Page 39 of Oracle
JAMESON
“Say it again,” I seethed, barely restraining myself from shifting and tearing this man’s throat out with my teeth for what he’d done. Or lack thereof. He’d let her be taken, the spineless fucker.
Caleb’s brother lay at my feet, bruised and bloody from the scuffle with Daimona at the edge of our camp. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed, “they overwhelmed me. They took her and I couldn’t stop them.”
No part of me believed the prick. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter, and his story wasn’t adding up to me.
“Jameson, back the fuck off!” Caleb yelled as his footsteps pounded towards me, just ahead of the rest of Kira’s mates. It was unlucky that this shithead had found me first out of them all. I was the most jaded and cautious of us all after my own family's involvement in Kira’s demise throughout her life.
No one was to be trusted.
Holding my hands up, I spun on my heel to face the golden boy. “Hey, I haven’t laid a hand on him. All I’ve done is ask questions.”
It was mostly true. I may have shoved him back hard when he initially told me of her capture, but I’d restrained myself since then, so that deserved some recognition.
Seth and Milo came to my side, supporting me with their presence. I wasn’t surprised by Seth, but Milo and I had never seen eye to eye, so for him to stand by me shocked me quite a bit.
Wes and Luca did the same for Caleb, flanking him and staring us down with a ferocious intent. Of course, Tian stood in the middle, looking more exasperated than ever. My goal wasn’t to take sides and to fight, but that was what the others were turning this into. All I wanted was the truth, but I knew the love for a family member could blind you, keeping you from seeing what was right in front of you.
It would be a battle to convince Caleb, but I wasn’t backing down. This could be life or death for Kira.
“Reagen, are you okay?” he asked, dropping to his knees to inspect his brother’s wounds. “What happened?”
I wanted to save us all time and reiterate what I already knew, but a part of me held back, hoping that perhaps he would slip up in his story if he had to tell it again.
“As soon as we got to the tent, they morphed from the shadows at the edge of the forest,” he began, voice shaking as if he was still scared now. I rolled my eyes at his theatrics as he continued, “I immediately shifted and placed myself in front of her, but three of them jumped on me and the other two nabbed her while I was busy fighting them off.”
He shook his head, hanging it in shame. “I was able to defeat one, but as I killed it, the other two backed off, scurrying away, presumably after the other two who took Kira.”
“How did no one else hear this fight? It’s not as if you were that secluded,” I fired back, my blood pressure hiking with the damn audacity of this fuckwad to lie to our faces.
He shrugged, eyes focusing back on Caleb, pleading with him to understand. “It all happened so fast. I don’t know if they knocked her out, keeping her from screaming for help, but I was too focused on the three in front of me to call for help.”
"Bullshit,” Tian countered, making the rest of our heads rear back at his interjection. “I’ve seen Kira single-handedly take on Daimona like a fucking warrior. She saved my life. She would have killed the two coming after her and then helped you kill the remainder.”
This pissed Caleb off as he threw his gaze at the alpha. “If they were overwhelmed quickly enough, she wouldn’t have had enough time. Why are you all acting like my brother would hurt her? This is ridiculous and I won’t stand for it.”
“I’m so sorry,” Reagen cried, “I failed you all and her.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” I sneered, hating this sniveling coward more and more by the second.
Tears fell from his eyes, putting on the most theatrical performance of his life as he begged me, “What can I do to prove myself to you?”
“Reagen, do not beg this man,” Luca spat. “He’s one to talk after the shit he’s done to Kira. He’s just projecting his own issues of having a traitorous family onto you.”
Tian’s words from earlier were the only reason why I wasn’t in his face, breaking his jaw with my fist right now. We’d easily draw a crowd if we fought, and with Kira gone, we needed to be a unified front. Her disappearance would already throw our people into panic mode.
“Low blow, dude,” Milo intoned from behind me.
“I’ve made peace with the sins of my past,” I admitted, refusing to be shamed any longer. “Even more, I’ve made peace with Kira, and her opinion of me is all that matters.”
“Innocent until proven guilty,” Wes stated, moving to stand in front of Reagen and Caleb on the ground, crossing his arms to display he wouldn’t be budging in his support.
How everyone was so easily swayed by his words was beyond me, but a question had come to mind earlier that no one could deny, so I held on to it until the end of his fabricated story.
Seeing this as the perfect moment, I spoke up, “I just have one question.”
Caleb snarled, spinning to glare at me around Wes’s body, baring his teeth. “Fuck off, Jameson. Stop harassing him.”
