Page 39 of Blackmailed

He didn’t know how long he stood there fielding questions before stepping away. The speech had gone smoother than he anticipated. Of course, when he checked his phone, he had several voice messages and texts. His speech and the news conference were trending on Twitter along with the hashtag: #whosSenatorWintersmate.

He stepped outside into the late-fall afternoon and breathed deep. Frost was in the air. Not from his mate though. Though it’d been in the forties when they arrived, the temperatures had dropped to a chilly thirty-eight degrees. Winter was in the air and if the scent was any indication, snow too. He couldn’t wait to watch his mate and their son playing in the softy, powdery blanket of snow. Hell, who was he kidding, he couldn’t wait to spend time with his whole family frolicking in the white stuff.

“You look happy,” Jochi said, coming up beside him.

“I am happy. I’m finally free,” Jefferson replied. “I can spend the rest of my life here with you, our children and our grandchildren.”

Jochi hummed. “I like the sounds of that.”

Jefferson wrapped his arm around his mate’s waist and started for the enforcer. “Have I showed you how much I appreciate you, today?”

Jochi chuckled. “Not yet. Our boy was insistent he be fed promptly this morning.”

"Then you're due some appreciation," Jefferson growled.

“Silly old man.” His mate shook his head as they stopped next to their new SUV. “Are you happy, bèndàn?”

“Very much so,” Jefferson answered. “I have everything I need right here in Window Rock. Let’s go home.”

Epilogue

Six months later...

“They’re here! They’re here!” Mikey yelled running through the kitchen.

"Good job, little wolf," Royce said, scrubbing the boy's head. "But, remember, it's a surprise for Papa Jochi."

“Oh! Right. Sorry.” The boy looked up at Jefferson and whisper-shouted, “They’re here! They’re here!”

Jefferson rolled his eyes and chuckled, glad he sent Jochi out on a small mission to find cactus fruit. “Thank you, Mikey.”

“Yep.” He skipped out of the kitchen, heading for the backyard where Abby had been playing.

“Well, who should open the door?” Charisma joined Royce and Jefferson.

“I will,” Jefferson said.

All of his hard work finally paid off. It’d taken two months to find Jochi’s parents and his brother in Guilin, China, but what had taken them longer to arrive had been the trek out of the mountains. They did all of their traveling in the dead of night to not cause a confrontation with the bastard of an Alpha who called the fertile land home.

When Jochi asked for help to bring them to Window Rock, it seemed like a great opportunity to stretch Vigilante’s legs and send a couple of people to find Mr. and Mrs. Zhao. The conditions they lived in due to their son being different, disturbed Jefferson on a visceral level. Any Alpha who would kick a child out of their pride or pack or like in Jochi’s case, a leap, due to their sexuality, didn’t deserve to be an Alpha. But, requiring the family to ‘pay the leap back,’ for what Jochi used and consumed pissed Jefferson off more.

His conversation with his mate solidified, in his mind, Keeley and Vigilante was the best bet to bring them home. However, who’d they’d get to do the job had been the biggest question. Then Keeley introduced him to two people, a shy roadrunner shifter named Maxine, and a mountain hare shifter named Jonathan Lui. Johnathan had been born in China and came to the states when he was a young boy, and Maxine had been a young orphan shifter, brought up in the orphanage. Both were excellent trackers and could find Jochi’s parents.

So, he waited.

Maxine and Jonathan Lui updated Jefferson every day of where they were and now, he breathed a little easier. Mr. and Mrs. Zhao were there.

Jefferson went to the door and opened it. There, standing near one of the out of commission Enforcers, Kalkin sold to Keeley, stood Jochi’s mother, Lan, and father, Jian, stood with Jochi’s younger brother, Hui, while Jonathan and Maxine gathered their bags from the back of the vehicle. The three of them were huddled together speaking to one another in hushed tones, even with Jefferson’s enhanced hearing, he couldn’t make out what they’d said. Hui was the spitting image of his brother, only, where Jochi’s features were soft almost feminine, Hui’s were cut, strong and like Jochi, Hui’s hair was long, kept in a single braid. Even their parents were striking people.

Hui pointed to something on the roof and Jefferson wondered if Rocky joined them. The boy had been making trips to Washington and he’d been due back any day. Jefferson had invited everyone he could think of to welcome the newest members of the pack/pride—including Janice and her husband.

Jefferson held up his hand and waved. “Ni hao!”

Lan greeted him first with a brilliant smile as she hurried to him. “We learn small English. H-hello.” She shook Jefferson’s hand and bowed. “This my son, Hui and my pè iou—” She tsked. “My mate, Jian.”

“It’s good to meet all of you,” Jefferson said, ushering everyone inside. “Jochi should be here in a minute.”

Hui slipped a phone out of his pocket, something he was sure Maxine and Jonathan bought for him when the coast was clear. He slid his finger across the screen then started typing. When he turned the phone around so Jefferson could see it, he laughed.

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