by Lisa Kessler
“She was there for Wendy.” My shoulders tensed. This was the real reason I hadn’t told Wendy. She’d been on such a high after the mission. I hadn’t wanted to ruin it by telling her trained jaguar assassins were hunting for her. “They know the research is coming from her DNA.” I looked over at Asher, forcing my words out. “I told her Wendy was trying to make things right and that she was…part of our pack.”
Asher’s eye twitched, but otherwise I didn’t see any outward reaction. He was the Alpha. He chose who became a member of the pack and who didn’t. I’d crossed a line and I knew it, but Wendy’s safety meant more to me than my own.
Asher had fought the elders of the pack to bring me onboard. Would he kick me out now?
A week ago, the thought would’ve destroyed me, but right now all I cared about was keeping jaguar assassins away from Wendy, and the best way would be to have the entire pack around her. Even if it meant I was no longer a part of it.
His tipped his head toward the house. “She’s inside?”
I nodded. “Look, I know it wasn’t my place, but I didn’t think Natasha would risk killing Wendy if she thought it would bring the whole pack to her door.”
“I understand why you did it.” Asher’s gaze bore into me. “But Wendy doesn’t know what it means to be pack. We can’t make that choice for her.”
I rubbed my forehead, breaking eye contact. “There’s something else, too.” I took a breath and finally looked at him again. “She thinks I might be her mate.”
Asher’s white teeth flashed, his smile surprising me as he clasped my shoulder. “This is good news, right? You look like a deer frozen in headlights.”
Wait, he was happy about this?
“I thought you might ask me to leave,” I admitted.
He raised a brow. “Why?”
“Because I told someone who is probably an enemy that Wendy was in our pack.”
Asher’s expression warmed as he shook his head. “She’s Bart and Ben’s aunt. She’s already part of the pack if she wants in.”
Relief swamped my tight muscles as a smile curved on my lips. “I know I’m the new guy here. I thought I blew it.”
Asher shrugged with a chuckle. “Since the pack chose me, a bitten wolf, as the Alpha, and I welcomed to jaguars to join us, I’d say we’ve been breaking rules and traditions from the beginning. Why stop the streak now?” He pointed toward the house. “Besides, everyone loves Wendy. She’s a fighter.”
I nodded, pride warming me. “Yeah, she is.”
Vance cleared his throat. “Sorry to spoil the mood, but was there anything else from Natasha I should know?”
I brought them up to speed about the four emperors she had mentioned. “She said she’s taken Duane’s place as leader of the jaguar shifters from Nero as far as the emperors are concerned, but she doesn’t trust the others the way he did. She’s not committed to their joint mission, but the other three emperors don’t know that yet.”
Vance frowned. “Did she say who they are?”
“Not to me.” I stared at the lights from the house.
“If she was after Wendy and not Deidra Harlow, I’d bet my ass the head of Evolution Defense is one of the emperors.” Vance looked between us. “And if the Collective is Natasha’s target, she must’ve figured out Wendy’s folks were part of it and that Brock and Wendy were bitten to keep them quiet.”
“Wendy was never supposed to be bitten.” I couldn’t help but defend her even though I understood Vance wasn’t on the attack. “That other guy was supposed to kill her.”
“Ah but Natasha doesn’t know that.” Vance patted my shoulder. “I’m going to reach out to her and see if she’ll talk to me. If she’s trying to shut down the Transparency Collective, we might actually want the same thing this time.”
He and Cole continued on to the house, and Asher faced me. “What else is on your mind?”
“I’m okay.” I searched his eyes and shook my head. “Is this some kind of Alpha power?”
He chuckled. “I can sense when my pack members are in trouble, but this isn’t that.” He sobered. “I know you spent years alone with your secret, just like Wendy did. So I want you to know, if you need us, we’ll be here for you. You don’t need to prove anything, okay? We’re pack. That means even if we fight or don’t agree or tell an ex-Nero agent something not quite true, we have one another’s backs. Understand?”
