Shades of Hate (Jacky Leon Book 5)

by K. N. Banet

  “Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you,” I fired back. “So you couldn’t play hardball with me and try to get to my family. The deal is final. If it’s changed before it comes to me to be signed, or if you call your people and tell them any of this, I’ll make sure this goes wrong for everyone involved. Are we clear? I’ll frame this as the BSA being incompetent, leading to extremists at my door, trying to kill me, and nearly killing a human girl. You can ask anyone in this room. I care for that human girl more than anyone here, and I’m willing to die for her. So, try me.” I leaned toward him, shorter by a long shot, but still intimidating.

  “She’s got you in a corner,” Heath said, exuding patience and calm. “If that goes public, it doesn’t matter what the truth is. There won’t be a werewolf Alpha in the country willing to work with you. There won’t be another supernatural species willing to broker deals. We can disappear if we need to…all of us.”

  “I can tell.” Collins’ jaw was clenched so tight, I wondered if his teeth were going to crack under the pressure. “Look, I just don’t want this to potentially jeopardize human lives, okay? If there’s a war—”

  “There won’t be,” I cut him off, disregarding whatever worry he had.

  “If there’s a war, my people need to know who to talk to when it comes time to stop it before it hurts too many people. I need to tell my bosses exactly who you are.” He pulled out his phone again. “I understand you don’t like this—”

  I grabbed his wrist and held it. He struggled, but I didn’t budge. He looked up at me, his eyes going wide.

  “Bigger, meaner cousin,” I said with a small smile. “Werecats are stronger and faster than werewolves. A single werecat can take down ten of them before our injuries start to hurt. Entire packs go hunting when a werecat is the objective. They can’t get into our territories, so they have to catch us outside of them. Don’t you dare walk back on me now and break our deal, Special Agent Daniel Collins. You won’t like my family when you’ve made us your enemy.”

  “For years, werewolves were so scared of her siblings, we called them by nicknames. We didn’t want to say their names. Most werewolves still won’t,” Heath said from behind me.

  “I would tell you there’s some you need to worry about more than others, but they’re all dangerous.” I nearly laughed, thinking of my siblings as anything less than extremely worrying. “My identity wouldn’t be disclosed to the media, which was a funny addition since obviously someone disclosed it somewhere. You made a deal. Honor it or destroy everything you’ve tried to build with the BSA. The problems between werecats and werewolves are fixed by better minds, ones who have fought for centuries, then sought peace when they had to reckon with the devastation war left. Anyone who tries for war now is put down with extreme prejudice. There won’t be a war.”

  “But—”

  “Just because I said we have to worry about it doesn’t mean we’re on the edge of one right now. It’s always what our lives come back to, especially for Heath and me, two people going against the grain of the problems in our world. War is always on our minds. You’re the one blowing this out of proportion. You’ll be my handler, right?”

  “Well, no, someone else—”

  “Then get used to this and warn whoever comes next. Get used to the fact you might see things play out you can’t do anything about. Humans won’t die. We won’t bomb half the country to kill each other. We’re more sophisticated than that. You’ll see random deaths all across the country. You’ll see werewolf packs be destroyed from the inside, entire homes massacred but not a human among them. We’ll wipe each other out before humans even know what’s happening. You have to trust our rulers, people like me and Heath and the North American Werewolf Council, to work through these problems the right way. You didn’t even know about them until I said anything, so don’t pretend it’s a pressing issue now.”

  “You’re asking me to keep this to myself until the day I die.”

  “You and Miller.” I glanced over my shoulder to see Landon holding a phone, Miller glaring at the werewolf.

  “And what happens if we expose you and Heath?” Collins asked softly.

  “You’ll lose your werecat,” I answered, squeezing his wrist just enough to add pain to the equation. “And none of my family will ever talk to you. You’ll be lucky if there’s a werecat who would even consider it a century from now. They might hate me, they might even be the ones to kill me, but they’ll know you can’t be trusted.”

