by K. N. Banet
“Or the rest of the world,” I commented under my breath.
“Hm.” He nodded slowly. “But it’s okay. I know what it means to be with someone the world tells me I shouldn’t. What I want to say, though…I don’t hate you for killing Richard. I respect you, Jacky. You protected my family from a threat we weren’t prepared for. He betrayed us. Father and I were too blinded to see what was happening, and Carey was too young. I don’t hate you for killing him. I hope we continue to prove to be as good allies to you as you have been to us.”
“Landon?” I almost touched his arm as he stood up but pulled away at the last moment. He looked down at me, curious. “Um…thank you.”
He nodded, then left me on the back porch by myself, following his family inside. A moment later, Heath walked back out, smiling.
“He’s been preparing that speech for a few months,” he explained, leaning down to kiss me. “He finally realized it was time to let you in.”
“I wasn’t prepared to have a deep conversation today, much less with Landon.”
The Alpha only chuckled as he kissed me again.
“Let’s go in and eat dinner,” he murmured on my lips. “Let’s stop talking about Russia for the evening. There’s nothing we can do. Better minds are working on it.”
“Of course.”
We went inside together, and I helped Carey set the table, my little rebellion. Heath made his displeasure known with good humor, and Landon went back to his quiet self as he worked on a side dish for dinner.
It felt like a home.
By the time dinner was on the table, we were all ready, finding our seats and digging in without preamble.
“Landon, teach me this recipe,” I said, pointing at the serving on my plate. “I’ve never had lasagna this good.”
“I can do that,” he agreed, smiling when I caught him looking up from his plate. “If—”
A phone started going off, and for a moment, I sat confused as both the wolves checked theirs and frowned as the blaring, repeated noise continued. It took four rings for me to realize it was my phone. It was the ringtone I set for any werecats who weren’t my family.
“Shit. I’ll be outside,” I said, jumping up and pulling my phone out as I went. I answered before I made it out the door and was able to shut it before the person calling me could respond.
“Jacky speaking.”
“Jacqueline, this is Everett. We spoke before, after…”
“You’re the werecat in Minnesota. What can I do for you?”
“I need you to come up here. Bring your wolf. I’ll see you—”
“Wait. Why? Everett, what’s going on?”
“I was called to Duty, but it’s more complicated than that. The human is lying, but I don’t know what she’s lying about. She reeks of werewolf and blood. I figured your wolf should come up here to help…I don’t know, but this seems like it’s going to get me killed.”
“If she’s lying…”
“She has no right to my protection,” he finished for me. “Jacqueline, this human asked for you, and I think you should come. I can’t tell you more on the phone. It might not be safe.”
My heart skipped a beat. If that wasn’t a sign I needed to get on a plane, I didn’t know what was.
“Okay. I’ll head out now and catch the first flight available. I don’t have access to a private—”
“Figure it out because I’m not keeping this human beyond dawn tomorrow. I want her out of my territory, in your custody or not. I’m calling you instead of Hasan out of courtesy. If you’re not here when I throw her ass out of my territory, I’ll call him.” He hung up on me.
I was shell shocked for a second before heading back inside.
“I have to leave,” I announced. “There’s something going on, and another werecat wants me there and…”
“Carey, will you step out? Finish dinner in your room, please.” Heath’s request was in the tone of an order. Carey stood, cast a worried glance, then walked out of the room with her plate.
“Jacky?” Heath stood up slowly.
“I don’t know. I was asked, and it seems like I need to go up there, but I don’t know what’s going on. There’s a human lying to a werecat, trying to get protection. This human asked for me.”
Right on cue, Landon and Heath’s phones started going off. I watched as they answered them, and Heath’s eyes went dark while Landon got a vicious smile.
“What is it?” I asked, swallowing. Minnesota. Everett was in Minnesota. I tried to make a mental map. Was he the closest werecat to…
“Alpha Vasiliev died in surgery,” Heath answered in a whisper. “From what Alpha Harrison said, he’s been dead for an hour, but the Russians don’t want to announce. A werewolf loyal to us found out at the hospital and spread the word.”
“Everett, a werecat, is in Minnesota with a human asking for protection,” I repeated to myself, things beginning to click, puzzle pieces falling into place. “She smells like werewolf and blood. What if she was part of the surgery team?”
“Oh, hell,” Landon growled. “Father—”
“He asked me to go up and take her off his hands. He also wanted you to come.” I wrung my hands. “I wasn’t going to ask…”
“I’m going,” he growled softly. “If the Russians think she or anyone on the surgery team killed their Alpha, there’s not a pack close by strong enough to stop them from killing a lot of innocent people. If there’s a werecat involved, we could be—”
“Looking at war if they move on him,” I cut in, nodding. “This is our job, isn’t it? Stopping things like this before they get out of control?”
“We’ve never done it before, but…from my understanding, yes,” he said, nodding. “I agreed to be a go-between for werewolves and werecats because of my association with you. You work for Hasan and represent his interests and the interests of all werecats in this part of the world. If we’re going to use our connection for anything, why shouldn’t it be this?”
“Okay.” I nodded in return. “Let’s go to Minnesota and find my werecat and whoever this human is. The sooner we get answers, the better.”
