definitely liked what it saw. Bree might be wearing a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt, but she made them look damn good. Snug enough to show off her feminine curves, making the view from behind spectacular.
At the sight of the tall, blond woman in Gage’s office, he forced his mind off the image of Bree’s incredible body and back to the subject of their new teenage werewolf. Diego had called Gage on the drive over to give him a heads-up about bringing in a young beta who was still going through his change. And Gage had called the one alpha werewolf they knew who had a whole pack of them.
That was some next-level thinking right there and one hell of a brilliant idea.
Jayna was the wife and soul mate of Diego’s teammate, Eric Becker. She was also one of the only werewolves Diego had ever heard of who started out as a beta, then went through a second change to become an alpha to take over for the one who’d done a crappy job of protecting her pack. Jayna had taken over the pack, making it her own. Even though she and Becker were a couple, it was still her pack. Becker was essentially a co-alpha. Unique, for sure, but it seemed to work for them.
Diego led Bree and Brandon through the empty bullpen and into Gage’s office. When he made the introductions, mentioning Gage and Jayna were also alphas, Bree and Brandon both nervously shook hands with them. That wasn’t surprising. Tall and muscular with dark hair and intense dark eyes, Gage could sometimes be intimidating. As for Jayna, she had a presence about her that you only saw with female alphas.
“Let’s sit,” Gage suggested, giving them a smile and motioning toward the small conference table to one side of his office. “From what Diego told me on the phone, I get the feeling things have been pretty crazy for you two lately.”
Bree laughed as she sat between Diego and Brandon. It was a beautiful sound that made Diego’s inner wolf sit up and take notice.
“‘Crazy’ would be a bit of an understatement,” she said, glancing at her son, a mix of worry and love on her face. “Like I told Diego, when these strange things started happening to Brandon after he’d been shot, I thought he was using drugs.”
“Mom!” Brandon groaned, a hand coming up to cover his face in embarrassment, but not before Diego saw him flush. It would have been cute if the subject wasn’t so scary. The thought of the kid getting shot made his stomach twist up in knots.
“Don’t ‘mom’ me,” Bree said, her lips curving into a smile. “All I knew was that something was going on with you. Something that was making you act different, and since you wouldn’t talk to me about it, what else was I supposed to think? It makes sense it would be drugs.” The smile faded and her eyes glistened with tears. “I was scared I was going to lose you, honey.”
The pain in those words about ripped Diego’s heart right out of his chest. Crap, he could barely breathe. He swallowed hard and fought through it. Why wasn’t he maintaining his usual professional demeanor in this situation?
“But you weren’t taking drugs,” Bree said softly. “You were simply turning into a werewolf. I guess I had no reason to worry. Can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself,” she added with a strangled laugh.
When Brandon looked chagrined at that, Diego assumed it was because he felt bad about hiding the werewolf stuff from his mother, but his gut told him there was more to it than that. He wanted to ask what the deal was, but bringing it up in front of everyone wouldn’t be a good idea.
“I think most parents would have assumed the same,” Jayna said gently. “The possibility that their son was becoming a werewolf isn’t something most people would ever think to worry about.”
Bree snorted, a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. “Yet, here we are. Which I suppose begs the question—how did this happen? Diego told me Brandon’s a werewolf, and since he showed us his claws and fangs, I guess that means he’s one, too. He told us that the other members of his…pack…are alpha werewolves like the three of you. He made it sound so simple, but he never said how any of this is possible. I mean, if Brandon had been bitten by a werewolf,