Oath Sworn

by Kristen Banet

  “I’ll stay here,” he said softly, pulling up a chair.

  “What?” I couldn’t have sounded more not okay with that than I already did. I curled a lip, trying to understand why he was sticking around. I didn’t want him breathing down my neck all damn night.

  “I promised to keep you out of harm’s way, that my pack wouldn’t attack you. I failed due to my own distraction. I’ll be sitting right here until we find you a place to sleep that I feel is safe and secure.” He pulled over a chair from the meeting table and sat down. “So, no one has tried to contact me today?”

  “No. No one,” I answered, breathing hard. “Have the others talked to you?”

  “They brought me what they’ve put together so far. I don’t think we’re going to find my daughter the old-fashioned way.” He sounded distant for a moment. “We have to hope they call.”

  “They will,” I promised. “Could be tonight. Could be tomorrow, but they will. There’s a chance your wolves capture a traitor and we get the information that way. You never know.”

  “You said earlier that you found a wolf and sent him with a message.”

  “Yeah, to his superior, Little Tim. Apparently a nickname for a guy called Timothy. Want to tell me about him?”

  “He’s seventy-three and something of a slime ball. I never thought it was in a bad way. He’s good at business and leading people in the direction he wants them. He has a fascination with magic. He helped with the accounting firm. Middle of the pack.”

  “Never considered he would betray you, being ‘somewhat of a slime ball’?” I raised an eyebrow in question.

  “No, but then, no Alpha thinks half his pack is going to betray him.” He chuckled darkly. “Arrogant, I know, but it’s unheard of. Hostile takeovers are normally one wolf who takes on and takes out the Alpha. The rest of the pack falls into place. We don’t do political parties or any of the human nonsense. We just lead and follow. We survive, knowing that the strength of the community is more important than the wealth and power of the individual.”

  “Ah. Confident in how your people think, are you?”

  “I’m nearly three hundred. I’ve known a lot of wolves,” he said, giving me a bitter smile.

  “Do you think your sons will contact you?” I asked softly. “Do you think they’re safe from the machinations of the traitors?”

  “I hope so. They’re not young, my boys. Richard is only twenty-two years younger than I am. I had him while I was still human and Changed him myself. Landon was born during the Civil War. They’re good men with good heads on their shoulders.” He leaned back, shifting around in the seat. “What about you, Jacky? Like I said earlier, I have a lot of research on you. I know about your human life. I know about a lot since you moved to Jacksonville. What happened in between?”

  “I was Changed and I lived with my werecat parent,” I answered, shutting down any and all emotion on my face. Wolves were the last species I could say Hasan was my father to, not if their kind killed his daughter before me. “I flew the nest younger than most do, but said werecat parent supported me in it.”

  “Who?” He sounded blandly curious.

  I just stared at him, refusing to speak.

  “It’s really interesting that you refuse to answer that. I thought werecats looked back on their ‘line’ as if it was something to be proud of. Like that one werecat I met. She introduced herself that night as Lani, daughter of Arobi, son of Lesna, or something.” He tilted his head much like a dog would. “But I never found out who your werecat parent was. It’s elusive. A mystery.”

  “That sucks. For you.” I turned my chair, looking back at the laptop. I knew other werecats were all about that, but for a thousand reasons, I couldn’t be. I just couldn’t.

  The minutes ticked by, becoming an hour, then two. The door opened with a squeak and closed just as quietly. Heath growled, standing up slowly.

  “Fenris…”

  “I came to apologize to the miss,” the gruff old male said. I couldn’t see him yet, but I could pick out his scent now. He was like a wild forest touched with darkness. It contrasted with Heath’s summer sun and fields. “Others have imparted on me the importance of her presence, and I was foolish to think she was doing this and not taking her own risks. I was…lost in a moment of madness.”

  “Let him,” I ordered softly, standing up.