  Collins dropped his phone, and I slowly released his wrist.

  “I didn’t expect things to be so…precarious,” he admitted. “War is a touchy subject since that’s what the BSA works so hard to prevent. When we initially started our policy of working with supernaturals, we realized how easily the werewolves had hidden from us and how easily they could have taken over our major cities without us having a chance.”

  “You’re not the only one working every day to prevent a war,” I growled. “But a war between werewolves and werecats isn’t your business. You humans went centuries, forgetting we even existed, not knowing we were maneuvering right under your noses. Don’t act like we’re suddenly a threat you need to deal with.”

  “You have a good point.” He didn’t reach for his phone. I leaned down and picked it up, checking for any recording being done, then broke it in half, meeting his stare.

  “Just in case,” I said softly.

  “Please don’t break mine,” Miller pleaded.

  “I won’t because I’m going to point out something important,” Landon said with a huff. “This is all just a theory, and it’s a wild one at that. No self-respecting werewolf should hire amateur humans for a hit on a politically valuable target. If they did, they deserve what’s coming to them.”

  “Landon…” Heath softly chastised. “I agree, but do we trust Miller not to run and tell his bosses everything? He’s ex-CIA.”

  “If he’s with the BSA now, he wasn't very good CIA,” Landon said, snorting in humor. He didn’t break the phone, but he did give me a chance to deescalate this.

  “If you two are going to blow this out of proportion, you can both leave…without your phones. Expect us to frame this as if the BSA sold us out and abandoned us. If you want to stay, your bosses don’t get to know any of this. If this turns out to be a werewolf, you’ll follow the cover story we prepare, and my deal with your agency will remain the same as it was. There’s a chance when we catch these guys, your job will be done, and you’ll just have to be okay with that.”

  “Think about everything you can learn if you just follow along,” Heath pointed out. “Instead of being reactionary to something that’s a daily part of our lives, you can be the men who got the werecats to the table, instead of the ones who ruined the reputation of the BSA.”

  “We’ll follow along,” Collins agreed through clenched teeth. “You know I hate this, Heath.”

  “Yeah, Daniel, we all hate things, but we move on and work with it,” Heath countered. “We don’t get to decide how the world works. I don’t, Jacky doesn’t, you don’t, and this is one situation where the status quo is very important.”

  “Then that will be our job,” Miller agreed. “As your handlers during negotiations, Jacky, we’ll maintain the status quo, so long as you don’t keep us in the dark. If anything goes sideways, we do need something to tell our bosses afterward. Right, Daniel?”

  Special Agent Daniel Collins, a by-the-book man, as Heath had said, was staring at me. I didn’t really know what to tell him or what to say at this point. I had all the cards.

  “I hate doing things like this,” he said softly. “I think you hid too much during our negotiations, and I think this situation is much more out of control than it should be—”

  “If you think this is out of control, I’m glad we didn’t meet last summer.” I looked at Heath, who shook his head, only his small smile giving away his amusement at my words.

  “And I dislike being blackmailed or held hostage by
a threat, but…”

  He fucking didn’t.

  “That’s too damn bad. Maybe if you didn’t have a video of me on my private property, of my naked body during a full moon, I would have more sympathy. I don’t,” I snapped. “You violated my privacy and my rights as an American citizen, something I was born as. You exposed my kind to your government and jeopardized my position among the werecats, and there’s still a chance this is the BSA’s fault. Time for you to suck it up and deal because this is my territory. I deserve to feel safe here. I deserve my privacy here, and you took that away from me. A little blackmail? Consider what you have on me for a moment, then consider what I’m asking you for. I think it could be a lot worse.”

  “I was going to say that we can make this work,” he snapped. “I’m obviously not the one with all the information here; you are. And…” He shook his head, lowering it and breaking eye contact. “You’re right, our surveillance did catch you in a vulnerable position, one no person should be in. Miller and I are the ones who blurred you before sending it to anyone. No one else saw it, not even the two agents we had install the cameras.”