I nodded and tipped my head up toward the sky, struggling to rein in the tempest of emotions he’d just kicked up. He had no clue what his words meant to me. Unconditional support was…new.
I cleared my throat, but my voice still trembled. “Thanks. I’ve…never had that before.”
He pulled me into an unexpected hug. “You do now.” He released me and headed for the house, calling over his shoulder, “Talk to Wendy. See if she wants to be part of the pack.”
My cell buzzed as I watched him walk back up to the house. I took it out, and my heart sank. A text from Madison glowed on my screen:
They’re doing surgery tomorrow. Please come.
I pressed her name, and she answered on the first ring. “Hey, bro.” Her voice was raw, as if she’d been crying.
I closed my eyes. “I got your text.”
“He’s awake now, but he’s weak.” She sighed. “I wish you were here.”
“How’s Mom?” I kicked at the dirt.
“She’s…distant. You know…like Mom.”
Our family was far from idyllic. My dad made a living buying companies, splitting them up, and selling them off, and my mom was an architect. Whatever love might have blossomed between them had fizzled out years ago, but neither one was willing to slow down long enough to get divorced. My sister and I were more “products of their union” than part of their family.
“Sorry I’m not there.” I kicked a rock. “Are you okay?”
She sniffled. “Not really, but I keep telling myself Dad’s too stubborn to let Mom outlive him.”
I chuckled. “I’d take that bet.”
“Please tell me you’re flying up here tomorrow.” The pleading in her voice broke me.
“I’ll leave at sunrise.”
“Thank you.” She paused and added, “Even if they won’t admit it, I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you.”
I doubted that, but they weren’t the reason I was going anyway. “I’m only coming up there for you.” I glanced up at the house. “See you tomorrow.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too, Madison.”
She ended the call, and I pulled in a deep breath. I was going to see my dad tomorrow. I waited for the nervous twinges to twist my stomach, but they didn’t manifest. No sweaty palms, either. Just a numb spot where my hunger for my dad’s approval used to be.
Muffled laughter and voices filtered out from the house, making me smile. They were the ones I cared about now, and they cared about me. That was what family was supposed to do.
My father’s judgmental stare filled my head, but the only emotion I could muster was pity.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets and headed for the house when a black pickup drove up. Jett got out, and I clasped his forearm. “Long time no see.”
In most circles, I was the tallest, but in this pack, my height was average. Jett stood an inch or two taller than I did and carried an air of mystery about him. About ten years ago, he’d been a Green Beret and had undergone some kind of super soldier research at the Nero Organization with his unit, which had included his twin brother, Jax.
Jett was the sole survivor.
As a journalist, it was tough to rein in my curiosity, but Asher wasn’t keen on spilling Jett’s secrets, and Jett was a man of few words.
“Hey, Chandler.” He squeezed my forearm and stepped back. “Asher asked me to come by tonight. He said there’s someone he wants me to meet.”
“Must be Wendy.” I glanced his way as he started toward the house. “You didn’t help train her last week?”
He sh
ook his head. “No.” A crease lined his brow. “Asher said she’s a werewolf. Where’d she come from?”
“She’s Brock’s sister.” I studied his face. “Apparently she was with him the night he was attacked and bitten. Someone told her to stay away from Sedona and left her behind.”
Something sparked in his eyes before he could bury it. Recognition.
And now I knew why Asher had kept him away. Without thinking, I grabbed his shirt with both hands and jerked him in close, drilling my gaze into his eyes. “It was you. You left her there to die.”
A muscle jumped in his cheek as he stared back at me. “Back the fuck off,” he growled. “She’s alive because of me.”
“She was bitten because of you.” I threw him backward so hard he stumbled.
