14. Chapter Fourteen

Isat stunned for a moment. There were a couple of problems that kept me from getting my brain to function properly.

One, I wasn't used to the power that filled the air around me. This wolf was powerful. It was in his scent. It was in his posture, leaning back half against the seat and half on the far door, with one arm stretched out over the back, which he could use to grab the back of my neck if I wasn't careful. He'd positioned himself carefully, with his long legs stretched out into my leg space, an obvious play that I had no personal space he cared to respect.

Two, he was disarmingly good-looking. He hadn't seemed like that in the pictures I had seen of him, quietly sitting in the back. His smiles in those had been soft. The one I was confronted with was sharp. He wasn't a rugged man like most werewolves I'd seen. He was classically beautiful, with a sharpness that made me uncomfortable. The only thing about him that wasn't styled to perfection was his hair, which looked like he'd run his hand through it too many times. It fell over his face, framing his dastardly grey-blue eyes. And that was all before I got to his broad shoulders, encased in a crisp black suit. He didn't look like a man who was fighting for his life. Not in the slightest.

Three…well, it was time for me to tell him that his daughter was taken from me, and I was pretty certain he would try to kill me after that.

"Start talking, Jacky." He didn't remove his eyes from me as the SUV got moving.

"Twenty-four hours or so ago, a hunting party showed up at the location I was hiding her at. We'd already been chased out of my territory by a small group that had silver on them. The next one was twice the size and put four silver bullets in me, leaving me for dead, and taking her with them." I hoped he understood that I had done everything I could have thought of.

His eyes darkened with rage and for once, I was genuinely scared of a werewolf. Not because he was stronger than me. Not because he was faster.

He was a father who had a little girl, and now that little girl was in danger. Very real danger. Makes him the most dangerous monster in the city, to be honest.

"And you're here," he whispered.

"I made a choice to come and save her. I wasn't going to give up and fail my Duty, no matter what Laws told me I probably should." Let that be enough. Please.

"What about the silver wounds?" he asked, looking over me with disdain now. "You don't look very injured."

I didn't have a way to say anything without whining, so I pulled my shirt up enough that he could see my gut, with the scabbed hole from one of silver bullets. The bruising around it was only going to get worse before it got better. I lifted higher to show him more.

"I have another hole in my thigh. There were some bystanders who kindly took the bullets out and did CPR on me."

Someone coughed in the front. I glanced quickly, not wanting to take my eyes off the dangerous wolf next to me for too long. Stacy was staring into the back, her eyes wide. Her father was looking over at her.

"Stacy, stop staring."

"Dad, they shot her!" she cried out. "Heath, you have to put a stop to this! Why is this about Carey? What happened?"

"Stacy, stay out of it," her father snapped. "Now."

She looked back to the front and I knew the teenage attitude when I saw it. I was a nineteen-year-old girl once and pulled the exact same move more times than I'm certain was necessary. Her arms crossed and she thumped back into her seat, creating the same effect as slamming a door.

"CPR? You died?" Heath lifted his chin and looked down his nose now, but I could see a tiny amount of lightening of his eyes. That boded well for me.

"For two minutes, they said." I wasn't going to tell him about Brin and his family. It wasn't the wolf's business. Brin had never exposed what he was to Carey, therefore it wasn't much of consequence. "There had to have been thirteen wolves in that hunting party. I'm not an old or experienced werecat. I did what I could." I felt shitty for it since it hadn't been enough, but it had been my best.

"I know," he said softly. "So, you think my daughter is now somewhere in Dallas."

"The first group…They said they wanted her to flush you out. I expect you'll be getting some hint or message soon to meet or something. Trade her safety for your defeat. Not very honorable, but from my understanding, nothing about this has been." I shrugged. I didn't really want to talk wolf politics with wolves. I was suddenly worried about being out of my territory, the anxiety making my chest tighten. I was in an SUV, an enclosed space, with two wolves, one of them very angry at me—and he had the power to destroy my life. Even kill me. He could invade my territory, even if I did make it back there. "I'm sorry, Alpha Everson."

"It's not your fault," he whispered. "I knew you would fight hard if it was needed. I didn't think they would attack you so blatantly."

"How…" I stopped and considered a different approach. I couldn't just question this guy. I needed to know he would be receptive. Hasan was the same way in that regard. "May I ask you a few questions?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" He raised an eyebrow.

"How did you even know about me?"

"Oh." He snorted, a small smile finally overcoming the angry stone expression. "I thought you had something difficult to ask. It's simple, really. Someone came to me, wondering why a werewolf opened a bar in Jacksonville. It must have been right after you showed up. I got curious and drove out, but stopped when I realized that I was about to cross the border of your territory. Started digging into you after that, but I didn't want to out you to your humans, so I told them that you were private and that if anything happened, they could let me know and I would deal with it."

"Fucking hell. Do you know a guy named Joey?" I asked, eyeballing him hard now.

"I do," he murmured, the small smile turning into a predatory grin.

"What all do you know about me?" I demanded, crossing my arms. I even tapped a foot as I waited for an answer. "I think I deserve to know, because I was living a very quiet and happy life before you decided I should be a part of your daughter's protection detail."

