by Linda Palmer
I stood and showed Neecy my zipped lips. "I don't know what to do." I talked through my teeth since my lips were now stretched into a faux smile.
"Call Ben DeLuca."
"You know Ben?" I asked.
"We've met. Cade told me they had ties."
"And DeLuca told me that Cade was going to get into trouble with the Car…Cur…" For the life of me, I couldn't think of it.
"Corteggio."
"Yes! So I don't think he'll help. Shh. She's coming."
"Here you go." Neecy handed me a steaming mug a nanosecond later. "Are you feeling better, Lils?"
"A little. Sorry about that. It's just…Cade broke it off."
She gasped and handed Theo his mug so she could hug me hard. "I'm so sorry. What happened?"
"I honestly don't know."
We all sat on the rug in front of the fire, Neecy in the middle, frowning. She flicked her gaze from me to him. "Why do I get the feeling this is about more than a broken heart?"
"Because it is." Theo took a couple of deep breaths. "I'm sure you've wondered about the trouble I got into years ago. But you've been an angel, and haven't hounded me with questions." He took another deep breath. "Neecy, I used to be a werewolf."
She blinked. "And I used to be the Little Mermaid. Who hasn't pretended as a child?"
I gave Theo a look of sympathy. This was going to be tough.
"Listen, babe. Listen and keep your mind open. I really was a werewolf."
She laughed heartily and glanced over to me. I never cracked a smile. So Theo had been a wolf, too. Why I hadn't guessed that already, I didn't know. Too distracted to see the obvious, I supposed.
Neccy's laughter died. She zoomed in on her husband. "This is a joke, right?"
"I wish. When I was a kid. Actually, no. I was seventeen and damn well knew not to leave with a stranger who promised me six pack of Bud and some weed."
"That's what you're trying to tell me? You smoked marijuana? Well, who hasn't?"
"You," I said. "Or me."
"Well, yeah, but guys are different."
Theo switched positions so he could take Neecy's hands and look her in the eye. "This isn't about alcohol or drugs. This is about me being in the wrong place even though I knew better. The guy who lured me? He was more than met the eye. He was really a scout—"
"As in Boy?"
Theo sighed. He was clearly trying to break this to her gently even though he'd already told her the truth flat out—twice.
I jumped in. "Do you believe in angels?"
"Of course." Neecy had been raised Catholic.
"And the devil?"
"Yes."
"What about the holy spirit?"
"That, too."
"And what would you call those three things?"
"Religious icons?"
"No. Think about them a different way. If you hadn't been raised in the shadow of the church and had just met an angel face to face, what would you think about her?"
"I'd think she was a supernatural being."
"Exactly!" Theo beamed at me. "There's more out there than you know, Neecy. Way more. When I say I was a werewolf, I mean that I really was. The guy with the booze bit and turned me. I spent two years in his pack as his prisoner."
Neecy tried to say something, but no words came out.
"You know Theo isn't a liar." I said. "It's all real. Every bit of it."
She pulled free and turned on her husband. "Why'd you tell her and not me?"
He shook his head. "I didn't."
I quickly interceded. "Cade did."
"Cade told you that Theo was a werewolf?" Poor Neecy looked so confused.
"No, no, no. Cade told me that he, himself, is one." I shook my head. "Actually, that's not true. He didn't tell me anything. I saw him shift from a wolf into a guy."
Theo sucked in a shocked breath. "When?"
"Saturday." I sighed. "Long story."
"Then you'd better start talking."
Chapter Thirty-Five
Cade
We rang the bell. A man let us right in. Another one patted us down. I suddenly felt like a disposable actor in a bad gangster movie. Late night? Check. Shady characters? Check. Murky motives? Check. The only things missing were the black suits and unneeded sunglasses. Everyone I saw had dressed casually.
