Secrets and ruin jacky l.., p.1
Secrets and Ruin (Jacky Leon Book 9), page 1
SECRETS AND RUIN
JACKY LEON BOOK NINE
K.N. BANET
CONTENTS
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
24. Chapter Twenty-Four
25. Chapter Twenty-Five
26. Chapter Twenty-Six
27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
30. Chapter Thirty
31. Chapter Thirty-One
32. Chapter Thirty-Two
33. Chapter Thirty-Three
34. Chapter Thirty-Four
35. Chapter Thirty-Five
36. Chapter Thirty-Six
37. Chapter Thirty-Seven
38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
Dear Reader
The Tribunal Archives
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by K.N. Banet
Copyright © 2023 by K.N. Banet
knbanet.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
CHAPTER ONE
APRIL 17TH, 2023
It was four in the morning when the alarm started going off. With a groan, I reached out and hit it, knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes closed until the next one went off. The man next to me, my fiancé, was already rolling out of bed, as if he had been summoned to war or some emergency was happening.
There was no war, at least not today. There wasn’t an emergency, either. I was sure of it.
No, today was an early morning because we were driving Dirk to the airport, and I wasn’t ready for that. If I could keep sleeping and pretend it wasn’t happening, I would.
“Jacky, he’ll be here any minute,” Heath murmured in my ear.
I growled into my pillow but pushed myself up. Bleary-eyed, I looked around the room. My eyes landed on him, the black-haired, blue-eyed werewolf I was going to marry one day. Somehow, he was already dressed.
“Did you go to sleep in that?” I was almost certain he hadn’t.
“The alarm went off thirty minutes ago,” he said, smiling down at me.
Groaning, I knew I needed to get moving. He was right when he said Dirk was going to be here any minute. I got into the shower quickly, not fiddling with the temperature. Cold water would wake me up, which was what I needed. Hissing and moving fast, I got myself clean enough to get through the trip to the airport. I put my hair in a wet ponytail and stalked through the bedroom and closet until I found something acceptable to wear.
By the time I made my way downstairs, I could smell food. Dirk was already there, his suitcases in my living room, and there were bags of fast food.
“Thanks for doing this,” he said, smiling at me for a moment before it disappeared. “Bad morning?”
“Early morning,” Heath said, chuckling. “She stayed up a bit too late. I tried to warn her.”
I went for the bags, finding bacon, egg, and cheese things to devour while they stood around. The moment I had those in hand, Heath pushed coffee at me, and I took it with me to sit down.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I explained as I unwrapped the first breakfast sandwich. “Thanks for the food.”
“I wasn’t going to show up empty-handed,” Dirk said, sitting across from me with his own food. “Seriously, though, thanks for driving me today.”
“Landon didn’t want to see you off from here?” I looked around but couldn’t smell Heath’s son. It worried me a little because he and Dirk were in a relationship and lived together. Was this going to cause some sort of fallout?
“He said goodbye to me when I left earlier. He’s trying not to follow me. It’s the same reason he’s not taking me to the airport.” Dirk chuckled softly. “He doesn’t want to test his strength of will. If we give him a chance, he might buy a ticket to follow me.”
“You brought his keys with you, right?” Heath reached out as he walked by, and Dirk handed them over. Heath hung them up with our keys, then sat beside me.
“Well, now we know he’ll have to walk if he wants to go anywhere,” I said, shaking my head. Like that would stop Landon if he really wanted to get to the airport to follow Dirk to Germany. He was trying to support this trip for Dirk and do it from afar instead of pushing himself into the situation, which was a positive. I knew what was at stake with Dirk’s trip, and Landon following him there could be the spark for the powder keg.
“I’ll give him back his keys once you land,” Heath said to Dirk, ignoring my comment with a smile. “He’ll be in a better place once you land, and we know Niko hasn’t killed you on sight. You still have a plan for trouble, right?” We had gone over every variation and possibility. There were backup plans for the backup plans.
“I have a ticket just in case it doesn’t go well,” Dirk said, chuckling sadly. I could smell his fear. “If there’s any sign he and I can’t talk about this, I’ll just turn around and get on a plane back.”
“Yeah, he won’t attack in an airport,” I said softly, the reality of this weighing heavily on me. I wanted to keep him here and protect him from even the possibility of Niko rejecting him. I wanted to send him home and tell him to go back to bed with Landon because it was too early. I wanted to go with him to make sure Niko couldn’t get the wrong idea.
In my heart, Dirk was mine. My head told a different story as logic warred with emotion. He was Niko’s. My brother had raised him and loved him as a father loves a son.
