Family and Honor (Jacky Leon Book 2)

by K. N. Banet

  I shook my head. “They aren’t going to care about that. I’m the failure to my species, apparently,” I mumbled, walking back toward my bar. “My own brother…”

  “Brother?” He perked up quickly, and I mentally began a string of cusses that weren’t appropriate for the public.

  “Nothing.”

  “You said brother,” he pressed. “You have family?”

  “Drop it.”

  “No.”

  I growled, looking up from my bar to stare into his grey-blue eyes. He and Carey both had this stubbornness to them, and it was in their eyes.

  “Yes, I have a…werecat family. I don’t talk to them that often, and there are reasons I live out here alone. Drop it.”

  “How do they feel about everything?” He leaned on the bar, all his heat gone. I sighed, watching him. It wasn’t over yet. I had made the foolish decision to open up, and he was going to find whatever scraps of information he could about me.

  “It doesn’t matter. They can’t protect me from myself, and I have to take full responsibility for the can of worms I’ve opened. I just need to figure out what I’m going to do about all of this, which meant I wanted some space away from everyone. I need time to think.” I touched my phone, where I left it on the counter. Still no word from Hasan or anyone else from the family. “Lani says I should throw you out,” I said softly, feeling guilty even if they weren’t my words.

  “That…I would have to move Carey into another new school. Landon and I—”

  “I told her that wasn’t an option,” I cut in before he started going off about how bad that would be for him. I tried not to think of him as selfish, jumping straight to how bad that would be for him. Well, not straight to him specifically. His first worry had been Carey and school. “I’ll figure out something else. Some way for me to calm the werecats down about this. A lot of them, roughly half, are survivors of the war, so it’s a tough battle, but I’m not going to toss you all out. I made a promise, and I plan on keeping it.”

  “So many?” Heath frowned. “Really?”

  “Werecats grow older far easier than werewolves, mostly because we don’t have as much infighting. Rogue werecats roam, looking for a territory of their own, answer to other werecats, or just don’t want to settle down yet. I’ve fought a few of those when they got curious about someone’s territory and needed to be chased out. Those were never fatal, though. Territory fights are nearly never fatal. It’s frowned upon.” I was rambling again now.

  “Have you gotten into any fights since we’ve been here?”

  “No. I would have told you there was trouble just so you wouldn’t go near the border.”

  “So, to recap, you’ve been avoiding my daughter, which hurts her, because you are…busy considering how to stop any possible wars that may have started thanks to our actions.”

  “And how to keep out of trouble with other werecats. Or, I don’t know, make them see I don’t mean anyone harm, and neither do you. You better not mean my kind harm. If you do, you won’t make it out of my territory alive.”

  “Understandable. No, I don’t mean any of your kind harm. Most of the time, I’m curious. Vampires, fae, werewolves, and werecats. Nagas, kitsunes, and more. I like to meet others from different species and get their perspective. You give me a close eye into the world of werecats. I don’t plan on using it against you, and I’m not spying under false pretenses.”

  “You say that now, but if I threw you out or a werecat attacked, you would use everything you could to protect yourself and Carey,” I pointed out. “I’m not stupid.”

  “Like you don’t know more than you let on about werewolves,” he reminded me with a small smile. “Some were very surprised by how much you knew about us, me included.”

  “Touché.” And I was willing to use it all to survive, even if the urge to survive surprised me because before I met Carey, I didn’t have all that much to live for.

  “Can I admit something since we’re doing this sharing thing tonight?” he asked, looking down at his hands, considering them. My thoughts wandered to the memory of how warm and calloused they were when he helped clean and re-bandage my injuries in that warehouse in Dallas. They were nice hands.

  “You can say whatever you want.”

  “I was mad at Carey for being so upset by you.”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise until he looked up. He chuckled sadly.

  “Not to her face. Just privately annoyed by it. I thought…I thought she would be over you by now. I figured the first few months, her attachment would be understandable. You protected her, she was having nightmares, and being able to talk to you…helped her. She refuses to talk to me about Richard. So does Landon…” He groaned. “Yet she’s more in love with you now than she was six months ago. I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Are you uncomfortable with it?” I asked in a small voice, knowing it was strange. A thirty-six-year-old shouldn’t be the best friend of an eleven-year-old, not to humans, and maybe not to werewolves. Werecats were different.

  “Jealous,” he said, leaning down to put his forehead on the counter. “I’m jealous. Does she talk to you about him? My son, her brother tried to kill her. Wanted to kill me and Landon…and I don’t know how she feels. Part of me knows if she ever told anyone, it would be you, and that irks me. She used to tell me everything.”

  “No, she doesn’t talk to me about Richard. None of you have since that night,” I answered, swallowing my guilt over killing his son. Richard refused to stop fighting, and I had to protect Carey, but it still didn’t wash all the guilt away. A man had to bury his child. His asshole child but a child, nonetheless.

  “You understand her. Every female in my pack…either I didn’t trust them as much as I should or had reasons to keep them away. Every human woman who ever tried to get close to the family was looking to turn her into a princess, and she’s not that girl, will never be that girl, no matter how much I tried. You understand being a tough woman in a world of monsters and…I’m jealous it makes you special to her.”