“I’ll start calling around to see if the hospital is willing to release the identities of the surgery team,” Landon said sharply. “Once I know who they are, I’ll send them your way.”
“Try. They probably won’t, but please try,” Heath said. That made me curious, but I resolved myself to ask in the car. Heath grabbed a light jacket and walked out, talking over his shoulder as he went. “Let’s take my truck. I’m grabbing a go-bag. Do you have one at home you want to pick up?”
“Yeah,” I answered, calling after him as he disappeared from view. I turned to Landon and sighed. “Sorry I keep getting your father into sticky situations. Are you going to be okay alone with Carey again?”
Landon looked up from his phone and nodded. “We’ll be fine. Just don’t bring the Russians down this way. If push comes to shove, I’ll take her, Dirk, and Oliver to my safehouse, where they’ll never be able to find us.”
“If you need any help, those two will help you,” I reminded him. I didn’t question that he had a safehouse or that he could hide all of them indefinitely. “They work for me and are quick learners. Plus, they need something to do.”
“I know. If it would make you more comfortable, you might want to tell them to come here and stay in our guest rooms while you’re gone. Or I can check up on them every day with Carey.”
“Check up on them. I don’t want to rip them from their house just yet.” Heath walked back into the room as I spoke, and I waved at Landon before joining his father. “Carey—”
“I said goodbye to her from both of us,” he said simply. “She understands.”
Once we were in his truck, I turned to him. There was more I wanted to ask him, but I hadn’t wanted to get caught up talking before we were on the move.
“Why wouldn’t the hospital tell us who worked on the surgery team?” I demanded. “We can—”
“Because of cases like this,” he answered. “If I were in that hospital, they wouldn’t tell Landon or Carey who was working on me. If I die, people are at risk of angry supernaturals lashing out at them. No one is at risk of failing if my son didn’t know who they were. Normally, once someone is out of surgery, the team will meet the family, but why would they risk someone taking revenge if someone died?”
All of that made sense. I hadn’t paid attention while I was there with my family, too consumed with everything happening to ask many questions. Though there was a case that Hasan being the werecat Tribunal member had different privileges than the average Alpha werewolf.
“Why are the Russians trying to keep it a secret?” I couldn’t stop asking questions. This was a new puzzle, and I didn’t know enough to draw the right conclusions or any conclusions, really. What I did know, I wanted Heath’s confirmation.
“Alpha died. The pack is technically gone. They need to get ahold of the second, deal with challenges, probably a small civil war in their territory. The loyalists are going to put that off for as long as they can to maintain control and figure out which one of them will continue in Alpha Vasiliev’s stead.”
“Because he didn’t die in a challenge…” I realized what Heath was trying to say. “He died due a knife wound from a submissive in the pack who could never take over.”
“Exactly. We might be looking at the complete collapse of the Russian werewolf pack. They’re going to be violent and angry. It’s likely the hospital is already worried about the pack lashing out.”
“And somewhere in the middle of this is a werecat with a human who smells like werewolf and blood,” I said, taking a deep breath. “This wasn’t how I expected today to go.”
“I don’t think this is how anyone expected this to play out. At least we haven’t been completely blindsided.”
“No, but Everett has been. I don’t think he follows werewolf politics. He probably doesn’t know what kind of bomb he’s sitting on. There are so many ifs. If Everett has a human who was involved with Vasiliev’s surgery and if the werewolves from Russia find out, there’s a chance they’ll go after her. Everett is already at odds. He’s guarding her until we get there, but he doesn’t want to keep her. Apparently, she lied to him when she called him to Duty.”
“What could this human be lying about?” Heath asked, frowning.
“I have no idea, but we’re not required to protect humans who are lying. At the same time, we’re not going to let a pack of werewolves kill her when a failed surgery wasn’t her fault.” I groaned and hit the door in frustration. “We don’t know enough, and I feel like we’re walking into a war zone.”
“I’m right there with you,” he said, his eyes trained on the road.
We made it to my home in record time. I ran for my pack and made it back to the truck in less than ten minutes, tossing it into the back with his.
Then we sped off for Dallas, resolved to figure out what exactly was going on.
9
Chapter Nine
“What if there’s no flights?” I asked as we parked at the airport.
“Don’t worry,” he said sharply. “I’m about to call in a favor, and we’ll just hope it works.”
“Okay…”
We left his truck together. It was already seven in the evening. A straight flight to Rochester, Minnesota wasn’t common. We had used private planes when Niko and Zuri had been hurt, but I didn’t keep one of the family’s planes in Dallas.
I’m beginning to think I should. Whatever happened to my quiet life in Texas, where no one bothered me, and I went nowhere?
When we entered the airport, I caught the scent of another werewolf and was surprised to see an old face as I turned to track the scent—Ranger, a werewolf I had worked somewhat closely with over a year and a half ago when I was initially pulled into the lives of the Everson family. It felt like an eternity, and everything had changed since then. Sheila came up next to him, another familiar face.
Neither of them looked excited to see me, though.
“Don’t worry,” Heath whispered. “They’re here because I texted them while you were getting your bag.”
