Jackson POV
"So, what's up between you and Andy?" I asked Ethan as we made our way through the pack house and towards the basement.
"I don't know what you mean," he answered casually.
"I saw you flinch at the mention of his name." I pointed out. I wasn't going to let it go until he told me what was going on. Ethan got along with everyone in the pack. For him to seem wary of a pack member was extremely unusual. "C'mon man, speak up."
Ethan pulled me to a stop and stood in front of me, his face serious, "I just worry about him. After Kendal died he was pretty bad and so was Sadie. My dad and I thought it might be beneficial to have Andy be Sadie's bodyguard so they would have each other to lean on."
"Ok so what's the problem?"
"I'm just worried that Andy may have some more than friendly feelings for Sadie now."
I stared at my best friend, trying to see if he was pulling my leg. Andy couldn't have feelings for Sadie, she was my mate and he knows what that means. "I don't think so," I finally responded. I could understand where Ethan was coming from, but Andy was my friend and I didn't think he would do that to me.
Ethan ran his hand through his hair, causing it to stick up everywhere, "I don't know man, I think we should just keep an eye on him."
"Fine," I sighed, "but I don't think anything will come of it."
Ethan nodded and began walking again. "Let's just go interrogate the hunter and we can talk more about Andy later."
The fact that Ethan didn't seemed convinced made me doubt myself. I hadn't been around for over a year, maybe the Andy I knew had changed, the death of a mate has been known to drive wolves crazy. Maybe that's what Ethan was seeing and he was just misinterpreting Andy's actions.
I shook my head clear of my thoughts, deciding that I was just being paranoid. Andy was my friend and until her proved otherwise I would treat him as such.
I stood back and watched Ethan pull a gold key from his pocket once we reached the door to the basement. He unlocked the large door and pushed it open. Cold air blew into us as we descended the stairs. The basement was practically freezing compared to the rest of the house due to the fact that it was underground and composed of stone.
At the bottom of the steps we came upon a short hallway; we could either go right through a wooden door into the interrogation room or left through a steel door into the area that held all the cells.
"I say we just do it in his cell," Ethan suggested.
"Sounds good to me," I shrugged.
Ethan opened the wooden door that lead into the interrogation room. It was a bare room with white walls and a single chair bolted to the floor in the middle of the room. At the far corner of the room was a small closet, which held all our equipment for forceful interrogations. We went straight for the closet and opened the door up.
I scanned the contents of the small room and then reached in and grabbed a small blue blow torch, a lighter, and a thin iron rod that went wider at the end. Ethan reached in after me and pulled out a large pair of pliers and a set of brass knuckles.
"This is kind of twisted," I laughed as Ethan closed the door.
"Yeah, but so are the hunters," He shrugged in response. "They've attacked us repeatedly and killed pack members, and they are after your family. I think twisted is what every single one of them deserves."
"Well, when you put it like that," I agreed. "So should we good-cop, bad-cop this?"
"Hell yeah, I've always wanted to do that." Ethan replied excitedly. "Dibs on the bad cop!"
"Damn-it, fine," I grumbled. I really wanted to be the bad cop.
We walked back into the hall and then through the steel door. I could hear the man's chains move in response to the sound we made upon entering. He knew we were coming and I found myself hoping that he felt an ounce of the fear that Sadie did every time they attacked.
We passed by the first two cells and stopped in front of the third one, which was occupied by the hunter. He had his hands wrapped around the thick metal bars that kept him hostage. The small, flat bed in the corner looked untouched and from the looks of his face, he hadn't rested at all. His all black attire was ripped and covered in dirt from the battle and his once combed back hair was disheveled and limp.
"Hunter," Ethan growled out. "Move back." The man complied without a word and Ethan opened the cell door. "This is how it's going to work, we only want to know one thing. So I will ask you that one thing and if you don't answer you get pain. The quicker you answer the quicker this will be over."
The man didn't respond at all, other than to eye up the objects in our hands. I couldn't tell if he was nervous or not, his face was completely blank and his body unmoving.
"Where is your home base?" I asked, getting the ball rolling.
"Heaven is where I call home, a place you will never see," He spat out.
Without missing a beat, Ethan threw a punch into the man's face with the hand that wore the brass knuckles. The man's left cheek immediately split open as his face whipped to the side. He yelled out in pain as he brought his hand up to cradle his cheek.
"Again," Ethan ordered.
"Where is your home base?" I repeated.
The man dropped his hand away from his face and the blood trickled down freely. His eyes bounced between Ethan and I a few time before he responded, "I do not answer to the guard dogs of the Devil."
Ethan threw his head back and laughed, "That's a first. I can honestly say I have never been called that before." The second he stopped speaking he threw another punch, causing the existing cut to widen.
The man yelled out again, but this time, instead of holding his injury, he launched his body towards Ethan. I reacted quickly, dropping the blow torch and grasping the iron bar with both hands before swinging it full force into the man's stomach.
He stopped mid-lunge and grasped his stomach as he fell to his knees. I winced slightly knowing how much damage the hit likely did. He was hunter, but that also meant that he was a human. If a shifter were to take a hit like that it would definitely hurt, but we would heal quickly. Whatever damage I had just done would likely kill the man. Even knowing all that, I found it hard to actually feel sorry for him. I knew that if given the chance he would surely torture any one of my pack members just the same, if not worse.
