice rose as he pointed at Cooper. “And you,” he continued, poking his finger in her direction. “The Hamiltons and the Masters. You’re all living in some sort of commune or something. I’ve heard about it.” He jumped to his feet yet again. This time he backed toward the kitchen, his hands fisted at his sides.
“Jackson…” Sharon’s heart hurt.
“Don’t,” he shouted. “Don’t try to play me. What is this? Do you people perform some sort of ritual or something, luring in another man from outside the family to offer him up as a sacrifice to the Native American spirit guides?”
Cooper started to chuckle, but Sharon shot him a glare. “You aren’t helping.”
He sobered and lifted his shoulders in defeat. “There’s only so much I can do. I don’t like this any more than he does.” His voice rose as his face sobered once again. “Why the hell do you think I stayed in Spokane for as long as I have? Do you think I like the idea of sharing you with another man?”
Sharon gasped at the quantity of information he was spewing out into the room.
But he kept going. “No. I don’t. Plain and simple fact. I hate the idea. It makes my skin crawl. And I hate that Fate is so controlling of my destiny that I don’t have my own free will. Fuck,” he turned his gaze toward Jackson, “even Jackson doesn’t have his own free will, and the poor fucker didn’t even know it. Is that fair?” His voice continued to rise.
Sharon opened her mouth to say anything, but Cooper stopped her with a palm held out.
“Don’t. Don’t fucking tell me how to feel. I don’t want to hear it. This situation sucks donkey balls. There’s no way around it. If I thought I could escape, I would shift and run from here as fast as my legs would carry me. I’d rather hide in the wilds of Canada than let Fate control my life like this. But it’s done. She came. She conquered. She wins.”
Sharon knew he meant Fate, and he was right. It was defeating. Whoever She was, She must have been smirking down at them in laughter while watching this comedy unfold.
Cooper turned back toward Jackson again. “I’m sorry, man. Truly I am. If I could change this, I would. But I can’t. You can’t. And we have to figure this out together and make it work. Trust me. We don’t have another choice.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” Jackson said. Fortunately he didn’t put a period on that by stomping out the door.
“Really?” Cooper asked. “So your cock isn’t so hard for Sharon that you’d give your soul to have her right now?”
Jackson flinched, his face turning red.
Sharon would kill them both if they started throwing punches.
“How long have you planned this?” Jackson asked, his gaze shooting back and forth between Cooper and Sharon. “What did you drug me with?” He looked over his shoulder toward the remnants of their meal.
Sharon flinched. She hated knowing how he felt toward her right then. It made bile rise into her throat. She was hurting him. And it wasn’t avoidable.
If they let him leave, it would be so painful for all of them that she feared Jackson might get in an accident, or worse.
No. They had to make him understand.
She jumped to her feet, heedless of her fake injury. It was the least of her concerns.
Jackson glanced down at her leg and then lifted his face and rolled his eyes. He tossed his hands in the air and sighed. “Will the surprises never end?”