There are some things I can’t protect him from. No matter how much I want to, I can’t protect him from Niko. I have to trust both of them. And Zuri. Zuri said this would be fine, and I have to have some faith in that.
Dirk’s identity as a werewolf was too big to keep a secret forever, so this trip had to happen to free him, me, and so many others from the potential of exposing it in the wrong way. Dirk needed his father to support him, and every time it was brought up, I could see on his face that he wanted his father’s support.
We finished breakfast and loaded into my vehicle. I didn’t drive. Too tired to want to be behind the wheel. It was a long drive to the airport.
“While we’re at the airport, do you finally want to make a decision about the private—”
“No,” I mumbled, shaking my head as I cut Heath off. “It can sit in whatever storage it’s taking up for now.” There were a good number of things I had won in my ‘war’ against the Dallas pack a year ago. Their private plane was one of those things, and one I wasn’t sure what to do with. I knew I could sell it, but I didn’t pull the trigger. After we defeated the pack, I asked Heath to make sure its paperwork was updated with me and him as the new owners, but that was as far as I got.
“Then I’ll keep it as is.” Heath wasn’t bothered by my reply. “As it stands, if you want to use it, it’ll take about two hours to mobilize the crew required to fly it, and during that time, the flight plans and everything would be worked out.”
“Do you really see me…” I didn’t finish the question. There was a real chance that I would end up needing to use it at a moment’s notice. That was why I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it even though it was excess and wasteful. “We should have forced Dirk to use it.”
“Then I would lose the crowd of humans to protect me if Niko decides to react violently to my new werewolf identity,” Dirk reminded me.
“That’s right,” I said, inhaling deeply as I silently fretted and freaked out. There was only one way for anyone to know how Niko would react before Dirk landed, and that was my only role in this. One I dreaded but was willing to take on for both of them.
“There’s always a chance he doesn’t show up at the airport because of how he reacts to my call,” I pointed out. “That would be nice.”
“Or he thinks he can handle it, but the moment he catches my scent, he can’t,” Dirk countered.
“Let’s stop thinking about the worst-case scenarios, please,” Heath ordered, clearly losing his patience. “This is Niko we’re talking about. He’s by far one of the most well-mannered members of your family.”
“I’m a werewolf, and he fought a war against us,” Dirk reminded us.
“He was born to a werewolf pack, and the only reason he didn’t become one was due to a betrayal by other werewolves, not his own family,” Heath fired back. “ He’s not entirely close-minded. He’s never tried to attack me for what I am, and I’m not related to him. You’re his son, and I can promise that’s more important than what you turn into during a full moon.”
I reached out and touched Heath’s thigh, glad he was willing to look on the bright side. Dirk and I were having trouble finding it. Without a doubt, I needed to be more positive, but I couldn’t find it in me. I was scared for Dirk, and that was overriding everything.
Reaching the airport without further conversation, we unloaded Dirk’s suitcases from my car onto a cart.
I was antsy and uncomfortable with how close this was. The day had snuck up on me, and I dreaded it. I didn’t want to see him go. I didn't want to open the can of worms we were about to open. I was steeped in trouble everywhere I turned, and now I was sending Dirk off into the unknown to handle something without me, more trouble I had caused.
He wouldn’t be a werewolf if it wasn’t for me. I know that. Niko will know that. He could have died… and I had promised to keep him safe. Niko will know that.
It was more than a bit selfish to think of it like that, but I had made a promise to Niko to keep Dirk safe, and I hadn’t. Instead, Dirk had to throw himself in front of danger to help protect others and paid the price. It was only Dirk’s relative okay-ness with his situation that kept me from the gnawing guilt most days, but it had grown every second as this very trip came closer. Only months ago, I had been steady in my resolve that this would turn out okay. That had eroded to a desperate hope, and it was quickly waning.
“Jacky, you need to relax,” Heath murmured in my ear as I clung to the suitcase I had been trying to put down. “He’ll be fine. This will turn out okay in the end.”
“Yeah. Even if he’s mad, it’ll wear off,” Dirk said, leaning on the rest of his things.
“After Niko is Hasan. After Hasan, are the rest of your aunts and uncles,” I reminded him.
“Zuri handled it well,” Dirk reminded me.
“Zuri and Mischa aren’t the same,” I countered. Mischa was a volatile werecat, her moods swinging from joy to rage and back again before anyone could figure out how to handle her. She was harboring some sort of mean grudge right now, too. I hadn’t spoken to her in months, not since last November when I had hosted werecats for political discussions with Zuri.