  I stepped back. “Really? There’s not an unedited copy floating around?”

  “No, I wasn’t comfortable with it,” he explained. “We’ve already deleted everything with both you and Heath.”

  I could smell no lie.

  “Then can we go back to focusing on the problem at hand?” I crossed my arms. “If it’s werewolves, you’ll let Heath and me deal with this through the proper channels without getting your government involved? Let me promise you now, if there’s anything I feel the U.S. can do for a situation, I’ll let you know.”

  He nodded. “I can do that. I’ll accept that promise.”

  “You can tell them about who I am later, just not yet. Not until that paper is signed. They don’t get my father. They get me. That was my family’s decision. Consider me the ambassador of the werecats, with all legal authority to make the deals necessary. Are we clear?”

  “We’re clear,” he agreed. “I’m going to step out and have a smoke.”

  “You do that,” I said, gesturing to the back door. He was gone in seconds.

  “Daniel has a hot temper sometimes,” Miller commented. “But he believes in people and in the work we do.”

  “Good to hear,” I muttered, watching the back door. “Can we get to work now that Landon is here? Landon, did you learn anything?”

  “Um…” Landon rubbed his hands together. “I don’t keep in contact with them as much as I used to, but someone slipped.”

  “What about?” Heath asked, turning on his son slowly.

  “Jacky, there are rumors about your…gifted ability,” Landon said carefully. “It came up. One of them asked how I was doing, living near the werecat, and if I had any idea if the rumors were true. I asked what rumors. He told me some of the Russian werewolves were saying they could hear her here.” He tapped his head. “People are starting to wonder, and it’s getting around. No idea if any Alphas are paying it any mind because it sounds crazy. The Russian werewolves were in a bad place when they got to the States, but some inner circles are whispering about it.”

  “You all gossip like old ladies,” Heath accused as he sat down.

  “I don’t,” Landon countered with a smile. “I just listen. Oh, Ranger is fourth in Dallas now. Tywin is still on the outs with everyone. Apparently, the Dallas pack can’t keep up anymore. He’s trying, and you taught him a lot, but he doesn’t have your skill. Some think he stepped up too early.”

  “He was the only option I had,” Heath muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. “Well, you were an option, but…”

  Landon growled. “You will never see me be an Alpha. Not because of me, but because I hate the job. Being your second was a nightmare, and the only reason I suffered it was because I only had one other option. Being a rogue was worse.” Landon grabbed his light jacket from the back of one of the dining room chairs. “I’m going to pick up Carey from school.”

  “Be safe,” Heath ordered.

  Landon didn’t reply as he left.

  “Once Carey gets back, we’re going to get the plans ready for tonight. She can do her homework by herself in her room,” Heath declared. Collins walked back in at that moment. “My son is picking up my daughter.”

  “I heard,” he said as he tucked his pack of cigarettes into the inside pocket of his blazer.

  30

  Chapter Thirty

  When Landon brought Carey home, she took one look at our group, waved, then took off to her room.

  “Smart kid,” Miller pointed out.

  “Smarter than most adults,” I added.

  We got to work, planning our attack. Miller used a laptop to check if our target was still in the motel, and once that was verified, we knew what to do. It was decided everyone would go in human form to keep it from drawing too much attention. I would have a sidearm, but I was strong enough in human form to put up a considerable fight against a few humans. I didn’t need to be a werecat. A silver bullet would kill me either way. The same went for Heath and Landon.

  “This way, we can flash our badges to get us in. You’ll be part of the ‘team’ instead of supernaturals. Even if someone gets a good look at any of you, it’ll be late enough, we could say they’re mistaken.”

  “I can shut down their security cameras just in case,” Landon commented. “Or cut the power.”

  “Cameras. If you cut the power, it could create panic.” Collins looked at the map and pointed to the main road. “We’ll make this simple. Drive right up and hit the room while you cut the cameras and delete any footage that might catch us.”

