His Unidentified & Untouchable Mate

Define 'Enemy'

Rowan POV

I watched Jacob through the one-way glass as an omega brought him coffee. We’d made a point to make it just a spoonful of sugar away from the way he liked it – he wasn’t here to be comfortable.

“Ready?” Alpha Jared asked, sipping his own coffee. “You almost seemed like you were a little more serious with that girl. Still considering taking her as your little mate?” He jerked his head towards our younger brother, “Even considering...?”

“Of course not,” I lied. Well. It wasn’t a whole lie – I’d backed off, letting Jacob have his chance. It was the goddess’s will, after all. But when he sent her running, like he did every woman, eventually, I would be there to catch Zahraa when she fell. And then I would pounce and make her mine. “Taking Zahraa as a mate into our family is irresponsible, even for Jacob. As she is, she can’t perform any of the most important duties of a mate.” My scowl deepened. “We’re in a bad spot right now. Across seven siblings none of us will be able to produce an heir at this rate. And what will become of the pack then? A pack this size with no alphas?” I shook my head, rubbing my temples. “It’ll be a war within months.”

“You’re talking as if you think we’re going to die anytime soon,” Jared scoffed. “We have decades to figure out the heir problem. That has nothing to do with the here and now: for now, we need to solve the problem right in front of us.”

I nodded along, though my head was elsewhere. Zahraa and Jacob had turned this missing person’s case into a cute, romantic late night walk through the park, apparently, then turned around and a clue just landed directly on his desk?

No.

I did believe in Zahraa. My history with her ran deeper than Jacob knew, and I wouldn’t abandon her to this criminal investigation. But I had to play the good cop/bad cop angle. I had to hear what had happened.

I had to clear her name.

Which left Jacob – my younger brother. I’d never hated him, not even for a moment. Not even now that he had stolen the mate I’d chosen and had yet to claim. But there was no question that he’d always lusted for more. When he was a toddler, more attention. When he was a pre-teen, more status. Now, more power.

And while I didn’t doubt Zahraa’s innocence, I didn’t doubt Jacob’s ability to manipulate her to get what he wanted.

Jacob squirmed in his seat, picking at his clothes, stretching his back, tapping his fingers. Every so often, he’d cast a curious glance at the two-way glass, aware we were here watching and talking about him. Making him wait. Making him sweat.

And we did – for an hour and forty-three minutes, we dissected the information I’d gotten from Zahraa. There was a large section of time unaccounted for – Zahraa hadn’t been there in the morning, when the disappearances were discovered. She didn’t know where he’d been that night – but she’d talked to him the night before and he seemed fine.

“Alright,” Jared cracked his knuckles, then opened the door.

Jacob was resting his head in his palm, his elbow propped against the desk as he delivered a deadpan expression. “It’s about time. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me.”

“Wish we could,” Jared replied in classic older brother fashion. “We were just going over your little mate’s story. She told us quite a bit of information.” He smirked, displaying the kind of confidence I could never, meeting Jacob’s confused stare with a predatory smile. “So why don’t we just get started and make this easy on yourself? How did you do it?”

The array of emotions on Jacob’s face was like watching a sunset; a kaleidoscope of emotions forming, then morphing into something new, before disappearing altogether. He sat in stunned silence for so long I wondered if the accusation had broken him.

Jared made himself comfortable, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “Well?”

“What the f**k Jared?” Jacob finally spat. “You were in there. You should know better than anyone what happened and who did it. There’s no f*****g way you actually believe I did this?”

I raised my brows. Jacob was never one for profane language, so to be hit with so much of it at once put me in shock.

“That’s just the thing,” Jared’s voice lowered, “I don’t remember anything. Not a single damn thing. At all. So whoever did this, covered their tracks remarkably well.” He paused, “And trust that I had trouble believing it was you myself. I mean, you’ve never done anything remarkably well in your entire life.”

Jacob jerked out of his seat, snarling, on the brink of transformation. Jared stood, growling, teeth sharpening, the hair on his forearms starting to thicken ever so slightly. “Make my day, Jacob, I’ve been dying to work out some frustration.”

I stood so sharply my seat toppled. “Stop!” I yelled, putting a hand on Jared’s chest. Unfortunately, my older brother was stronger than me, and I wouldn’t be doing much to hold him back. I could only hope he’d listen to reason, “Even if you are playing bad cop, that’s too far,” I shouted. “Jacob – sit. down.” I snarled the order. I half expected Jacob to ignore it, but he obeyed with one last snarl, shivering as he regained his senses.

When he spoke, his voice was laden with forced control. “The only role I played in this whole thing was the rescue. And if you’ll recall, it was quite a large role.”

“Where did you get the map?” I asked, rubbing my temples in response to blossoming pain behind my eyes.

Jacob looked at me, his eyes, still dark from pending transformation, began lightening to their natural green. “It was just on my desk when I finally sat down. I assumed that it was just a standard copy of the map of the territory.”

“Why would you have one of those printed?” Jared asked.

Jacob frowned. “I don’t know. I’ve used them in the past, but there was no real reason for it to be out. Unless…” he trailed off, looking as though he was chasing a thought.

“Unless?” I pressed.

“Unless Lara put it there. She, dad and the head omega are the only ones that have a key to my office.” He scratched his neck, “But Lara had gone missing too.”

“The head omega?” I asked, quirking a brow.

A long pause, then a shake of his head. “She was here.”

“She has no motive,” Jared reminded me. “No motive, and there’s just no way an omega woman could have done this.”

Jared was, honestly, such a simpleton. “She probably didn’t. But she could be working with someone that did. Which still means that she’s our next suspect.”

“Does that mean I’m cleared?” Jacob asked, sounding exhausted.

“No,” Jared snapped, at the same time that I calmly replied, “Yes.” We looked at each other, a match of wills represented via staring match.

There’s no proof that he’s innocent, Jared linked, his thoughts injecting themselves into my mind.

There’s no proof that he’s not. I countered. We can’t treat the hero that rescued you all as a criminal. We can keep an eye on him and Zahraa, but for now… I tried to ignore the twinge of guilt at the thought that I’d included Zahraa. We need to let him go.

There was a long stretch of tense, uncomfortable silence. Jared might be stronger than me physically, but my will was ironclad. Eventually, Jared caved. “Fine,” he muttered aloud. “I’m not removing you from the suspect list, but we’re going to steer the investigation away from you. For now.”

“Thank you,” Jacob sighed. “Now, what can I do to prove my innocence?”

“Nothing,” I said, a firmness in my tone that I didn’t usually keep. “I don’t want you anywhere near this investigation. Unless we call you for further questioning, you’re done here.”