Page 54 of Alpha Hunt

Chapter 21

Casey

I storm into Jagger’s office, my jaw set with determination. “Jagger, we need to talk,” I announce, marching right up to his desk.

He looks up at me, a smirk playing on his lips. “Here we go again,” he chuckles, leaning back in his chair. “I imagine you know exactly where your mate is today, considering his scent is all over you.”

“That’s not what I’m here for.” I brush aside his taunts, my face serious. “This is important, Law. You need to know something about Edirn.”

His jaw tightens as he takes in my expression. “What is it, Stone?”

I take a deep breath, working up the nerve to say it out loud. “He’s psychic.” I shut my mouth as soon as I say it, feeling like a complete fool. Hearing the words makes it sound unbelievable.

“Psychic?” Jagger stares at me for a moment before letting out a bark of laughter. “Right. Pull the other one.” He looks past me to the door and grins. “Is Redburn gonna run in here now with a crystal ball and tell me he’s a gypsy fortune teller, too?”

“This isn’t a prank, dammit,” I insist, my voice firm. “He told me himself. He can read minds. He’s been doing it all his life.”

“Jeez, some guys will do anything to impress a woman.” Jagger doesn’t believe me, obviously.

“He didn’t do it to impress me. If anything, it had the opposite effect,” I mutter. I still remember how his words had come like a dash of cold water. Everything had been so damn wonderful… I swallow thickly as I remember how we’d spent the night. How he’d touched me. How he’d enveloped me in a cloud of bliss. And now that’s been snatched away from me.

Lies. It had all been lies.

“So you weren’t impressed then. Maybe if he could levitate too?” He makes floating, wavy gestures with his hands.

“Jagger!” My voice has grown strident. Why can’t he see that I’m not fooling around? “For fuck’s sake, will you just stop already?”

The laughter fades from Jagger’s face as he realizes I’m not joking. “This is pretty unbelievable, Stone. What convinced you?”

“I tested him. He told me what I was thinking. Word for word, Jagger. Even what I could smell.” I shudder. It had been uncanny. And terrifying. I may have been lying naked against his chest, but having him in my head made me feel truly exposed. As if my soul was laid bare.

“Well, that’s…interesting,” Jagger muses, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Interesting? You think that’s interesting?” I stare at him.

“You don’t think it is?” He looks at me.

“Well, sure. But it’s more than that, don’t you think?” I’d say it’s a lot more than interesting. I’d say it’s a fucking nightmare.

“A skill like that could be quite useful,” Jagger says, surprising me. “He’d be a valuable asset to the team.” He swivels his chair and stretches his long legs out before him, crossing them at the ankle and staring out to a point across the room as if he’s mulling this over. “Yes…that could definitely be handy.”

I gape at him, incredulous. “Are you kidding me? Jagger, he’s a threat!”

“What makes you think that?” He glances at me.

“Because…” My mind swirls with all the possibilities that aren’t specifically connected to having the man in my own head. “He could have been collecting intel from us this whole time, digging into our minds, uncovering our secrets and strategies. How do you know he hasn’t been feeding information to the Leadmills pack all along?”

Jagger shakes his head. “I trust Edirn, Casey.”

“Youtrusthim? After what I just told you?” My mouth is hanging open.

“Sure. He’s given me no reason not to. And I told you – I’ve had him under observation since he got here. Never put a foot out of line.”

“He wouldn’t need to. He could have been sitting around collecting information every time you had a spark of inspiration. Then fed it straight back to the enemy.”

“If that was the case, then why haven’t they acted on it? If anything, there’s been less activity than ever. Leadmills has been dormant for months.”

“The fact that they haven’t launched another full-scale attack doesn’t mean that they’re dormant. It simply means they haven’t struck…yet. Maybe they’ve been waiting for him to get enough information to truly wipe us out.”