Page 2 of Jacob

Dennis got to his feet and clasped Jacob’s shoulder.“Well, I have to go.You know where to find me if you decide to spend the afternoon in town.Drake, do you want me to drive you back?”

“No, thank you.I’ll stay a bit longer.”

“If you’re sure.See you two soon.”

Jacob watched him go.He felt like an asshole.He shouldn’t be jealous of his friends.

“Everything okay?”Drake asked.

He sounded concerned, and Jacob didn’t want him to be.“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“If that’s the way you compliment your mate, you should rethink it.”

Drake chuckled.“It’s not, but I’ll be careful.Seriously, though.What’s going on with you?Is it the job?”

Jacob shrugged.“You know how it is.”

“I don’t because you won’t tell me.”

“There’s not much to tell.”

“I want to hear it anyway.If you tell me, I’ll tell you something strange.”

Jacob frowned, but this was Drake.He wanted to help his friends, and he wasn’t above bribing them to get what he wanted.“Something strange?”

“Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind?”

Jacob sighed.“The usual.A lot of pride members have found jobs outside of the pride, and I want to do the same, but I don’t have any skills.I was a guard for most of my adult life.I was never taught anything else.How am I supposed to find a job?”

“Well, you’re still a guard.That means your skills are still required.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m still a guard because Gal took pity on me.There’s nothing for me to do.I haven’t found anything during my patrols in weeks, and even before then, it was always stupid stuff.There’s no need for me at the gate anymore.People just ring the bell and are let in.”The other few guards might be happy with that kind of life, but Jacob wasn’t.He wanted to do more.

He just wasn’t sure what that more was.

“Well, maybe you’ll be useful in the future.”

“Does that have to do with the strange thing you were about to tell me?”

“Yeah.I didn’t think much of it when I smelled it in town, but once I got here and smelled it again, I realized how strange it was.

“What are you talking about?”

Drake tapped his fingertips on the table.“I smelled a strange shifter in town a few times.I didn’t think much of it because there are plenty of shifters who live there, but it’s a smell I didn’t recognize at all.I have no idea what kind of shifter it belongs to.”

“As you said, there are plenty of shifters in town.They’re probably a newcomer.”Even though Green Hill was a small town, people knew the pride was there.It meant that there was a steady influx of shifters looking for a home.They felt they would be more welcome in a town that was already used to shifters.

“Maybe, but I also smelled that scent here.They’re not a pride member.They don’t smell like a tiger or any of the other shifters who live here.”

That caught Jacob’s attention.“Where did you smell them?”

“Outside, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t come onto the property, but still.Maybe you should keep an eye open when you patrol.”

Jacob would have done so anyway, but now even more so.Even though he felt useless, it was Jacob’s job to protect the pride.

And he’d do it.

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