  “There’s no reason to be. She’s your daughter.” I shrugged, trying to play off how uncomfortable this conversation had turned.

  “Just promise me one thing. Even if you do need to have us leave, keep talking to her. I don’t care what else you do, Jacky, but if you hurt my daughter, I’ll hunt you down and give her your hide.”

  “I would give it to you,” I murmured. “I don’t agree with hurting kids, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep werecat drama far away from her. I can’t promise to keep it away from you, but then, you’re an adult werewolf. There’s not much I can do for you or Landon. She’s human, though. No one should try to hurt her.” I frowned. “You never answered my question.”

  “No, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable,” he replied, looking up again. “I’ve seen it in wolves, too. An adult will take someone under their wing, mentor and guide them to adulthood. Protect them. Not as…privately as you, not for the same reasons, but I don’t think anything weird is going on. I’m just jealous.”

  “She’s a great kid,” I said, smiling. “I’ll keep you updated on this. You can’t share what I told you tonight, though. It could seriously harm me and other werecats. Please.”

  “It’s safe with me. There’s no reason to tell anyone about what the werecats are dealing with on their own.” He checked the time. “Thank you for talking to me. Don’t ignore her anymore, please. If there’s something on your mind, tell me, then talk to her about whatever. She’s been a mess since Tuesday.”

  “I’ll text her tomorrow and apologize.” Carey was probably already in bed, so there was no way I was texting her tonight and waking her up for Heath to deal with when he got home. “Do you want one more drink?”

  “No, I’m fine. Landon is probably prowling around the house, wondering if he should come get me, or if I’m alive. He doesn’t trust you very much, which is typical for Landon. He’ll warm up, eventually.”

  “Is that wh
y he used to come in with you but not often? Because he’s worried I’m going to attack you?”

  “Yes and no,” Heath answered with a small smile. Pushing off the bar, he adjusted his light jacket, making sure the zipper was exactly halfway up. The longer I looked at it, the more I began to think he must have ironed it. Did he iron his casual clothes?

  Weird ass wolf.

  He started walking toward the door, and I took the last chance I had to say something.

  “Look, I am sorry for the cold shoulder all week. It was nothing personal, really.”

  “Just remember to tell her that,” he replied, pulling open the door. “I like you, but if you disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn’t be hurt. I would just be angry that my daughter would lose you and not understand why.”

  I tried not to take that personally. No love lost between us, he walked out. After he was gone, I did take it personally.

  He wouldn’t care at all? Really? After everything in Dallas and the last six months living in the same area, seeing each other every damn weekend? Then why is he at my bar all the fucking time?

  7

  Chapter Seven

  I waited until midafternoon on Sunday to make any calls. Or I told myself that. Really, I slept until one in the afternoon and realized I couldn’t put off calling people for the rest of the day. I had to apologize to Carey for ignoring her, yell at Hasan for ignoring me, and maybe try Lani again. She hadn’t contacted me all week, though that could just be a sign she really didn’t consider me as much of a friend as I considered her.

  I went to the safest option first, hitting Carey’s name in my contacts.

  “Hello?” she said, cautious. “Jacky?”

  “Hey, Carey. I…I wanted to call to say I’m sorry. It’s been a bad week for me, and I didn’t want to take it out on you.” I’m trying to find a way to protect you because I’m paranoid, scared, and hurt by what I heard other werecats say.

  “Yeah, Dad told me this morning you were just really busy with werecat stuff,” she replied.

  I closed my eyes in dismay. Heath and I gave her two different explanations, which meant she knew one was lying. Honestly, the two explanations only explained half the issue each. The truth was in their totality, but Carey would probably not see it that way.

  “We’re still on for tomorrow, right?” I asked her, hoping she would agree.

  “Duh. I would have had Dad drive me over if you didn’t show up.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. It was serious. The girl threw it out like an obvious fact of life and a threat at the same time.

  “I’ll remember that.” If I want to skip a Monday with Carey, I would need to hide better than her father can find me. “So, what can I do to make the last week up to you?”

  “We’re going out to see a new movie. No more movies at your apartment. And I want to see your real house.”

  “You’re playing hard ball. I’ll take you to a real movie at a movie theater and out to dinner. Not my house.”

  “Done. I’ll find some movie times for tomorrow, and you’ll feel better after a good movie away from your bar.” She sounded so mature like she couldn’t possibly be wrong. Half the time, she was too mature. The other half, it was obvious she was only just about to turn twelve. “Dad says getting out of the house is good for you.”

  “Does he mean for people in general or just me?”

  “I think he meant in general, but you never leave your house, so it must be good for you.” I could hear her smile on the other end. I wondered if Heath was listening in and had fed her some lines this morning, knowing I was going to call.

  “Tell your dad I said hello. I’ll be there at four tomorrow, don’t worry.”

  “Hello, Jacky,” his smooth, scotch voice said from the other end, further from the phone than Carey. He sounded pleased, probably because I called—just like I promised him I would—and was in the process of groveling for ignoring her for nearly a week. “Carey, let her get to work. You have a science project to be working on.”