  Heath nodded and slid to stand at my side, a protective gesture I knew was rooted in his vow to protect me from his own. It was also the closest I had been to a man in years without it being a fight or a drunk dude who needed to be shoved into his car. He even put his hand on my lower back, a silent offering of support.

  Fenris grew closer. Now that he wasn’t dipping his toes into madness, his eyes weren’t glowing forest green, but an earthy brown. He offered a small bow. “I am Fenris, a wolf granted shelter by Alpha Everson when I found myself without a home thanks to my madness. Because of my regard for him and his trust in you, I offer my apologies for my behavior. I was hasty, only thinking of my own past with your kind and not the current peace we have.” He looked up from his bow to his Alpha and continued. “I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say thank you for your assistance with saving little Carey.”

  “Jacky Leon. Apology accepted.” I inclined my head, remembering all the training and lessons Hasan had given me, especially when it came to dealing with the old ones of any species. Hasan, you better be fucking proud of me right now. I’m here and I’m not starting a war with the werewolves. Look at that.

  “Move along, Fenris,” Heath finally said. “Thank you for coming.”

  Fenris didn’t waste any time getting out of my presence, leaving me alone with Heath’s hand on my back. It was a casual touch, and for the werewolves, probably a natural one, but I stepped away, breaking it. It wasn’t what I was used to and it reminded me just how damn lonely my life was before Carey stumbled into it.

  How lonely it still is. I should be honest with myself.

  He looked down at his hand for a moment, then up to my eyes. “Don’t like being touched?”

  “It’s not normal for me, no,” I answered, finding my seat again. I looked back at the screen of the laptop, settling in for more long hours of waiting. Eventually, I was going to need someone to take over so I could get some sleep, but I knew I could last until midnight if I needed to.

  Thankfully, within thirty minutes of my deciding to go back to silence, someone ran in, spooking both Heath and I.

  “We got one!” the wolf announced. “We captured a traitor. He was snooping around one of the other safe houses.”

  “Perfect. Let’s hope he knows something.” Heath grinned, standing up. “Jacky, are you going to come?”

  I nodded, standing up.

  Damn right I was going to help with the interrogation. I would have loved to see any of the wolves try and stop me.

  18

  Chapter Eighteen

  I followed Heath and the young wolf to the center of the warehouse. Someone had tied the traitor to a chair. Not the best way to hold one of them down, but I figured the traitor wasn’t going to be stupid enough to fight or run when he was surrounded by two dozen angry loyalists now also searching for a little human girl.

  “Jeffrey,” Heath breathed out. “I had hoped for better from you.”

  The wolf sniffled and glared across the room at him. I was standing right behind him and the heat of the anger felt like it burned even me.

  “There’s better options for the pack, and I’m supporting them,” Jeffrey answered, the glare not abating.

  “See, I was willing to forgive the idea that you’re fighting for a better pack future. I was okay with that. After winning the pack back, I was going to have a long conversation with each of you about that.” Heath sounded like he was amused, but I couldn’t see his face. He began to walk closer to Jeffrey, the other wolves in the room backing off.

  I followed behind him, only by a few steps, pondering Heath’s next move until he sp
oke again.

  “I could have forgiven it,” he murmured as we got closer. “What I can’t forgive is the kidnapping of my daughter from her oath-sworn protector, the werecat called to Duty.” He gestured to me, having never lost track of my movement.

  As the wolf paled in fear, I chose to circle, feeling my predatory instincts flare up, driven high thanks to the smell. It was basic, really. Fear and running drove a predator to react, to be a predator. I was thriving thanks to it.

  “My daughter, Jeffrey. She had run out of this city, somehow able to make it two hours away, at only eleven-years-old, and called a werecat to Duty for protection. Can you believe that? My human daughter can’t fight. She’s not a threat to anyone, really. She must have walked to the werecat.” Heath leaned over, putting his hands on the wolf’s wrist to prop himself up in Jeffrey’s space. “A werecat who takes her Duty so seriously that she’s killed over ten wolves, all traitors. What that must have done to your numbers…I’ve had another ten killed. What does that leave you with? A possible twenty? Maybe more, if you got the rogues to join you?”