It would've been easy to laugh off my nerves and the whole scenario. But I'd seen enough to know that the Arm's business was anything but laughable. Besides, I saw guns in shoulder holsters—at least two. So I endured the search and followed my alpha into a huge den. There were a few guys sitting around with drinks. I immediately recognized two of them. Their nods said they recognized me. Trying to think back, I decided I'd seen both fairly recently, which meant their business had been with my current pack.
Honestly, my cover being blown by someone from my past was not even a danger I'd considered. Was I so reckless, so obsessed with getting even that I hadn't thought this through? Maybe Hunter was right. I did need to look at what I had instead of what I wanted.
Right after I got even with JT Paxton.
I wanted the guy to suffer. Seeing his fine house with photos of his legit kids sitting all over the place, I could only think about my mom and the way we'd lived the first few years after my birth. She'd been kicked to the curb like trash, and I'd spent a good part of my life plotting revenge.
That time was now.
I thought I did a pretty good job hiding my emotions. Mike introduced me to everyone in the den before heading to the kitchen. He acted as if he knew his way around. Just looking at him, someone would've thought he was perfectly at ease, too. But I knew better, having witnessed his mood swings the past week.
There were four guys in the kitchen, standing at an island covered in food. It was quite a spread—hors d'oeuvres of every variety. On the counter, I saw all kinds of booze. I also spotted beers on ice. A Were standing nearby dug a bottle of Bud from the cooler and handed it to me. "You old enough to drink this?"
"Tonight I am." That earned me a chuckle or two.
My heart pounded as Mike began introductions again. He did Paxton last. I took measure of the man via a quick head to toe. Did we favor at all in looks? I decided I had some of his facial features with just enough of my mom's thrown in to challenge any father-son similarities.
"Cowboy, this is JT Paxton, our handler."
Handler? That was new. I offered him a handshake. "Nice to meet you, sir." Could he see the hate in my eyes?
"Call me JT. Mike's been talking you up. Thinks you should be next pack alpha."
Whoa. Not what I was expecting, and it threw me off my game. "Oh yeah? I thought he wanted me for his second."
"He's getting out. Wife's expecting their third." JT glanced through the door at Mike, who'd abandoned us and was standing by the fireplace. "Gotta admire a man who's willing to give up his ambitions for his kid."
Something he'd know nothing about. My stomach twisted into a big fat knot. "So he can actually leave the pack?"
"With certain stipulations. He'll have to check in regularly. I can't have him spilling his guts the first time someone asks too many questions." He stood in silence for a moment, apparently lost in his thoughts. "What's your real name?"
I hesitated. "Cade Messig."
"Age?"
"Almost twenty."
Frowning, he gave me a thorough onceover that started at my feet and rose to my face, almost as if he were taking my measure as a man. I never blinked, so I didn't miss that millisecond's worth of hesitation when he saw the familial birthmark on the back of my right hand.
He immediately looked into my eyes. His went cold.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lily
"It's only two a.m., and we're closed tomorrow anyway." Neecy sounded ridiculously perky. "But before you tell your story, I want the man I've been married to for nine months and dated for three years to turn into a wolf." She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
"I would if I could, but I ca
n't, babe. I took the cure years ago."
"So you're telling me that up until you took some kind of cure, you actually shifted into a wolf and howled at the full moon?"
"Occasionally, yes. It could be…exhilarating. But mostly I felt trapped."
Her gazed flicked between Theo and me. "What a load of shit! Have you two spiked your chocolate? Maybe I will, too."
I took over. "It's true, Neecy. It's all true."
She looked more annoyed than confused—not a good sign to my way of thinking. Shifting her gaze from me, she zoned in on Theo. "Then how did you get away from the guy who'd bit you? Tell me that."
"We mutinied."
"So you were in a pack?" I hadn't heard this story either.
"Yes. There were about ten of us. We heard about another pack that mutinied and decided we could to do the same. After we took down the pack leader, everyone split in different directions."
"Why hadn't you done that before?" I asked.
"Fear. They threatened to go after family members. Looking back, I think we could've turned things around, but I was just seventeen and some of the guys were younger than that. All of us had been beaten and starved."
