Perfect Reflection (7 page)

Jewel knew that Lex Doyle was Retten Wexford’s second
in charge. She could tell by how Lex would stand a little back from
Retten, watching his back and front. She didn’t know how she could
get around Lex, if Retten was the killer. Packs were protective of
their Alpha. It didn’t matter that he was a killer; they would
protect him even from the police. She had to rethink her plans.

“Lt. Campbell, may I call you Jewel?” Retten
asked.

Jewel looked up into the blue eyes of Wexford. “Yes,
that would be fine, Mr. Wexford.”

“Please call me Ret.” Jewel laughed then turned her
head, looking out the window.

“So, Jewel, you will find I am a very direct man. So
let’s be honest, if you are wondering something about me, you just
have to ask. I have nothing to hide.” Jewel and Vander both looked
up at Wexford when he spoke. Was he just being curious or was he
playing with them? Vander knew he wanted to know more about
Wexford.

Jewel leaned forward with a smirk on her face. Vander
knew that this wouldn’t end well for Wexford if he kept this up.
“As you know, Mr. Wexford, any information or theories that we have
are considered still under investigation. However, just for this
one time, I think we will get our man. You see, this man is very
cocky and thinks he is superior to the police, but he will screw up
and make a mistake.” She tested him.

“Are you so sure that he will ‘screw up’, as you
say?” Retten asked with no smile on his face.

“Oh yes, Mr. Wexford. I believe he will. You see, I
always get my man.” Jewel leaned back and looked out the window
letting Retten Wexford know he had been dismissed from asking her
any more questions about the investigation.

Vander placed his hand on her hand that was lying
between them. He wanted to calm Jewel down before she said
something she would regret later. He noticed the look he got when
he touched her. Retten and Lex didn’t like that he had his hand
over Jewel’s hand. He realized he needed to keep a watch on the
Captain and Wexford.

They rode in silence the rest of the way to the
hotel, she was quivering being so close to her mates, but she
needed to gather her thoughts. Since she had seen that picture on
the airplane before they took off, she had been frightened. Not
like she was scared for her life, no, frightened over the fact that
she found her true mates and fate had played a cruel trick on
her.

Josh had not had any siblings that they knew of. His
parents had been lovely, since his death she had not spoken to
them. They had been devastated by the accident, his mother cried
every time she saw Jewel. She was certain the woman would have
known if she had more than one son, and since Josh died, there was
no one to follow their line. It had been very upsetting for the
shifters.

“You know, being a bitch is not going to work,” Lex
said quietly and she turned, fire flashing in her eyes.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Jewel
said stiffly.

Ret leaned forward, “Oh, but you do. Right now, you
are trying to push us away and act as if I am a suspect in the
murders. You know that is not true, you can feel your wolf’s trust
in me. Now ask your questions and let’s put this aside.”

Vander looked at the trio and grimaced.
Awkward
!

“Fine, I need alibis for the following dates,” Jewel
said and without looking, named the dates and waited.

Ret pulled out his PDA, and pulled up the dates and
handed her the phone. On two of them he had been out of the
country, passport validated it.
Shit
. Jewel handed the
device to her partner and then sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine,
we need your help then.”

Vander laughed and handed the PDA back to the
billionaire and smiled. “Just so we are clear, I know about
shifters, and I know you think she is your mate. I am on her side,
if she doesn’t want it then you back off. We clear?”

Lex and Ret smiled at each other and then nodded.
Neither of them wanted to say that they would never force
themselves on a woman but that went without saying.

“Cool! I am freaking starving! We almost there?”
Vander laughed and clapped his hands. Jewel glared at him but
refused to speak; instead, she folded her arms over her chest and
stared out the window intently.

Jewel looked up at the most beautiful hotel she had
ever seen. This place was where the rich and famous stayed. They
could have never stayed here without Wexford paying the bill.
Shit, she hoped this was not a mistake.
Letting him pay the
bill and then arresting him for pissing her off could turn out
bad.