  “Such a weak Alpha, you got a werecat involved,” Jeffrey said, his voice shaking.

  I sniffed loudly, soaking in the fear.

  “Where’s my daughter, Jeffrey?” Heath asked softly. “Answer me, and I’ll find a way not to execute you. Don’t answer me and I’ll let Jacky here interrogate you. Or let Fenris release his aggression at her existence on you. Take your pick.”

  “I don’t know where they’re keeping her.”

  “Who’s they?” I asked in a purr. It was so wildly not me, not the me I thought I was. Meeting Carey, coming to Dallas, I was noticing some remarkably different sides of myself.

  His mouth closed up so I reached out from behind him, wrapping my hand around and yanking his head back. I looked down at him now, studying his face.

  “Are you another idiot who follows Little Tim without really understanding what you’ve gotten yourself into?” I asked softly.

  “Little Tim tells us that our leaders’ identities are important to keep secret. I know who I follow. We’re going to become a powerful pack, no longer beholden to the rules of other species. We’re fucking wolves. We’re better than that. I’ll die before I tell some fucking cat our business.”

  I released him, looking up at Heath with a raised eyebrow, who sighed sadly.

  “Okay, Jeffrey. Tell your leaders I’m ready to trade my life for the life of my daughter,” Heath said softly, backing up. “I’m tired of playing this game. She’s too important.”

  I reached down and untied one of his wrists slowly, holding it in place when he tried to raise it.

  “You don’t move until I tell you to,” I hissed. I let Heath hold the wrist while I untied the second, then his ankles. Heath and I backed away in unison.

  Jeffrey stood up and looked around, grinning. “Weak enough to work with the very kind that supposedly is such a problem to us,” he spat. “This is why we can’t trust any Alpha you want to train.”

  Some of the wolves around them shifted uncomfortably.

  Heath pulled out his cellphone and held it out to Jeffrey. “Call your little leaders and tell them I’m willing to meet without violence. A simple trade. My life for my daughter’s freedom.”

  Jeffrey nodded, dialing in the number. “Tim! I’ve brought news…” They all listened to him relay the news, offering Heath’s suggestion, telling the traitors that the werecat was now with Heath and so on.

  I wasn’t sure of Heath’s game, not really, but it was his, not mine. I couldn’t see him as a man who would give up his own life without a fight, but I also didn’t see him as a man who would endanger his daughter.

  It left me with an odd, conflicting viewpoint of the man and no conclusions.

  Jeffrey finally hung up and tossed the phone back. “They’ll call you back with a time and place,” he said, still smiling.

  Heath smiled back. Then, in a lightning-fast move, he pulled a gun out and fired.

  Jeffrey fell, the silver and heat burning skin, the bullet in his brain killing him.

  “Traitor,” Heath said softly. “They want to play dirty? I’ve been trying to avoid it, but fine, I can play dirty.” He was angry.

  No, furious. I could smell it boiling the air around him, adding an acidic note to the room.

  He looked over his wolves, ignoring me completely. “My daughter is not a fucking pawn!” he roared. He began to pace, touching the cellphone to his chin. “When they give us the information, we are going in with a small force. It’ll be me, Jacky—who will take custody of Carey—and a few others. Once Carey is in your care, Jacky, you’re going to get her out of there. My group will take down anyone who wants to fight.”

  “I can fight,” I said softly. “I would really even the odds, actually.”

  “It would destroy your attempt at an impartial image.”

  “I’m sure at some point one of them is going to threaten her or something. I’ll play it by ear.” I was feeling a little bloodthirsty, to be honest. Getting Carey back and safe was close, and the wolves who took her? They were going to submit or die soon enough. And I’ll get to pay them back for fucking killing me. Assholes.

  “Fine.” Heath waved at me, dismissive. I took it as my sign to start walking away, done with the entire conversation until they needed me, but he grabbed me before I could get away. “Stay. I want you to hear everything.”

