Page 71 of Blinded
"It won't start for two months, but I'll have to make sure my certifications and everything are legal in this state, then there will be some training, but we still have time together." Brett stared back out the window. "I never dreamed that coming to visit Bridger would change my entire life so much."
"Both good and bad changes."
"Mostly good." Brett smiled at me.
"I agree." I sent a wave of love through our link as I parked the car. "Ready for this?"
Brett nodded as he opened the door. "It's Mark. I can smell him from here. He's scared."
"Good, he should be after what they did." I didn't try to hide the change that came over me. I let the lovable Bayne slip aside and put on my work face. The side of me that could kill a man with one blow, the side that enjoyed making people suffer. This man had a part in hurting my mate and other pack members. I was ready to make him pay.
Brett raised a brow at me, obviously sensing the change in my mood.
It wasn't as if I could hide it from him. He saw every part of me. He knew what I was, both good and bad. I loved him for accepting me for who I was completely, no judgment. "Hey, Justice, Preston." I nodded at the two men who were waiting outside the cells. "What's up?"
"They caught the other kid who attacked us. I'm not sure what's going on. Kurt and Josh are inside with him. Kurt told us to wait out here." Preston leaned against the wall. "You know anything?"
"Nothing. Just got the call to report here. I thought they'd gotten him a week ago." I honestly assumed they'd picked him up and dealt with him right after we killed Justin. Depending on how involved he was in the attack and what he knew, Kurt didn't have a reason to involve all of us. Now, I wondered what was going on, because there was no way Kurt would have let Josh inside the cell with Mark if he was in danger or if they were going to kill him. Kurt was careful to protect his mate from the darker side of shifter life.
"I know Kurt had trouble tracking him down. Evidently, he was living with Justin and when all the shit went down, Mark took off. I don't know where they finally found him." Justice ran his fingers through his hair. "How are you two? Get your parents moved?"
"Yeah, just unloaded the last of it today. Dad's looking for a job, but isn't too worried. Mom has been hanging with Corta a lot and I think she'll end up hanging around the pack house and helping out there a lot. It's been a good fit for them."
"And your sister?" Preston asked.
"Should be coming home soon. I talked to her last night and she is in Italy right now for some modeling thing. I can't keep up with her. She'll stay with my parents when she comes, but I don't see her hanging out here for long. Montana is a little slow paced for what she is used to." Brett shrugged. "As long as I get to see her from time to time, I'm happy she is enjoying life."
The door to the cell opened and Kurt smiled at all of us. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Come in."
I let Brett go in first, then followed with Justice and Preston behind me. Once inside, I saw a young man sitting inside the cell, looking nervously at all of us. His eyes were swollen as if he'd been crying, and the scent of his fear filled the room.
"Everyone, meet Mark. He is the one who was with Justin when you were attacked, and Bridger was killed." Kurt stepped over to Josh's side and wrapped his arm around his waist. "I hope you'll forgive me, but I've talked to Bridger's family about this situation already. I wanted them to have a say in things before I brought it forward to you since they suffered the biggest loss."
I ran my hand over my beard. "What is there to talk about? He was part of the attack. Doesn't that mean he receives the same sentence as Justin?" I hated the man just for what he'd done to my mate.
"That's where we have a problem. As for the attack, it was all Justin. I've interrogated Mark thoroughly and he did nothing more than watch. He had no idea what Justin had planned. He'd told him they were going rabbit hunting to try out the new dart gun Justin had bought. He didn't shoot the gun, he didn't beat any of you, he didn't kill Bridger. I think it's fair to say, he was too scared and shocked to do anything. He thought Bridger was attacking wolves, nothing more."
Brett shook his head. "He's lying. His scent was at both attacks. If he didn't agree with what was happening, why would he have gone back when Preston and Justice were shot?"
Kurt looked at Mark inside the cell. "You want to explain?"
Mark swallowed hard. "The first attack I didn't know what you were. I thought it was just wolves, but then Justin told me what you were. I thought he was crazy talking about shifters and wolves and all these weird things you only see in movies. He convinced me to go out with him again, this time to catch one and force it to shift and show me what it was. I was curious. He was convinced shifters existed. I thought he'd lost his mind. I went with him partially to humor him, but also because I guess a part of me wanted to believe. I had no idea he was going to do the same thing again. When he shot the wolves, I thought we'd capture them and force them to shift like he said, but he went nuts again, talking about taking out all the evil in the world and the unnatural beings. I ran. I didn't stick around to see what he did that time. I ended up walking home. When he got back, we had a huge fight and I left. I haven't seen Justin since the night of the second attack."
Justice narrowed his eyes as he moved closer to the cell. "Why didn't you stop him?"
Mark bowed his head and softly said, "I was too scared."
I glanced at Kurt. "So now what?"
"Well, that's why I have asked you all here. Bridger's family doesn't blame Mark. They have spoken to him and believe he was stupid in following Justin the second time, but they believe he didn't know what was going to happen the first time. They said to let him go. My problem is that when we took him into custody, our team was half wolves, half humans. The moment he saw the wolves with the humans, he knew Justin hadn't been lying about shifters existing. So, because of our carelessness, he is aware of what we are. We all know we can't let him walk out of here because of that." Kurt stepped forward. "You know I don't take killing humans lightly. I've worked hard to make it so we can live among them safely. It's because of our tightly kept secrets that we have a safe and manageable life and aren't living in caves like our ancestors used to. We've adapted to their ways. So, I had to come up with something that would keep Mark from running off and telling the world about us."
"And that is?" Preston asked.
"Make him one of us." Kurt stared at the small group of us.
"What?" I shook my head. "We don't change humans. Hell, we just took down Stephen's pack a while back because they did just that."
Kurt nodded. "We don't change anyone against their will. There have been many cases where humans have been welcomed into pack for one reason or another. My father offered Josh's grandparents the option at one point, though they turned him down. I asked Mark if that would be an option, and he's agreed to it. Now, the question becomes, do we change him and send him off to another pack or keep him here where we can train him and watch out for him?"