I didn't want to hear anymore. "Your families must've been so worried. What did your folks say when you suddenly showed up?"
"Dad was pissed. Thought I'd run away. As for Mom, she died a few months after I disappeared. He said it was my fault even though the death certificate said aneurysm."
"So that's why he's so mean," Neecy said. "You could've said something. I thought it was me."
"I've told you and told you it isn't. I tried to give him the truth, but he's never believed a word of it. That's why I didn't tell you, Neece. I thought you might not, either."
"And I'm proving you right, aren't I?" Her eyes filled. "I'm so sorry, guys. I want to believe, but—"
"It's all just too weird? I know how you feel and wouldn't have believed either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." I gave her another quick hug.
Neece gave me a relieved smile. "Does Cade know about the cure? I mean, why is he still a wolf?"
"Because his dad is." Knowing they'd never tell, I broke a promise and told them what I knew about Cade and his undercover work for Ben DeLuca, as well as my theories that he was trying to locate and get back at his biological dad. "Maybe that's why he really broke up with me. You know, so he could concentrate on the job he has to do."
"I'll bet that's it!" Neecy, playing Cherry Cheerleader, a role she had down pat.
Theo just shook his head. "Call DeLuca back. He's Cade's boss and a mentor, too. He'll come through."
"But what if he won't? Cade is acting on his own behalf, and DeLuca suspects it. He as good as told me his bosses would be pissed. Based on what I know about them, that's something we don't want to happen."
Theo nodded, his expression cautious. "You're right. We can't call DeLuca. What about the pack?"
"They're a bunch of jerks, well, except for Hunter. He seems nice enough. I could talk to him again, I guess, but he sure didn't tell me much tonight."
"Angie's Hunter?" Neecy waited for my nod.
"Yes, he broke up with her to keep her safe." I was near tears again.
She risked a smile. "That proves Cade's intentions, don't you think? He's trying to protect you."
"Fine. Who's going to protect hi m?" I retorted.
"Ladies, I'm going to be the realist here."
We both looked expectantly at Theo.
"If the Arm thinks Cade will tell them what he's really doing for DeLuca, he's more valuable alive than dead."
"The what?" Neecy asked.
I let her husband fill her in on the Arm.
"But will Cade really talk?" Neecy asked.
"No," I said, for the first time sure of something. Cade was trying to get to his dad, not bring down a centuries-old supernatural FBI. He might stall. He might lie. He might put himself in danger. What he wouldn't do is put others there, too.
Especially me.
"You're right, he won't." Theo stared at the floor in thoughtful silence. "Someone around here knows something, and I intend to find out what. I'm thinking I'll start with Angie."
I didn't get it. "Why? She doesn't know anything."
"No, but a wolf in the pack loves her. That and my own post-wolf status just might get us where we need to be."
I abruptly hugged him. At least one of us had a plan.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Cade
"You know who I am, don't you?" I kept my tone light even though I felt like a snake, not a wolf. Yeah, a harmless grass snake coiled to strike at a giant anaconda.
He said nothing.
"Do you even remember her name?"
"It was a long time ago."
"Nineteen years. Do you remember it, or not?"
"Amy."
"So you do."
"I'm good with names—"
Mike came into the kitchen, no doubt to find out what was taking so long. JT stopped him with a look. Pivoting, he left us.
"—and I remember every chick I've banged. She was especially…sweet. "
My hands curled into fists. I could've killed him on the spot, but I held back. Made myself relax, release the fists, and move my fingers slightly to get the blood back into them. "You treated her like shit."
"She was a free spirit. Her kid could've been anyone's."
"But I wasn't, was I? I was yours." My hands were fists again. God, how I wanted to punch that smug-ass face.
"Where is she now?"
As if I'd tell him. And while he could find her easily enough on his own, I was pretty damn sure he wouldn't bother.