  “I’m going! Bye, Jacky!”

  “Bye, Carey,” I said and heard her hang up. For a moment, I just smiled at the phone. Talking to Heath the night before had made me feel better. Not completely better, but at least someone on the other end of the phone knew what I was trying to deal with. He would keep her safe if I couldn’t, especially now that he thought I believed there might be a threat. He was her father, after all.

  Letting them go, I immediately dialed Hasan. He hadn’t answered at three in the morning before I went to sleep, and it was close to two in the afternoon now.

  Maybe if I blow up his phone, he’ll call me back.

  It was strange, actually. Anytime I contacted him first, he was quick to answer or get back to me. One would think because I was showing some interest in the family’s business, he would call frequently. Instead, he missed three days of calls when he promised to call every night with whatever Jabari reported.

  He didn’t answer, and I growled at the phone. Pondering, I tried for someone I hadn’t spoken to in nearly eight years, Jabari’s twin sister, Zuri.

  The only reason I had her number was Hasan didn’t let me leave without making sure I could contact any of my siblings. He wanted me to have options if I needed help. Zuri was even less close to me than Jabari was and was always the one who maintained the most distance when I was Changed, and Hasan brought me to his home. The only reason she was the one I wanted to call was because she was his twin. She would be the first to know any news.

  “Jacqueline. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Her voice was cool, crisp, much like I remembered her entire demeanor. Jabari and Zuri were essentially royalty, thanks to being Hasan’s children and their age. It was Zuri who embodied that ideal. Regal and beautiful, it was said she looked like her mother, Hasan’s mate. She was intelligent and ruthless, cunning and vicious, all wrapped in beautiful traditional African garb I didn’t know the name of or couldn’t pronounce. I couldn’t even tell someone what region it was from. She once said I was ‘too American’ as she laughed. I had tried my hardest to pronounce what it was when she told me. It was the only time I ever saw her laugh.

  Looking back and not being able to remember, I felt a little bad. I never gave any of my new siblings much of a chance either.

  “Um…” Nerves hit me quickly. “So…I asked Hasan about knowing what—”

  “Yes. Father said you were going to be brought into the loop about Jabari. Why are you calling me?” The coolness turned to boredom. She was already done with the conversation, and whatever confusion she had about my calling was carefully masked by her attitude.

  “He hasn’t called me in a few days. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. I’m getting worried and—”

  There was a soft laugh on the other end. “He always said you would grow to care, learn to join the family if we gave you a chance. Looks like he was right. I’ll tell you what you want to know, but understand, none of us are very worried yet. This kind of thing happens.”

  “Okay.”

  “Jabari hasn’t called in since Thursday evening. He said the local wolf pack was being stubborn about speaking to him, unsure of where he came from or who he was. They weren’t helpful, so he went out to investigate the territories our lost brother and sister lived in. He said something about a park, but I don’t live in the United States. Please forgive me, I don’t really know where he was talking about.” I heard cushions sink under weight, the unmistakable sound of fabric rubbing against fabric and a small squeak of springs. She must have sat down or gotten comfortable. “Now, under these circumstances, we don’t worry until one of us goes a week without reporting in. There could be a number of reasons he hasn’t gotten in touch. Father probably didn’t tell you because he knew you would begin to worry.”

  “So, ignoring me is helping me not worry?” I asked dryly.

  “Ignoring you means he’s not giving you information you can act rashly with. I don’t have the same pr
oblem though, little sister. You want in, so I’m going to treat you like our brothers and sister. Jabari handles work with Father, and I handle the rest of you.”

  “You never handled me…” I muttered. ‘The rest of you’ sounded like an insult, but I didn’t take it that way. Zuri was the big sister who made sure everyone ate dinner. She made sure everyone lived in a good home and had everything they needed. If she was royalty, and you were related to her, that made you royalty, and she expected you to live like it, to act like it.

  I never gave her the chance to do that, hence my comment. She never tried to either.

  “No. Father wanted to deal with you on his own. You’re his first rebellious American child. The first one in the family at all. That being said, here you are calling me. I always thought he handled you with…what’s that saying? Kid gloves?”

  “That’s the one,” I mumbled, leaning over to rest my head in my free hand.

  “Yes. Like precious china or something delicate. After last year, though, I would say you are anything but delicate. Then again, Mischa always told him that very thing. The one thing she and I ever agreed on.”

  I snorted at that. Mischa was Hasan’s Russian daughter. Born in the cold winds of the Siberian tundra, her werecat form was an unusual white and light grey with electric blue eyes. She was also loud, boisterous, and totally at odds with Zuri. They were from literally opposite sides of the world and acted like they were completely opposite people.

  “If Hasan doesn’t call me, can I call you?” I asked, letting the topic of Mischa and family dynamics drop.

  “Yes, and I’ll pass along what he says to me. He probably didn’t think you would reach out, but I’ll give him my mind over it. Everything aside, you are my little sister.” There was a hint of something motherly and caring in her words.