Lex and Retten got out first then Vander. Retten was
standing in front of the door with his hand out waiting for Jewel.
He helped Jewel out of the car and continued to hold her hand as
they walked toward the hotel doors. Jewel pulled her hand back and
took her cell phone out of her pocket. She didn’t want to make it
look like she didn’t want to touch him so she had to act like her
phone vibrated and she was checking her messages.

Jewel’s body was going crazy. She was attracted to
two men and one of them was the freaking Alpha of the NYC Pack,
something she was not focusing on right now, the implications
didn’t make her happy.

Vander watched with amusement as his friend dodged
Ret as his tried to hold her hand, maybe he should let her
flounder. He sighed,
damn
, he wouldn’t do that to his
partner. He moved closer to her so she felt his calming presence
near her. The manger came out, shaking Retten’s hand and explaining
that he took care of the rooms personally. The man introduced
himself to Jewel and Vander. He explained that their rooms were
ready and he would escort them to their suite.

Jewel listened to the manager tell them about the
amenities the Wexford hotel had. Jewel was excited because they had
an indoor pool where she could swim laps that would take the edge
off. She would need to find a place to buy a cheap swimsuit because
she didn’t bring one with her. When the manger said he was going to
show them to their room, they thanked all of the men and walked to
the elevators to go to their rooms.

She didn’t understand why Captain Doyle and Retten
Wexford were following them to their room. Not wanting to call
attention to the fact that she was sweating in the small space with
the men, she spoke to Vander about the calls they needed to make
and work they needed to do when they settled in.

Retten and Lex continued to stare at Jewel, which
made her very uncomfortable. They arrived on their floor and all
exited the elevator. Jewel looked around and saw that there were
only three doors on the floor. The manager opened one of the doors
and advised Vander this was his room. He stated that his bags would
be delivered in a few minutes.

Vander walked in and whistled. “Wow! Mr. Wexford,
this is great.” Vander couldn’t hide the appreciation in his eyes.
His room held a living room, kitchen, and off to the left he could
see into a huge bedroom with a canopy bed. The walls were white and
decorated with abstract pictures in red and blue. The furniture was
a deep rich red, and looked so comfortable. After the long plane
ride, he was more than ready to kick off his shoes and relax.

The bedroom was decorated in blue, and he smiled,
this was a man’s room if ever he saw one.

Wexford walked over to another door on the floor and
opened it. “I hope you will be comfortable, Detective. If you need
anything, please don’t hesitate to ask and it will be provided.
Jewel, this is your room.”

Jewel started walking toward the door. “Vander, I
will call you in a few and we will go to dinner.”

“Okay, do you need me to go with you to your room?”
Vander asked quickly, staring at the two men who seemed to be
following his partner.

“No! I’ve got it.” Jewel continued to walk out into
the hallway. Her energy level was fading fast and she needed to eat
and then lay down. Jewel hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in a
month and her body was shutting down.
This would be a fast
conversation
, she thought, and nodded to Lex and Ret as she
entered her room.

Jewel walked over and sat down on the end of the
couch. She put her elbow on the end of the couch using her hand to
hold her head up. Retten and Lex immediately went to Jewel’s side
asking her if she was okay.
Well shit
, she was tired, but
they obviously were waiting to have a discussion with her.

Retten reached out to touch her face. Jewel
immediately jerked back. “Sorry, it’s okay, I just need to eat
something and lay down for a while,” trying again to deflect what
was coming.

Jewel’s eyes were starting to glow bright green. Her
wolf was coming to the surface and Jewel was trying to keep her
under control. “Jewel, your wolf is near the surface,” Retten said
as he stroked her face.

Jewel tried to push his hand away, losing her
control. She didn’t want them in the room with her. She didn’t want
to feel this way. Jewel got to her feet and tried to hold her head
up. “I can handle it. Please leave.” Jewel walked to the door
opening it. “Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Wexford, and,
Captain, we will see you tomorrow.”