“No, they aren’t,” Dirk agreed, sighing. “But Niko is my father, and I have to trust he’ll back me up… that he’ll back you up. If Zuri can back us up, he definitely can as well.”
I only nodded to appease Dirk on that front. Niko didn’t support me, not publicly. He was a silent source of maybe. As the family tried to figure out how to deal with my relationship with Heath and now his pack’s residence in my territory, Niko never spoke up. We all understood why. He was in a difficult position. If he supported me, he could turn half the family against himself, purely thanks to his background.
“Dirk, if you need anything, call. Help will come, no matter what,” Heath said.
I looked up to see them hug. A growing relationship of trust and friendship was really beginning to bloom. I could see the way Dirk looked at Heath with respect and admiration as he agreed to do just that.
I hugged Dirk next, feeling like I was trapped by a bear. I was stronger than him, but Dirk was big, and the hug felt all-encompassing.
“I’ll call him once I get home,” I promised.
“Thanks. I know it’s a weird situation, but if you warn him now, then he can decide before I land what he wants….”
“I know, I know.” I squeezed until he grunted, then released him. “Go, get on the plane before I buy a ticket and follow you.”
He chuckled and started pushing his things inside, waving at us until he disappeared into the airport.
“Shit,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. “I hope Niko is going to be okay with all of this.”
“You’ll find out once you get home,” Heath said, guiding me with an arm around my waist to get back into the car.
“Yeah, I will,” I said, sighing heavily.
2
CHAPTER TWO
At home, I sat down in my office, watching the clock tick by, knowing I had to prepare for the inevitable conversation. I had scheduled a meeting with Niko over a week before. My brother knew Dirk was on his way and had assumed this was about that before I ever mentioned something to him.
How had he said it? A status report on what to expect after being in America for so long?
Oh, Niko, you have no idea…
I turned on my computer and fiddled with programs and settings until I was satisfied and completely out of time. Heath hovered in the doorway, his eyes stormy with worry, not for Dirk but for me.
“He could hate me for this,” I whispered.
“I know.”
“It doesn’t matter if he’s okay with Dirk being a werewolf or not… Once he finds out how it happened, he could hate me. I risked his son’s life and didn’t protect him like I had promised.” I was preparing myself for that conclusion.
After everything I had been through with this family, it was easier to expect the worst than to hope for the best. Hope had me trying to prove to Hasan that Heath was a good man but failing at every turn because my werecat father refused to see what was as clear as day. It only led to mean comments, arguments, and a father who hoped I would fail.
I was tired of hoping for the best when expecting the worst at least prepared me.
“I know. Jacky, it’s the last thing I want, but if you… don’t have them, you’ll always have me. You’ll always have Dirk, Landon, and Carey. It’s not any consolation for losing your family because of their hate and unwillingness to see how wonderful you are, but you won’t be alone.”
I gave him a weak smile, cherishing every word. He was right. Niko could be angry, and I might lose him as a brother, but I would have the patchwork family I had built here. I would probably still have Zuri, too. I wouldn’t be alone.
“Time for you to go,” I said, keeping that smile. “I’ll call you in if Niko wants to talk to you as Dirk’s Alpha.”
“Okay.” He came over and swooped in for a kiss, then he was gone.
Calling Niko right on schedule, he picked up in less than two seconds, showing up on my wall-mounted monitor. His smile was bright, his excitement to see his son clear.
Niko was a wiry man. There was something that said rockstar about him. A little too thin in places for me, but I bet women fell over themselves for him. His hair was just past his shoulders, but that couldn’t hide his cheekbones. His German heredity wasn’t the most obvious because I didn’t know how to identify that sort of thing, but he was clearly a European white guy.
“Hey, Jacky! Dirk’s flight just took off on time. Now, all we do is wait.” Niko’s smile was infectious, but I lost it quickly.
“Yeah, all we do now is wait,” I agreed. “You were right about what this phone call is about, you know. There’s some stuff Dirk and I wanted you to know before he landed in Berlin, so you had a moment to come to terms with it.”
“Yeah, I was expecting something like it. You’ve mentioned that he’s been a valued member of your team there. How’s he getting along with everyone? You have a lot of supernaturals in your territory now.”
“He, uh…” I tried to think about Dirk and the pack. He and Ranger were finally settling into something acceptable, no longer going for each other’s necks to pick fights. Dirk was more comfortable with his position in the pack, but that was tentative at best. It was only a temporary thing for any werewolf. It only mattered how long temporary was for each werewolf and the pack they were in. Dirk got along with most, but he also kept his distance because he was my nephew and in a relationship with Landon. He didn’t have solid friends among the werewolves, but Heath never made it a big deal.