Ethan knelt down beside the man and roughly lifted his face up, "Do we really need to repeat ourselves?"
I watched the man stare Ethan down as he took several deep breathes. I gripped the bar tightly, ready to swing again if necessary. The man ripped himself away from Ethan's grasp and then spit in his face.
Calmly, Ethan stood up. He dropped the brass knuckles and stretched his hand out to me, "Give me the rod and torch."
I slowly handed over the iron rod and then reached down to where I had dropped the small torch. I pulled out the small lighter from my pocket and then handed them both to Ethan. He quickly lit the torch and then began to heat up the iron rod.
"Last chance hunter," I spoke up, making him aware of what was to come. "Just tell us where and I will put a stop to this."
The man's eyes went wide as he took in the red color that the iron rod had taken. I was positive that he realized the type of damage that it would cause once it touched his skin.
"So, where is it?" Ethan asked. His eyes had taken on a yellow tint, telling me that his wolf was close to taking over. The stupid hunter shouldn't have spit. I personally understood how pissed off Ethan was.
"I-I can't," the man stuttered out.
"Try again," Ethan growled, sounding more animalistic than just seconds prior.
The man slowly shook his head and Ethan stepped forward, ready to act. He brought the rod away from the flame and moved it close to the man's face. "Think about this hunter," I spoke up, "Are those people really worth it, are you seriously going to endure this for them? All you have to do is tell us and this ends."
When he hesitated, Ethan brought the red hot rod down onto his skin for a split second. The man's skin sizzled under the immense heat and he screamed out. "Ethan stop!" I yelled out theatrically, playing up my good-cop role, when in reality I could have let him leave it there until it hit bone.
"Fine, I tell you!" The man shouted, pained laced through his every word.
I quickly stepped in front of Ethan, blocking his path to the man. "Do it quickly hunter," I warned, "I can't keep him away from you for long."
"You swear you will let me be if I tell you?" He asked, breathing heavily.
"Yes, but make it quick, his wolf is ready to tear you apart," I urged.
"There is an old distribution center in the south end of Oceana, that's where they are," He ratted his buddies out quickly.
I knew immediately the town he spoke of. It was only thirty minutes away from our small town. I mentally cringed at house close they actually were to us. When we took over Logan, our small town, there were no hunter's anywhere. We shouldn't have stopped looking, but we felt sure, safe even. Damn, we were really wrong about that.
I nodded once, "You better not be lying, because if you are, I will personally melt off every inch of your skin." I turned and grabbed the iron rod and torch from Ethan before stepping out of the cell.
Ethan leaned down and grabbed the brass knuckles he dropped. He placed them on his hand and gave the hunter one last good hit. "Sleep well," Ethan chuckled as the man passed out from the force of the hit.
Once Ethan stepped out of the cell I slammed the door shut and then Ethan locked it. "I'm actually disappointed at how easy that was," Ethan pouted.
"Really? I'm glad it went by quickly, I want to get Sadie from work," I replied.
"That actually won't be necessary," Ethan said.
"Why not?" I looked over to Ethan to see him messing around with his phone.
"It turns out that Sadie just left the clinic and we are supposed to meet her at the house," He said sounding unsure, "at least that's what the text from Steve says."
"Ok," I nodded, "Let's go."
*****
We pulled up to the house only moments before Sadie did. I hopped out of Ethan's jeep and walked over to Sadie, "What's goin on?" I asked before planting a soft kiss on her lips.
"I'm not sure," she shrugged, "Steve just told me to head home."
I pulled Ember out of her car seat and then grabbed Sadie's hand. Together we walked to the front door, with Ethan right behind us.
"I saw a friend of yours today," Sadie said.
"Oh, who?"
"A cute little tomboy named Casey, she worships you," Sadie laughed, "She told me so many stories about you."
"Yeah, that's my buddy."
"She also told me that Mark is letting them stay at the pack house but won't let them leave. What's up with that?" Sadie asked, stopping us as we walked up to the front door.
I looked over to Ethan who just shrugged at me. "Trent messed up big time, so right now his pack is probably on lock down until we figure out what to do." I sighed. "I'll fill you in on what I know later."
"Alright." Sadie leaned in and unlocked the door, she then let go of my hand to push it open and stepped in. "Oh my gosh," she breathed out.
I stepped around her and my eyes went wide. The whole kitchen and living room was covered in pink. Pink balloons, pink streamers, and a huge pink cake sat on the counter. "What the hell?" I asked, unsure why the house looked like a Pepto-Bismol bottle exploded.
Sadie walked into the kitchen just as most of our pack jumped out and yelled surprise. I froze in a panicked state. Was it Sadie's birthday? Holy shit, I don't know my own mate's birthday!
"What is all this?" Sadie asked. I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Since you had to push Ember's party back due to the attack, I figured I would put one together for you today," Andy spoke up. "Can't let my little Ember go without a party."
I looked over to see a bright smile on his face as he stared directly into my mate's eyes. His words sunk into my head and I tightened my arms around Ember. He called her his, and he was staring lovingly at Sadie. Could Ethan be right?
"That's so sweet!" Sadie squealed as she ran to Andy's open arms and encased him in a hug.
My stomach dropped at the sight and I felt like I was about to hurl. How close were they? I looked back to Ethan, who was giving me the "I told you so" look.
Shit.