  “It’s an easy op,” Heath said, nodding. “Landon and I have done similar with werewolves. Two humans aren’t a problem. Even if there’s more than two, Jacky and I are muscle. No one is going to beat us in a close-quarters fight unless they have time to get their weapons up.”

  “Then we need to hit fast, so they don’t have a chance.”

  After that, we waited, going over the plan again. The agents revealed they had handcuffs on them, standard procedure, ready to make an arrest if it came to that. With that, we waited for dinner to be finished and for the sun to go down.

  “Are you all going to do something dangerous tonight?” Carey asked as she ate, her curious and intelligent eyes looking around at us.

  “Yes,” Heath answered without missing a beat between bites of his casserole. That made both agents look up from their own meals.

  “Well, be careful,” she said, shrugging.

  “You’re okay with your father doing something dangerous?” Collins asked with a deep frown.

  “My dad is a werewolf, so is my brother.” Carey shrugged. “They’ll be fine.” Everyone with a useful nose could smell her worry, but she was a tough kid. She had seen her family betrayed from within, knew her father killed vampires, and rescued me from other werecats, then went to Russia. “No one beats my dad and Jacky unless they have lots of people or lots of guns.”

  Collins blinked several times. I enjoyed watching the exchange. It wasn’t the most stable house for a young girl to grow up in, but Carey seemed well-adjusted.

  “What if you get hurt?” he asked. Heath put his fork down at Collins’s question and waited for his daughter’s response.

  “I won’t. I mean, it’s a possibility, but I know they’ll do anything to stop that from happening. My dad is a werewolf Alpha. They do what’s right, and they help people. People get hurt sometimes, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad dad. I can break my neck on my horse, but that doesn’t mean my horse is bad. That’s called a risk.” Carey finished her food and took her dishes to the sink. She stopped to kiss her dad, hug her brother, then me before she went upstairs. Before her door closed, we all got a chuckle.

  “STAY SAFE!” she yelled across the house. “I’ll lock the doors!”

  “Thank you!” Heath called back.

  The normalcy was a little
strange, even to me, but Heath just smirked across the table at me. I knew Carey’s feelings were more complex, but her willingness to put herself between us and outside judgment was touching, especially after the bombshell she had earlier in the week.

  “The coup wasn’t the first time she had a brush with her dad and something dangerous,” Heath said for the table, but it was pointed at me.

  “You were a werewolf Alpha. How many challenges did you get after she was born?” I leaned back, putting my own fork down.

  “None, but I had to handle other things. Landon had challenges, though.”

  Landon growled in a vicious but oddly pleased way, making the agents a little stiffer.

  Even Jabari gets weird vibes from Landon. Apparently, that’s universal.

  “Let me get that.” Heath reached out for my plate, and I slid it closer to him. I didn’t want to eat too much. He took the plate and my fork, putting them in the sink with Carey’s and his own. Landon went next, offering to take the plates for the agents, who handed them over silently. Landon ended up doing the dishes.

  “I think I’m going to look for my own place tomorrow. Finally give that realtor a call,” he said while the water ran over the plate he was holding, then tucked it into the dishwasher.

  “Good. I need space.” Heath picked up a book and sat down, flipping it open to read. I pulled out my phone and checked for anything from my family, Dirk, or Oliver. Kick Shot was doing well, with no incidents so far. That was better than nothing.

  “Are we going to act this normal until the sun goes down?” Miller asked, making me look up at him.

  “A hunt is a hunt, no matter the prey. No reason to be anxious,” I said softly before looking back at my phone. “Right, Heath?”

  “Yup.” I heard a page turn.

  “I’m thinking of something small, two bedrooms, maybe three. Lots of space to run on the full moon. Close by, so I can take Carey when you need it.”

  “You’ve lived with me for nearly fourteen years. I don’t care what you get as long as you get out of my house,” Heath said, chuckling. “Plus, I think Carey will like having space away from you.”