They could have protested, but both men looked at
each other and nodded. Since meeting Jewel at the airport, they had
become more in tune with each other, that’s why they knew Jewel was
destined to be theirs. The connection and bond was already forming,
they could feel the tendrils of their bond strengthen. She was not
going to get away; they needed to give her some space to accept
what they already knew.

“We will leave for now, baby, but we will be back,
then we will deal with this whole thing,” Lex said and walked to
the door. Ret followed him, pausing beside Jewel for a brief second
and breathed in her scent one more time before they left.

“We have been waiting for you for so long, a few more
hours won’t kill us. But you know you are our mate, this in not in
question,” Ret said and she shivered and watched as her two new
mates walked through the door.

She turned toward the living room again and held her
stomach,
how in the hell could this be happening to her?
she
wondered, and let out a small sob. Josh was her one and only, her
mate, why would the gods give her another chance. This was unheard
of, and Jewel wasn’t sure she believed it. She was going to have to
make some phone calls. She looked around the gorgeous room that
they provided; it was huge, almost bigger than her damn house.
Living room, kitchen, and bedroom, all decorated in the same gold
and light-blue furniture. It looked like it was right out of a
fairytale.

Jewel was feeling sick, and took one step before she
felt a weird sensation flowing over her and she gasped, then
darkness flowed over her, causing her to fall to the floor
unconscious.

***

Retten and Lex were standing outside the door when
they heard Jewel fall. Retten grabbed his key out of his pocket and
opened Jewel’s door. They ran over to her and Retten picked her up,
carrying her to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed trying not
to wake her up, she was exhausted.

They looked down at her angelic face. She was rough
and tough on the outside when she was awake, so many barriers put
up to keep people from seeing the real woman. They would break
through that though, they were her mates, and would demand no
less.

They had shared women before, but this was
different—this was their mate. Ret looked at Lex and told him to
take her shoes and socks off while Ret took her jacket off. Ret
wanted to strip all of her clothes off, but he knew if they did
then she would probably kill them. Settling for making her
comfortable, they worked together to tuck her into bed.

When they were done, both men stared down at her one
more time before walking back into the other room. They were the
perfect match. Ret rising to the head of the NYC Pack, they were
the most powerful in the world. Lex being the Beta, as well as a
Captain in the human police force, allowed them to discover when
some of their wolves got in trouble outside of pack land.

Chapter Seven

Someone knocked on the door, Lex thought it was room
service, but it was Vander. There was an awkward moment as the
human man realized that two men still sat in his friend’s room. His
protective instincts reared up and he stepped forward toward the
large Beta and got into his face.

“Where is Jewels?” Lex could see Vander flexing his
hands into fists.

“She passed out, and we put her in the bedroom,” Lex
said smoothly, not really wanting to piss this guy off anymore than
he had to. Shit, he was a wolf and could kill the Detective with
one swipe of his claw, but he held his control. They were going to
have to either tell the human what the fuck was going on, or risk
their wolves getting pissed at his supposed hold on their mate, and
kill him. For some reason he didn’t think Jewel would really
approve of that, so he calmly stepped aside and let the human in
the room. Vander ran to the bedroom, obviously not trusting that he
was telling the truth.

When her friend entered the room and saw Retten
sitting beside Jewel caressing her face, Lex thought the man was
going to have a meltdown right there.

“What the fuck are you doing? Don’t touch her.”
Vander went to Jewel’s side, looking at her, checking to see if she
was okay. Retten got up allowing Vander to sit beside Jewel. Lex
went to his Alpha and tri-mate’s side and held his arm when he
stepped toward the human when Vander touched her.

“Detective. She is fine. I think she is exhausted and
hungry. We have ordered her a rare steak and when it gets here, we
will get her up and feed it to her. Her body needs the food for
energy. Then she needs to go back to bed and rest. We wouldn’t hurt
her. We are only trying to help her,” Lex said in a calm voice and
frowned at his friend when he growled. Lex looked around the human
and saw Vander reach over and pick up Jewel’s hand caressing it.
Shit, they were going to have to talk about this. Laying out the
rules for a non-shifter is always weird.