Page 22 of Blackmailed

“Please, sit. I have a feeling I understand you better now and why some things are more... Intense.”

Jefferson slipped into the chair and frowned. “I really don’t understand.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jochi said, not in a mean way, but his tone had been filled with sadness. “Danielle, please do your magic. I want to see if you sense what I do.”

“Well, I guess if this is going to be the let’s be vague game, I’m in.” She gave Jefferson a reassured smile. “It won’t hurt. You’re really anxious right now, and I understand, just relax. Close your eyes and think of nothing.”

Easy for her to say. He had too much to think about including a baby he hadn't been prepared for. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. At first, he didn't feel anything, then a deep warmth filled him. It spread through his body and, when it startled him, the shock was soothed away. It was eerie. It left him unsettled but calm. He relaxed when he should have been alert. None of it made sense until he felt—It. The thing inside him. The sensation of whatever brushing against his mind. To him, it was a black ball of electricity. The more he probed it, the farther it retreated into his mind and so, he'd given up on it.

Now, with Danielle doing whatever Danielle did best, the black ball returned with a vengeance. It pulsed to life deep within him. The blue core brightened as its blackness expanded, melding itself with each limb of his body, coiling its inky tendrils around his bones, and fortifying them along with the tendons. When Jefferson concentrated on what was happening to him, he could visualize it being absorbed into his muscles, his blood, and his organs. He sucked in a breath startled by what he saw, but again, Danielle was there, easing his fear, replacing it with peace and tranquility.

Once the warmth of her touch left him, he opened his eyes. Danielle stared at him. Her wide blue eyes were filled with stunned wonderment. “I guess I should have suspected something was different about you.” Her words were tinny in his ears. Or maybe he heard the soundwaves of her voice being conducted through the air? “I need you to go see Kalkin.”

“It’s about time for us to meet with him again anyway,” Jochi said. “Is it what I think it is?”

Danielle nodded. “Yes.” She smiled again. “But, I can’t explain it. Kalkin can.”

Jochi inhaled. “Oh... Oh, Bèndàn...”

“Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Jefferson snapped. There were surprises and then there was keeping secrets and he didn’t like secrets, especially when they concerned him and even though he kept his own.

“It is honestly easier for Kalkin to tell you,” Danielle said. “I’ve never seen anyone like you before. But, I can tell you, you’re healthy and fine, just different. More so now since I coaxed your wolf into showing himself.”

Jefferson’s mouth fell open. A jolt of disbelief jerked his large frame. “Come again?”

“See, this is why you need to speak with Kalkin.” Danielle touched his hand. “You knew it was there this whole time. You didn’t understand it. Every time you’ve have sex with Jochi, it grew a bit more agitated—a bit more demanding of you. But, somehow, you pushed it away because it wasn’t big enough to fuse with you properly, right?”

He nodded.But a wolf though?

Danielle chuckled softly. “Go see Kalkin. He’ll tell you everything.”

Still, at a loss for words, Jefferson followed Jochi out to the enforcer. The clouded leopard Jochi claimed for himself, stayed behind with Danielle until they could gather what they needed, and Jefferson could come to terms with his new reality. None of what Danielle said made sense, yet how could she have known about the black thing inside him without seeing it. Better yet, how did he explain seeing it be absorbed into every inch of him?

As they drove back across town to Vigilante, he inhaled. Everything was crisper now. The desert sage had bite. Even the yucca and cactus had an earthy, floral smell to them. His mouth watered when he inhaled his mate's scent. Jochi smelled like the first frost of winter mixed with the wild hint of his cat. He smelled like mountain wilderness along with the musky aroma of arousal and heat. His dick thickened. His heart hammered. With each breath he took he became more of a salivating, sex-starved monster.

“Jochi...” The agitated growl in Jefferson’s voice surprised him.

“I feel it too,” his mate replied. “You have to hold it together. I promise when this is finished you can take your frustrations out on me.”

Jochi’s words were like a bucket of cold water being thrown on him. “I’d never hurt you.”

“Didn’t say you would.” Jochi took his hand. “This is what I was trying to locate within you earlier. Whatever Danielle did to you, she awoke a sleeping giant, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah.” Jefferson frowned.

They pulled up to the building and Kalkin was already outside, the grim look on his face set Jefferson on edge. Even the thing—wolf like Danielle said was inside him didn't like it. Kalkin lifted his hand in greeting as they parked, something he’d never done before. A red flag of warning went off in Jefferson’s head. There was something different about the man he’d known for so long.

He inhaled then chided himself for smelling people. Yet, since he saw Danielle, he couldn’t help it. Everything either smelled better or worse than he’d remember. Or, it could all be in his mind. A psychosomatic reaction to Danielle’s touch. Jefferson opened the door of the Enforcer and got out, coming face to face with Kalkin.

The Alpha grinned then patted him on the shoulder. “Welcome to the pack.”

Jefferson screwed up his face. “Didn’t we have this conversation years ago?”

“The human part of you, yes,” Kalkin said. “The wolf, not so much.”

Jefferson took a step back. “You’re insane. You’re all insane.” Even though Danielle said it before they left the clinic, he couldn’t reconcile it. Yet as he raged, he gnashed his teeth and snarled as though he were a wild animal. “This is horse shit, Kalkin! Danielle planted a suggestion in my brain.” His words tasted bitter as they rolled off his tongue.A lie.

“Come inside. I would rather have this conversation away from prying ears,” Kalkin commanded, his voice taking on an eerie layered quality, compelling Jefferson to follow the Alpha’s instructions.

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