  “I feel the need to remind you that I don’t take orders from you,” I said softly, leaning over. “And it would do my kind a disservice to stay on your order.”

  “I would very much appreciate if you stayed and helped make the basic plans to rescue my daughter and end the civil war gripping Dallas,” he said, a small smile forming.

  “Much better. I can do that.” I turned back to the wolves and crossed my arms. “We are going to remember that I’m not some military commander, right?”

  “But you are a predator,” he pointed out. “And predators know how to hunt.”

  I couldn’t disagree with him, but I was still growing accustomed to being that predator. It was one thing to acknowledge that I was. It was another to use it.

  They talked for what felt like hours, until I sat on the floor even while they all remained standing. I didn’t move or talk, just listened to them argue out who might be the best in a small team that would be for ‘protecting Carey,’ when we all knew I would be the one with that job.

  They also made theories about things we couldn’t possibly know. Would we learn who the leaders of the traitors were? How many wolves would they bring to this to potentially see Heath die?

  No one had any idea what the answers were.

  Finally, I yawned too loud for any of them to miss. I checked the time and noticed it was damn near midnight and stood back up.

  “Hey, where can I sleep?” I asked. “There’s nothing else to be done until they contact us. Even I’m smart enough to figure that out, and you’ve all started talking about things I have truly no business in, like what to do after the traitors have been squashed.” I was tired, and being dismissive was the only way I could think of getting out of there. I was plagued with worry, had been for what felt like days, even if I had only met the Alpha that afternoon. I needed a break from it all. Just one night.

  He offered an arm. I eyeballed it, curling a lip.

  “I’m from a vastly different time than the one you are,” I said, pushing his arm back to him. “I’m sure it’s polite to offer to walk women around and hold them, but I’ll pass this time around.”

  “Fine,” he said, chuckling. “I’ll show you, come on.”

  I followed him out of the main room and back to the office section. He opened a door near the large office space I had used all day and showed me in. I saw a few cots laid out and nodded.

  “Thanks, but I could have managed with the floor, too.”

  “No. You’re an honored guest, remember? This is where Shamus, Stacy, and I sleep. Shamus and I
because we’re in charge. Stacy because she’s a human playing as a wolf until her Change. Still a little too vulnerable to be left out in the general area.” He walked across the room to the fourth empty cot, gesturing to it. “This work? I can have your stuff brought in from the Explorer soon.”

  “Thanks.” I fell on it, leaning on the wall that the cot was placed against. “So. Progress made on day one. This is good.”

  “This is very good,” he agreed. “I feel this should be said again. Thank you for coming to Dallas, Jacky. Thank you for helping me with Carey—and even though she was taken from you and you were injured, you’re here. I’m sad our half-witch isn’t here. She could have patched you up.”

  “It’s easy to ignore the pain,” I said casually, waving off his words. “I’ll be fine.” I hope. “She talked a lot about you,” I finally said when he didn’t leave immediately.

  “Did she? I’m blessed to have her.” He sighed and sat on his own cot, staring at me. “Would you forgive me for being a little weak for a moment? I have to present a strong front for everyone, but…Well, I don’t often get much of a chance to really think about anything anymore.”

  “I’m not going to judge you. I’ve had a nervous breakdown or four in the last few days.” I shrugged.

  “I was so worried about her when I was getting reports that no one could find her.” He sighed. “I had no idea if she made it out of the city. I had no idea if she was safe. She’s a tough kid, and my sons taught her to use a knife, but…”

  “She’s eleven. You had the right to worry,” I finished for him.

  “Exactly. She’s a baby. I should have stepped down years ago, honestly. Once I realized I had a human child. Look at what I’ve done to her now.” He leaned over, putting his face in his hands. For a moment, I saw the despairing father that hid under the shell of the Alpha. “And while my pack loves her…they would hate me if I put her before them completely. They need me too.”