Rage flashed in his eyes as he lunged toward me, slamming into me like a freight train. We landed on the ground in a heap. Wrestling in the dirt, I managed to roll him over and land a solid right hook to his jaw. The scent of blood lured my jaguar forward, snarling. Jett headbutted me so hard the world went black for a few seconds. While I was stunned, he flipped me underneath him, his nostrils flaring.
“I didn’t bite that girl. I saved her life.” He narrowed his eyes. “Bo lost control of his wolf. We were only there for Brock.”
I pushed him off and scrambled to my feet. The world spun as I blinked it back into focus. “Wendy went to Evolution Defense looking for a cure. You left her behind thinking she was a monster.”
“There wasn’t time. My orders were to clean up Bo’s messes.” He gritted his teeth. “I did the best I could. She’s alive because I couldn’t…follow that order.”
The door opened, and Asher’s voice cut through the tension. “Are you finished out here?”
We both turned around like guilty kids. Maybe we were.
Asher smirked. “Food’s ready if you’re hungry.” He started to go inside and stopped. When he turned back, he was looking right at Jett. “Is she going to recognize you?”
Jett shook his head. “No.”
What the hell did that mean? How could Jett possibly know that?
“Good.” Asher vanished into the house, and Jett walked up the steps, leaving me behind.
I dusted myself off in a daze. How could they know she wouldn’t remember? He’d shifted back. Maybe he’d been wearing a mask. But she’d never mentioned that. In fact, she hadn’t told me what the guy had looked like.
None of it made any sense.
CHAPTER 19
Wendy
Ben tossed me the ball, and I passed it to his twin. We went through the triangle pattern twice before I realized Bart was studying me. I smiled and threw the ball his way. “Everything okay?”
He held onto the ball. “Do you look like our logical dad?”
“Biological,” their mom with her werewolf hearing called from the kitchen.
“Biological,” Bart corrected as he lobbed the ball to Ben. “Did he look like you?”
My heart clenched with the realization that these boys had no memories of Brock. Naomi had told me about their time locked in confinement at a private storage facility. No cell phones meant they’d probably never seen a picture of my brother either.
I caught the ball and set it aside. “I have a few pictures in my phone. Would you like to see him?”
Their eyes widened. Ben got to me first. “I wanna see!”
Bart came to my other side. “Me too!”
I walked them over to the couch and put one on each side of me, then combed through my gallery on my phone, finally finding a photo of us together at an opening night of the opera. My eyes welled with tears as I lowered the phone so they could see their father.
God, Brock must’ve loved these boys. My heart ached that he never got a chance to raise them. He would’ve been a great dad.
The boys crawled onto my lap for a closer look while I enlarged the picture and sighed. My brother looked sharp in his tuxedo, and his warm dazzling smile was on full display.
Ben grinned up at me. “He’s a happy guy.”
“He was.” I chuckled. “I miss him.”
Bart patted my arm, looking up at me with that same inquisitive expression my brother used to get. “Did he play ball like us?”
I spent the next half hour sharing stories about my brother I hadn’t told in years. Although it made my heart ache with missing him, it also filled me with love—love for the family I had lost, and this new family I’d found. Life was a mess of joy and pain, but that was probably what made it so beautiful. Light and shadows blended to make a symphony of color, a full life, if you were lucky.
Tears blurred my vision as I pulled up more pictures from the cloud: my brother’s college graduation with my parents. “These are your grandparents.”
I enlarged the picture, staring at the smiles that had been extinguished too soon. Before the boys could pepper me with more questions, Naomi called out that the food was ready. They raced away, and I looked up to find Chandler leaning against the opposite wall. He looked pale somehow, but he smiled when I met his eyes.
I got up and tucked my phone into my pocket. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “Did you meet Jett yet?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I was showing the boys pictures of my brother.”
“They love you.”
I slid an arm around him. “I love them back.” I looked up at him. Chandler forced a weak smile, and I frowned. “What is it?”
“Sorry.” He brushed a kiss to my temple. “Madison called me. My dad’s having surgery tomorrow. I need to fly up to San Francisco in the morning.”
