Greykin Mountain

| 58 | Hunt

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Someone knocked on Jackson's door.

          Jackson tensed, gripping the blanket beneath him. "Uh...who is it?" he called nervously.

          "It's Tokala."

          "Oh." He got up, headed over to the door, and pulled the chair away from it, letting Tokala in.

          "What's with the chair?" the orange-haired man asked.

          "I didn't want any surprises," he grumbled, sitting on the edge of his bed. "What's up?"

          "The chief told me everything."

          Jackson wasn't sure how to feel about that. But Tokala was Damon's right-hand man, right? And since Damon couldn't trust Elias anymore, Jackson wasn't surprised.

          "You shifted by yourself, huh?" he asked with a proud smirk. "And you gained control of your wolf on the full moon. All in the space of a few days. Impressive."

          "I had good teachers," he said with a shrug.

          "Chief's really proud of you—so am I. And I'm glad you're back. I know it might all feel a little weird right now, but things will calm down. I think everyone's just shocked...you know, with the whole you being Alpha Damon's mate."

          Jackson didn't fail to notice the disappointment in Tokala's voice, and he suspected its presence was due to Damon being right about his suspicion that Tokala might just have something else other than friendship on his mind. He felt a little guilty, but he'd never done or said anything that he thought would make Tokala think he felt the same.

          "Yeah, I...I was surprised as well. A lot has happened over the past few days."

          Tokala nodded as he cautiously approached and leaned against the wall not too far from the bed. "Demon blood, huh?"

          Damon really had told him everything.

          "I never thought I'd see a hybrid."

          "I didn't even know I was one...not until I was kidnapped by demons."

          "That must have been a freaky experience. Lucky Alpha Damon got to you in time."

          "Yeah. He saved my life...again."

          "I hear you saved his, too. Pulled that bullet right out of him."

          "Yeah, I...I've never had to pull a bullet out of someone. But I guess there's a first time for everything."

          "I don't want to say that you'll get used to it, but...you probably will."

          Jackson nodded and looked down at his boots. "I, uh...I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

          "About what?"

          "About how I felt for Damon—A-Alpha Da—"

          "You don't have to call him that anymore. You're his mate."

          "Oh.... Well, I'm still sorry. Damon said that he suspected you might like me...like like me, and I should have seen it."

          Tokala shrugged. "No big deal. I wouldn't be the first wolf to be wrong about who they thought their mate was. I'm not mad."