Page 29 of Brick

She turned to tell Brick they were ready to head back to the house when something caught her eye. She paused and stared but didn’t see anything. Then she tilted her head and saw it again—the sunlight highlighted something dark on the ground.

“Brick?”

“Yeah, baby?” he called.

“There’s something on the ground there. It’s black.” She pointed and he jogged up to them, looking to where she indicated.

“I don’t… Hold on, okay, I see it. Stay put.” He walked forward slowly, scanning the area, and then bent and picked up a stick that he used to prod around. He squatted down, peered at whatever the black thing was, and then picked it up.

“What is it?” Solan asked as he joined the two of them.

“It’s black rubber. I’m pretty sure it’s the cover for a binocular lens.” Brick frowned as he looked at it and then walked over to show it to them.

Jade took it and gave it a squeeze and the rubber bent easily. It certainly looked like a binocular lens cover. “Does the security team use binoculars?”

“Not usually.”

He looked past her, his frown deepening. “The alphas’ house is that way.”

He and Solan moved to where the cover had been on the ground and searched the area. Jade shivered, but not from the cold. If the security team didn’t use binoculars, then someone was in the territory watching.

“It’ll be okay, babe,” Alli said.

“I feel exposed out here.” She looked around, wondering if someone was watching them right now.

Brick and Solan joined them. “Let’s get back to the alphas’ house.”

“Someone’s watching?” she asked.

Brick nodded. “It certainly seems so. The ground is flattened like someone was standing for a while, and it might be in a blind spot for the security cameras. Solan had the security office run the videos for this area. If it is a blind spot, we’ll add more cameras and motion detectors.”

“What about the protective wards the Wiccans set up last night?” Jade asked.

“They should have stopped someone from getting through,” Solan said.

“They’re not foolproof. They don’t stop everything,” Alli said. “The wards would be strongest at the alphas’ house and would get progressively weaker the farther from that point they went. If it’s Foley, he could have hired someone to watch and report back, so there wouldn’t be bad intentions or a bad aura that would stop someone from getting through the wards.”

“Geez,” Jade said. “I thought it was bad enough to worry about my old alpha or that dangerous male coming for me, but that the anti-shifter group might have hired someone to spy? It’s creepy as hell.”

“You know what they say,” Alli said. “It’s not being paranoid if someone is out to get you, and Brent Foley and H. A. S. are definitely up to no good.”

“We’ll be careful,” Brick said. “Jade’s safety is paramount to me.”

When they reached the alphas’ house, she and Alli walked inside after parting ways with Brick and Solan at the security office. After telling Cinder what was up, Jade told Alli about the pack meeting the night before, where Cinder and Adam announced the pregnancy and the Wiccans filling in with protection wards.

Alli leaned against the kitchen island and said, “It seems like you’ve got great systems in place to keep everyone safe, and as long as you’re noticing the small stuff—like someone watching the alphas’ house from the creek—you can alter the security measures and make things even safer. It’s better to find the gaps in security now before something bad happens.”

“Good point.”

A few moments later, a smiling older woman came into the kitchen carrying a paper sack. Flowers peeked from the top. “Hello there.” She pulled the flowers out of the sack and handed them to Jade. “I’m Brick’s mom, Sophie. I saw these at the market and wanted to give them to you for the bedroom. Nothing takes the masculine vibe from a male’s bedroom quite like pretty flowers.”

Jade grinned. Brick had a very masculine bedroom. The pink and yellow flowers would be the perfect pop of feminine color. “I love them, thank you so much. It’s so nice to meet you. Do you know Alli?”

“Of course, how are you?”

“Wonderful, Sophie, thanks. You?”

“I’m wonderful too, now that my son has found his truemate. I couldn’t be happier.”

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