Page 3 of Jacob Michaels is Trouble

“Why do you care?” I snapped.

“Because,” Jason replied evenly, “you killed two shifters on my pack lands. So, that shit’s going to come down on me first and foremost. And they won’t care if I know who really killed them, will they?”

“They?” Lucas asked, stepping up to stand by my side, his fingers still laced through mine. “Who’s they?”

“The Council,” I answered at the same time Jason did, which made him smile evilly at me.

“They’ll have my ass and then come for yours.” Jason shrugged. “Because I’m not going to lie for you. Not if this is how you want things to play out, anyway.”

Lucas’ fingers tightened, squeezing my hand.

“Why are you here?” I asked again.

The grin that flowered on Jason’s face begged to be slapped right off of it. With a two-by-four.

“Problems follow you wherever you go, Jacob Michaels.” He said.

“Rob. Wagner.” I spoke through clenched teeth.

“Rob. Jacob. Tits McGuinness—whatever you want to call yourself.” He snorted. “Everywhere you go, trouble follows. It was here when you were in high school…and now it’s back. I have no fucking idea what is going on, but I know something is wrong. And it has something to do with you.”

“You couldn’t have said something when I was at your house the other night?” I spat.

“You were at his house?” Lucas peeped.

“I hadn’t quite put two-and-two together then.” Jason glanced at Lucas; then his eyes were back on me. “But it finally dawned on me. You were trouble before. Every time I ran into you, it was a fucking shitshow. Then you disappeared suddenly and things…things changed…now they’re changing back. I want to know what the fuck is going on, Rob Wagner, and what it means for my fucking pack. Are my guys in danger?”

“If they keep fucking with me, yeah.” I sneered.

Jason started to step forward, so I raised my hand. He stopped moving but didn’t look happy about it. Lucas’ fingers clenched my other hand as Jason and I glowered at each other, both of us ready to tear the other limb from limb. So…Jason didn’t have all of his memories, but he was, surprisingly, smart enough to take notice of things changing around him. Apparently, magic could mask problems but not completely solve them. Not when you had a werewolf with more curiosity than brains.

“What have you been up to, Rob?” Jason demanded, ignoring my threat. “I thought maybe you just came to my house the other night—”

“Why were you at his house?” Lucas asked again.

I held a finger up to him, pleading with my boyfriend with my eyes.

“—because maybe…well, whatever.” Jason looked away for a second, conveying everything he was thinking without saying another word. “But then it came to me. You know—when you made my sink explode? Jacob Michaels is trouble.”

“For the last time,” I growled. “My name is Rob Wagner.”

“A rose by any other name.” Jason spat back.

Lucas was tugging at my arm. I turned to look at him, all pale and troubled, his fingers clenching at mine.

“What?” I asked as gently as possible.

“Why were you at his house?”

Jason snorted derisively, which made me shoot him a glare.

“To give him money for Katie’s funeral.” I turned back to Lucas quickly. “You know, that woman who wandered up in the yard naked and burned up? Then he tried to put the moves on me, and I made his sink explode.”

It took Lucas a second, but a grin slowly bloomed on his face.

Oh, yeah.

My boyfriend knows things.