The Shadows in the Hills: Triple Threat

Chapter Sixteen

I heard a scuffle. For a minute, Brodie had me convinced that something had changed with him, but it didn't take long for him to revert to his old ways. I felt bad for getting Jackson wrapped up in it all. He seemed to be forever trying to broker peace between everyone in his life. Brodie had seemed so reasonable, but as soon as my back was turned, he was the same old Brodie. Dealing with his problems with violence. I was grateful when I finally heard the door slam shut. The last thing any of us needed was more trouble.

There was so much I needed to go over with Jackson. Even putting Brodie to one side, I was worried about Mikkel. There was already a chance that he had realised something was strange. That would only increase as the pups grew. I already knew that they would grow at a much faster rate than human babies and it was bound to raise eyebrows. We needed to move on, and it wouldn't be the last time. We would need to spend their whole childhood moving around just to avoid exposure. It made a strong argument for going back to the camp, but Jackson would never agree to that.

It had worried me enough when I thought we were going to have one baby to hide, let alone three. Having triplets would automatically bring more attention to us. Life would probably have been easier if they had been in pup form. At least then, I wouldn't have needed to worry about clothing them. I was so busy obsessing over everything that I didn't even notice Jackson had come into the room. "Hey trouble, how are you feeling?" He seated himself beside me, as always. Pulling me into him and wrapping his arm underneath my neck.

"I will be when I can actually get out of bed. There is so much to organise."

"Brodie has left Tyler here to... help out. Fully financed." I could tell Jackson wasn't happy about accepting anything from Brodie. It screamed from the way he spoke, but I was relieved.

"Where is Brodie?"

"Gone." I felt like he had shattered everything with one word. I plastered the smile in place before he could see my disappointment. It wasn't as though I wanted Brodie around, or at least I didn't think I did. The damn hormones seemed to be making everything so murky. As much as I knew logically that Brodie and I had an unstable relationship, something inside me yearned for him in an uncontrollable way. It left me doubting if the situation was even as volatile as I had decided it was.

All I could think about was the passion and the protection. Neither were negative attributes. When he had stood beside the bed, I had wanted him to push things. I wanted physical contact with him. Except, he wasn't offering it willingly and even if I had wanted to give in, I couldn't physically do anything about it. "I'm sorry about Brodie. It's not fair that he took all of this out on you."

"There's no point going over what happened with Brodie. You need to write a list of things you want Tyler to pick up. The roads are accessible again, so as soon as you're done he can head out."

"No worries. It won't take me more than a few minutes. Has Brodie gone back to the camp?"

"I don't know or care where he has gone. If you're so concerned, ask Tyler." He jumped off the bed abruptly, leaving my head to fall onto the pillow. It was annoying that I couldn't even speak my mind to Jackson anymore. Things had never been strained between us and it didn't feel good. He just walked out the door without a word, like I had committed some kind of crime against him. I wasn't really sure what had gotten into him. Whatever it was, I didn't like or appreciate it.

I wrote the list of things we needed urgently, but nothing more. I sat there looking at the list as though it was evidence of something. As though my choices were indicative of some sort of subconscious decision I had already made. I wanted to believe I had already decided what to do. It would have been easier. There were so many decisions and I was paralyzed into indecision.

For a start, I couldn't keep calling the babies, the triplets. They needed names, but even naming them seemed so wrong. I wondered how I had ever considered doing any of it without Brodie's involvement. Every step I took along that path felt like I was stealing something from him and from them. I wondered if the idea would have been so prominent, if he had never found me. If he hadn't turned up, could I have pretended he didn't exist, that he didn't have a stake in everything?

I hadn't even considered what I would say to them. Part of me needed to see him again, to know for sure that I was making the right decision. I also needed to find out what happened between Brodie and Jackson.

The knock on the door was unexpected, but I shouted for whoever it was to come in. "Hey, have you got a list ready?"

It was Tyler standing there, looking rather uncomfortable. I didn't know him well, but I had seen him around. He had been part of the English Literature lectures, which seemed like such a long time ago. Back then, he had blended into the background, but that was what made him good as a foot soldier. I knew Brodie trusted him and Jackson, too. If he didn't, he wouldn't have sent him upstairs.

"Is Brodie alright?"

"I'm not sure I should be commenting on his state of mind."

"Did you see what happened between him and Jackson?"

"There's a lot of unresolved brotherly tension, most of which isn't anything to do with you at all. I don't want to be in the middle of all of this. Jackson is a friend, Brodie is well, Brodie. He was beside himself thinking he wouldn't find you, that when he did, you would be dead. He was losing his mind, but calmed down pretty much as soon as we got here. Now, Jackson is losing his mind, but I have no idea why. Werewolves don't do anguish well, too much pent up aggression tends to overflow. Neither of them are good at hiding their tempers. You don't need me to tell you which one is the aggressor, you just need to pay attention."

I knew what he was saying. He had loyalty to Jackson through friendship and loyalty to Brodie because he had to have it and nothing more. Despite that, he was telling me that it was Jackson that caused the fight. I didn't want to believe it, but he was being frank and genuine. I had the feeling that I had judged Brodie too quickly. "Where is he now?"

"He said he was staying close by and that you knew how to contact him if you needed to." He was right about that. I left the list with just the essentials on it and passed it to Tyler. He nodded respectfully and exited. He really didn't want to be in the middle of everything. I needed to speak to Brodie, and I needed to do it without Jackson knowing.