Keeping Him (Learning To Love Him book 2) (Boyxboy)

Chapter 25.

*****

*Corey*

"Alright, so we've narrowed it down to here and here, they're what's left of the packs we met in Sweden," Sean said pointing to two red circles on the map.

They looked like rather large places to survey, but we had looked everywhere else and found nothing so even if it was a shot in the dark, the areas were worth looking into.

I nodded having a closer look at the map, the areas were a little far away but with the number of wolves we had with the help of Titan and Inferno, we would be able to clear the place out pretty quickly and find Jayden... if he was there.

"So what happens when we find them? We take out all of their members?" Maya asked.

"No, we infiltrate. See who's willing to surrender, tell us where Jay is, and offer them a spot in our pack and then take out the rest of them." Sean looked at me to second his words. I gave a nod but clenched my teeth as I tapped on the map.

"Sounds good in theory but... What if they're not there?" I asked, "How do we find Jayden then?" I added.

Sean's facial expression let me know that he was out of ideas and I let out a slow sigh trying not to let my frustration and worry show.

Actually being around my kids was making everything a little more bearable, I thought they would make it harder for me to keep it together but they were helping so much without even intending to. Yet, even with that little bit of relief, I still felt like I was dying.

The more hours that went by, the more I knew Jayden wouldn't be the same if he was still alive – and he had to be. I knew he'd be back to how he was when we were younger, if not so much worse than that. I knew it was going to be so much harder to ease his fear or get close to him again.

'Corey.'

I looked up at Sean and his eyes flickered to my hands causing mine to drop to where my hands were resting on the table. I gasped pulling them away after realising I had pretty much burned handprints a centimetre into the wood. So much for not letting my emotions show.

"Uh... I... Uh... I'm going to wash my hands..." I mumbled dusting the ashes off of my skin.

"Good idea." Zeke nodded.

I gave a nod and walked out of the office before jogging to the bathroom where I began to wash my hands. I smiled when small arms circled my waist.

"Tammy, what are you doing up?" I asked turning around as I dried my hands. It was pretty late at night, everyone was busy during the day and we knew we wouldn't have unnecessary disruptions if our meetings were when pretty much everyone was asleep so it seemed like the best time to congregate after dark.

She coughed into my stomach before looking up at me apologetically. I just gave a chuckle, or at least I tried to, before I knelt down to her level while lifting my hand to her face. She still felt hot and looked terrible, it caused a panicked feeling in my chest as I wondered if going to a human doctor would help since nothing we did was working.

"I can't sleep." She whispered before looking down, "My head hurts and..."

"I know, I'm sorry. It'll get better, I promise." I kissed her temple. I'd figure it out.

"I... I want..." Her eyes returned to mine as she narrowed them thoughtfully, "Uhm... I'm tired." She mumbled.

"Let's try to get some sleep." I lifted her into my arms. She leaned her chin on my shoulder and let out a heavy sigh that made me pull back to look at her still pensive features, it looked like she was trying really hard to think about something, "Tammy, what is it?"