“What favor did you ask for?” I growled softly.
“To use the pack plane.” There was nothing repentant on his face. “We’re pressed for time, and I don’t think we should waste it looking for a ride and getting caught up in layovers. The pack has a plane to use for the Alpha and inner circle.”
“And you think…” I sighed as Heath looked over my head at the two werewolves.
“Ranger. Sheila. It’s been a long time,” he said tightly. I knew his current status with the Dallas pack was tenuous and dangerous. He was their old Alpha, and that caused tensions I hadn’t considered. He’d explained, but it boiled down to he abandoned them, and they didn’t know if he would ever come back and take over again. A level of distrust had formed over time and distance since he had stepped down.
Sheila cast an uneasy look at Ranger. Neither of them spoke, and locals in the airport were starting to take notice of the werewolves. Heath had one of those faces people didn’t forget. Mostly because it looked too good, too classically beautiful. His five o’clock shadow didn’t detract from it either.
“Call me Heath, if that’s what you’re thinking about,” my werewolf said softly, stepping around me and putting himself between them and me. I raised an eyebrow. They weren’t a threat to me. “Tywin knew I was coming through.”
“He sent us to tell you the last time he saw you pass through Dallas, there was an incident in another area of the States. He’s not sure why he should let you through, or why you think you can ask for the plane,” Ranger said with the same stiffness as Heath.
“Fine. Heath, I’ll find us flights.” I started walking away.
“Excuse me, Miss Leon—”
“Jacqueline, daughter of Hasan,” I corrected, turning to the two wolves. “Tywin and I had this conversation once before. He can’t tell me where I can and cannot go. The airport is neutral territory in every city. If he wants to change that, he’ll be opening a can of worms he and the Dallas pack are ill-equipped to handle.”
Ranger met my gaze, then dropped his eyes. Sheila sighed.
“We’re flying you both,” Ranger said softly, “with conditions.”
“Let’s hear them.” Heath crossed his arms, eyeing both wolves. “I bet I’ll love this.”
“Tywin is worried about you living so close by, Heath…” Sheila groaned. “This is childish. He’s worried. He’s still a new Alpha, and no one really knows the protocol with an old Alpha who didn’t leave because of a fight or get thrown out of the pack. He was also mumbling about something going on in Russia. He wants to make sure you aren’t going to stir that pot and is under orders from the council to keep an eye on you when you try to leave the state through Dallas. From my understanding, the other Alphas are too.”
“Let’s take this conversation somewhere private,” I casually ordered. I couldn’t talk to them openly, and while standing in the middle of an airport, discussing this might be safe for them, it was dangerous for me. Ranger nodded and led us to a staff entrance, past security, and outside. We walked for what felt like an hour to a hangar where a small private plane was parked.
“This work?” he asked me.
I looked around, sniffing the air, and checking for humans. They could have cameras and listening devices, but there wasn’t much I could do about that.
“Yeah, this will have to do,” I said, not really liking it, but it was better than a crowded airport ticket area. “He’s not stirring the pot. I’m going to see a werecat who is requesting my assistance because werewolves might be involved with the situation,” I explained. “I figured a werewolf might be good to help me sort it out.”
“Oh.” Sheila seemed surprised, looking between us. “Ranger?”
“You want a flight to Rochester,” the male said tightly. “Where we all know—”
“The location of the werecat isn’t your business,” I snapped, feeling protective. Everett was one of mine, and anything to do with him was my business, not a wolf pack’s. “He’s not going to see the Russian werewolves. He’s coming with me to handle something else.” I wasn’t lying, not really, just omitting that the two incidents were most likely related, but since I had no hard evidence, there was no way of knowing either way. Not that Ranger or Sheila had the right to that information. I was under no obligation to tell anyone what I knew from Everett, except Hasan.
I’ll need to bring him into the loop, eventually. I’ll get stock of everything in Minnesota before I drag him in if he doesn’t reach out before then.
Neither wolf looked happy. Beside me, Heath smelled confident as if I had already won the argument, and we would be in the air soon. He knew these werewolves better than me. I had worked with them for only a handful of days while he had spent years as their Alpha.
“Let’s go,” Ranger said, defeated.
“I can buy other tickets,” I said softly. “I don’t need this ride.”
“Just get in,” the wolf grumbled.
Ranger and Sheila went to get the plane ready and left me with Heath, standing in the hangar bay.
“When you said they weren’t your friends anymore, I didn’t realize you were serious,” I muttered, looking back at him. “I figured a few would still be…”
“Members of the pack might still like me, but Tywin is a new Alpha, and he’s paranoid. Ranger and Sheila probably just don’t want to be caught in the middle. On top of that, you’re a werecat, and I’m convincing them to help you.”
“I’ve helped this pack,” I reminded him.
“I know, and I reminded Tywin of that. He wouldn’t have a pack today if it weren’t for you helping us. What’s one quick plane ride for that?” Heath gave me a small smile. “I’m more dominant. I was when I ran this pack, and I still am. I’m the most dominant wolf in the state of Texas, and probably in the top three in the United States. He was going to listen. He’s going to be pissy about it, but he listened.”