“I’ll come with you.”
He tensed against me. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.” I pulled back enough to see his face. “You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”
“My parents are…difficult.”
I groaned, trying to keep frustration from my voice and reminding myself he was hurting. This wasn’t about me. “We already agreed I’d be your wingman, remember?”
“I know.” He walked me over to the sofa and pulled me down beside him. “I’m sure my sister would love to meet you.”
I searched his eyes. “So why are you backpedaling?”
“Because I don’t want my parents to make you think less of me.”
I brought my hand up to cup his handsome face. Seeing the pain in his eyes physically hurt me. “Impossible.” I tipped my head toward the giggling in the kitchen. “You gave me a new family when I thought I was alone in the world. Those kids and this pack are all because you showed up to talk to me. You’re intelligent, brave, and kind. Nothing they say could make you any less amazing in my eyes.”
There was his smile. God, I hated his parents for ever making him doubt himself.
He kissed me tenderly and whispered, “Okay. We’ll go together. But remember, I advised you against this.”
I nodded. “I’ve been forewarned.”
Asher came into the living room with a plate in hand. A tall man with dark-brown hair and ice-blue eyes walked behind him. His jaw was tight, and the scent coming off him had my wolf snarling. It was familiar somehow, but I’d never seen him before. I would’ve remembered that face. His tan skin made his eye color even more intense, and his features were chiseled, like a cold marble statue. This wasn’t someone you forgot.
“Hey, Asher.” I tightened my hold on Chandler’s hand, unsure why my hackles were up. Who was this guy?
“Wendy, this is Jett.” He glanced at the man beside him and then back to me. “He helped us take the pack back from Caldwell.”
Jett cleared his throat and briefly made eye contact. “Good to meet you, Wendy.”
“Have we…met before?” I asked without making any move to get up or shake his hand. My wolf was beside herself, and not in the good way like she was with Chandler. She thought we were in danger. But why?
Chandler watched me, concern lining his eyes. “You don�
�t… You really don’t remember him?”
Jett’s gaze cut to Chandler. “Why would she? We’ve never been introduced.”
But his scent.
He came over and offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
I stared at his outstretched hand. He had a tattoo on the inside of his wrist, a wolf howling at the full moon. Something pinched in my head, painful. I winced, massaging my temples.
“Are you okay?” Chandler asked.
Images filled my head: the wolf, my brother’s screams, and blood. So much blood. And then that scent. Jett’s scent.
I stood up, wobbling just a little as I studied Jett’s face. “It…it was you.”
He blanched, and suddenly there was a buzzing in my ears, a humming vibration. The more I tried to examine my memories of that night, the louder it became. I gripped my head in my hands, trying to make it stop.
“Enough.” Chandler shoved Jett away from me. “Whatever you’re doing, stop it. Right now.”
The noise abruptly disappeared, and the pressure in my head normalized. I opened my eyes to find Jett wiping blood from his nose. Had Chandler hit him?
Asher put himself between the two men, but his attention was on me. “Jett didn’t bite you, Wendy.” His voice was deep, and something about it soothed my wolf, coaxing her to obey. “You weren’t supposed to be bitten that night.”
And then I knew.
My gaze snapped to Jett. “You were the one who told me to stay away from Sedona.”
“I’m sorry.” He ran a hand down his face. “I refused to bite humans for Caldwell so he sent me to clean up in case Bo bit more than the target he’d been assigned.”
My mouth went dry. “You were going to kill me.”
“Those were my orders, but I couldn’t do it.”
Chandler came to my side. “How come she didn’t recognize you?”
Jett’s features darkened as he exposed the tattoo. “A gift from the Nero Organization.”
Chandler took my hand. “Is that supposed to mean something to us?”
“The less you know, the better.” Jett turned to leave, but Chandler caught his arm.
“She has a right to know.”
Jett narrowed his eyes. “Get your hand off me.”