"Why are you here?" JT leaned against the fridge within easy reach of a drawer that probably had a gun or knife in it. I didn't miss the gaze he flicked toward the nearest bodyguard, who tensed and began eyeing me suspiciously.
"I've been hunting you for years."
"So you could kill me?"
"That might've crossed my mind."
He laughed. "You thought you could come here and do it, just like that?"
"I'm smarter than I look."
JT's smile widened. "And I'm stronger and faster than I look. Then there's the fact that half the guys in the living room are armed. You'd never have left the house alive."
I just looked at him. Was his death worth mine?
Think about what you have instead of what you want.
"No need to call in the dogs. I ditched that idea long ago. Mom's happy now, and she isn't the type of person to hate anyone, even someone her son thinks is an asshole."
He apparently took my opinion as a compliment "Successful people usually are. So why are you here?"
"Curiosity, mostly. But now that I've seen your set up, I'm thinking that learning the family business might be a good idea."
He laughed hard at that, a chortle that turned heads. "You're either the dumbest or smartest kid I have."
"Let's get that off the table now. I was valedictorian of my senior class and top student my first year at the academy, which I was attending on a full-ride scholarship, while keeping my duality a secret."
"What academy?"
"Police academy."
"You want to be a cop?" He snorted his opinion of that.
"Did. I've suddenly outgrown it." I glanced around the room and then over his shoulder to the den. "All that danger and disrespect. Shitty hours. I don't know what I was thinking. You've obviously done pretty well for yourself. Maybe I'll be a handler, too." I shrugged. "Like father, like son."
JT scoffed. "That'll be the day."
For several moments, we exchanged stares. My eyes and stance dared him. Would he take the bait?
He abruptly turned and went into the den.
For the next two hours, JT and his guests discussed their upcoming schedule, which was so detailed that I quickly figured out pack Alphas and their regional leaders were "yes" men more than free-thinking leaders. I also realized that activities were e
scalating, and my earlier suspicions about assessing loyalty and compliance included testing leaders. JT dropped enough names to connect him to Missouri politics. The shocker was hearing the governor's name in a sentence with the words waste him in it.
Was that the plan? Assassination of an aggressive, outspoken leader that wanted to clamp down on crime?
I sat in silent reconnaissance. Who the hell were these guys? Not just pack alphas, I though. They were much, much more. I deliberately learned the names and faces around me. It took awhile, but I figured out connections. Who was in. Who was out. In particular, I tried to understand the dynamic between Mike and my father. JT had said Mike could leave. But Mike clearly knew too much.
There was no amicable parting of ways when it came to wolf leadership. There was no simple passing of power. Traditionally and naturally, alphas were challenged by wannabe alphas. Whoever won the fight remained or became the new alpha. Sometimes it was a fight to the death. Sometimes the loser slunk off into the shadows. And sometimes the loser hung around, still part of the pack, but defeated.
Yet according to JT, Mike was simply resigning. Even more unusual, he had recommended someone as a replacement. When had wolves become so civilized?
The answer? They hadn't.
I should've guessed. Although I didn't know JT personally, my life was a testament to his cruelty and disregard for humanity. So his announcing an alpha challenge shocked the hell out of me. Had Mike known we'd have to fight? One look at his blanched face told me he hadn't.
His objections proved it. "There's no need for that. I want to get out; Cowboy wants to replace me."
JT seemed very amused. "Mike, my man, you know it doesn't work that way."
"But you said—"
My dad cut him off. "You want out, you have to fight my son." The room exploded with sound. I was suddenly the focus of every hard stare, Mike's hardest of all. "Quiet!" JT's gaze swept the now silent room. "I can't have my packs thinking I play favorites."
Clearly, this was about me and JT, with Mike a possible victim of our crossfire. My pack leader nodded, already giving into the inevitable. But I had no intentions of fighting him. "I won't do it."
"What did you say?" JT's gaze cut me like a knife. Every eye in the room was on me. I saw a couple of guys edge away.
