After leaving the conference room, Daniel hurried into his office and slammed the door as wave after wave of sorrow hit him, making him feel as though he was drowning in it. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he stood there, trying to just breathe.
'Jenna?' he asked Rafe, dreading the answer, though he already knew.
'Mate is very sad right now. Need to go to mate,' Rafe sat down and howled in Daniel's mind.
'I wish we could, Buddy. I wish we could,' Daniel gave up after that. He did the one thing he never allowed himself to do, and let it all go. The sadness and misery for the last year had eaten away at him, and with Jenna's sadness added in, it was all becoming too much for him to keep in any longer. Sobs racked him as he leaned his head against the door.
After several long moments, Daniel collected himself and stood up straight, heaving a small sigh.
'Better?' Rafe asked him curiously. He'd never seen his human break down like that, but it had been needed.
'Yeah. Now I understand why women do it,' Daniel replied, and turned around to his office, only to be met by the shrewd blue eyed gaze of his beta.
Ragnar lifted a blond brow at him, and Daniel groaned. "This had better not leave this office."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ragnar said, sitting down on the couch. "You finally going to tell me what's going on with you?"
Daniel was actually surprised that the subject of his mate had not come up between the two of them. He was well aware that Ragnar knew something was up with him, though he'd never approached him about it.
"I found my mate," Daniel stated quietly as sat down in a chair.
Both of Ragnar's brows shot up in surprise as he studied Daniel. "And you're crying over it?" The Beta snorted, then his face turned serious. "Tell me, you found her, what? About a year ago? And she rejected you?"
Daniel shook his head. Ragnar was the most patient and detailed person he'd ever met. He wasn't surprised his Beta had figured half of it out. Or that he'd never asked him about it. He knew Daniel would tell him when he was ready to.
He went over the entire story, telling him about finding Jenna and losing her again, about how he'd stupidly marked her, and the four detectives he'd hired to find her, along with the dead ends they inevitably encountered. He told him about Jenna's moods, and about the explosive sadness she and he had both been dealing with that day. "I just ... " he stopped, holding his head in his hands as the urge to cry hit him again.
"She lost someone," Ragnar stated quietly, leaning back in his chair.
Daniel lifted his head and looked up at him. "What?"
"Someone she was close to died," Ragnar stood and moved to the window, looking out into the night.
Daniel's eyebrows furrowed as his mind raced. 'What do you think, Rafe?'
'It makes more sense than anything I can think of at the moment. Ragnar and Rollo are wise wolves,' Rafe responded. 'Mate is hurting badly. Very sad. She must have lost someone very close to her.'
"You will find her, Daniel. Of that I have no doubt," Ragnar murmured as he turned back to face Daniel.
Daniel stood up. "If her emotions don't kill me first," he said, and left the office. He took the elevator back up to his apartment, then striped his clothes off as he walked back to his bedroom. He threw open the French doors, then leapt off the balcony, letting Rafe take over. His wolf ran into the woods to mourn Jenna's loss.
***
Jenna lay in bed, sobbing silently. Noelle was asleep, and thankfully was too young to know the sorrow that gripped the household. The police had just left, and tomorrow the family would begin the painful process of burying her mother.
In the far distance, the sound of a wolf's sad howl reached her ears, and for just a few moments, Jenna felt at peace.
***
Ragnar left Daniel's office, and headed to the kitchen for something sweet. He knew Brianna always kept some sort of baked good on hand.
"Ragnar!"
He turned to see Charity hurrying down the hallway towards him, and stopped to wait for her.
"How did your meeting with Alpha Jason go?" He asked once she'd caught up.
"Solara wants to kill him," She said by way of explanation.
'Arrogant weasel'
"That well, huh?" Ragnar hummed.
Charity stopped and grabbed Ragnar's arm, turning him to face her. "Is my brother okay?"
Ragnar slid his arm around Charity. "No, he's not."
"What's wrong with him?" she asked as they continued on to the kitchen.
"That's his story to tell, Char, not mine." Ragnar pushed open the door to the kitchen, and let the princess enter before him. She settled on a stool at the island while he began searching for his sweet treat.
"Alright, but this has been going on for a while, hasn't it?" She asked.
Ragnar found the container of frosted brownies and brought it over to the island. "It has," he said simply. "Now, tell me why Solara wants to kill Jason. Is he the reason you've been making so many trips to West Virginia?"
"Inadvertently. There is a pack of rogues there that have petitioned for official pack status. Jason is fighting it," Charity picked up a brownie and took a bite out of it. She moaned a little.
Ragnar snorted at her behavior. "Why is he fighting it?"
"He has the "Virginia Pack" even though his pack is located in Virginia, and the rogue pack wishes to settle in West Virginia. He thinks he should have the only pack in the Virginias. Or at least that's his argument." She stopped to lick the frosting from her fingers before reaching for another brownie.
"Not at all petty, is he?" Ragnar raised an eyebrow at her.
Charity rolled her eyes. "Oh no. Not at all. But in all reality, he doesn't think rogues should be allowed to form a pack, and he doesn't like the fact that most of the rogues are former members of his own pack."
"His own pack?" Ragnar asked before stuffing a third brownie in his mouth.
"It doesn't take much to get kicked out. The leader of the rogue pack is Jason's former Beta," Charity got up to pour herself a glass of milk. "Want one?"
"Sure. Why did he kick his own Beta?" Ragnar asked. While he generally knew most of what was going on with all of the packs, over the last year, he'd been too busy keeping up with the pack's business dealings and the crap going on in Texas since Daniel had taken a step back. He wasn't upset about it; especially now that he had confirmed the reason.
"The Beta dared to ask him why he had kicked out three other pack members. It doesn't take much to piss off Alpha Jason, and he's pretty unreasonable," Charity handed Ragnar his milk, before sitting back down on her stool.
"So he came to air his grievances," Ragnar guessed.
"Yes, and he was NOT happy when Daniel suddenly left the room, even though Daniel wasn't paying the least bit of attention to the meeting and knows nothing about what's going on," Charity slammed her fist down on the island, spilling some of her milk. "This is my project! I'm the one who has been making trips to West Virginia, and interviewing those who wish to be members of this pack, to see if Beta Nick can handle being an Alpha, to view the area they wish to settle. Me! Not Daniel! And I'm not letting some arrogant weasel stop me!" She shouted.
'You go, Doll!' Solara cheered her on.
"So what happened when Daniel left?" Ragnar asked, as he sipped his milk.
"The meeting came to an abrupt end with him throwing me a deal." Charity took a deep breath in annoyance. "He told me he would drop his protest if I would agree to become his Luna and have his pups. Of course I refused. That was after he asked me to go to bed with him. And after he tried to choke me."
Ragnar laughed at that. "So the Alpha of the Virginia pack is a real romantic with a death wish."
Charity smirked.
"So now what will you do?" Ragnar asked, before grabbing one more brownie and popping it in his mouth.
"Proceed with my plans. Draw up the paperwork to make the rogue pack official, and get them their land. And Alpha Jason can shove it up where the sun don't shine," Charity muttered.
"Alpha Jason isn't long for this world, Charity. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't suicidal," Ragnar gave her a knowing look.
"You think so?" Dumb question. He wouldn't have said it otherwise. Suicidal meant that Jason had his eye on the throne.
'Stupid arrogant weasel,' Solara muttered.
"Ragnar, what if you say we make a surprise visit to the Virginia pack sometime in the very near future," she held up her glass of milk.
"I like where your head's at." He clinked his glass with hers.