"Everything I could find. It's decent intel. I know your full name is Jacqueline Leon, not Jacky. I know you have a lawyer in New York and an accountant up there. Through the accountant, I found a few of your aliases. I like to know who and what is living in my state, and since you were fairly close, I figured you could come in handy. You have, even if it wasn't exactly the outcome I wanted."

"Really? Your daughter was taken from me—"

"You died for her, which means a lot to me," he snapped. "I'm angry she was taken, but I'm not foolish enough to think it was your fault. It's the wolves who took her and they're going to pay for that."

"Even though you failed, you bought us some damn valuable time," the wolf driving said casually. Stacy stayed quiet, which was probably for the best. A nineteen year old didn't need to wade into this serious of a conversation.

"Exactly. You were able to keep my daughter out of the line of fire, which meant I could focus on finding out who is and isn't loyal to me here in Dallas without worrying about her as much. Harrison told me she made it to you, since you had called him. Did you tell him that the wolves grabbed her back?"

I nodded. "Last night."

"He hasn't contacted me yet…" Heath shook his head, growling. "Damn. He probably doesn't want me to make this a bigger bloodbath than it already is. Still, stupid of him to keep that kind of a secret from me."

"Yeah." I didn't say what I was agreeing with, opting for letting everyone believe what they wanted to believe. "So, where are you taking me?"

"Your hotel. I looked it up when I realized you were here," the Alpha answered. "You're going to get your things and come with us. Don't make it hard, please."

"No, of course not," I said, my throat tight and my mouth dry. "And where are we going?"

"You're terrified," he said, shaking his head. "There's no reason for you to be."

"What do you know about werecats? I'm out of my territory. I'm in the same city as a werewolf war that should have nothing to do with me. I was attacked twice and a little human girl, your daughter, was taken from my protection, which was never a place I ever thought to have a girl. In my protection, that is." I leaned over for a moment. "Of course I'm terrified. If I really believed you weren't going to kill me for losing her, then that's just one problem off the list of them. I'm breaking the Law by even fucking being here, and that's a big fucking problem, too. A bigger one than what you're dealing with."

He watched me as I leaned back into my spot, away from him. Far from him.

"You're right. You do have a lot of reasons to be worried." He inclined his head. "So…what side do you choose?"

"While I was protecting Carey, I was trying to remain impartial," I explained. "While I tried not to be totally fatalistic to her, I was ready for an outcome in which she would go to a legal guardian and not a parent or other family." I swallowed. "Now, even though they've taken her and tried to kill me, I am still trying to remain impartial. I'm not going to help you win this. I'm going to get your daughter back and keep her safe from all harm. That means once I have her again, I'm leaving with her until this settles." I was lying to his face, but politically, it was the only thing I could have possibly said. I fully wanted him to win. I wanted to rip his opponents to pieces and feed on their corpses. I wanted to roll around their dead bodies like a fucking rabid animal. It wasn't a feeling I was accustomed with, but I was growing more used to everything it flared in my chest.

But I had to watch my own back as best as I could.

He didn't call out my lie. "And you recognize that working with me is probably the fastest way to finding her."

"Sort of. I caught one of the other wolves last night. I didn't hold him, but I had him deliver a message to the wolf he reported to. They failed to kill me and I was here to pick a fight for her again."

"Why are you doing this?" He propped his elbow on the window and door, leaning on it. He was now watching me with an intensity that made me want to squirm.

"You're the third person I've explained this to, but the others were werecats…" I huffed. "It could be considered a failure of my Duty that I let Carey get taken from me, but I like to think that's only the case if I give up. I'm not giving up. There's been a lot of Law-breaking around here. They started it. I'm going to continue to do what I swore I would do, even though the Laws will hang me for it." I wanted to snarl about how they took something that belonged to me, but I wasn't foolish enough to say that in front of her father. I wasn't her mother or her sister, or even a friend. I was a werecat who promised to try and be all of those things and a body shield, and it would end when I gave her back to this man. It was still a bone I was choking on, but I would abide by it.

"That's…honorable of you," he said softly, nodding. "Very honorable, to put your Duty over your self-preservation."

"If I was worried about self-preservation, I would have given her up to the first hunting party. Not get shot five times in less than a week," I snapped, baring my teeth. "Older and wiser werecats have told me this is foolish. I made it clear to them…that I didn't think so and there's no other option in my mind."

"I'm glad I sent her to you, then." He extended a hand. "I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Heath Everson."

"Jacky Leon. I prefer Jacky, by the way. Don't call me Jacqueline."

"Why not? It's a pretty name," he countered.

"Fine. Call me whatever you want." I pulled my hand back, shaking my head.

"I will. I tend to do whatever I want without needing someone's permission." He smirked. "So, do you know anything else about what's happening here in Dallas?"

"Um…Council Alpha Harrison of Atlanta gave me some small details," I answered. "Things he thought could help me protect Carey and understand the situation and how dangerous it is. You really have wolves out there fighting over loyalty?"

"It was my idea, actually. Good way to weed out the weak traitors. My top twenty or so wolves are mostly on my side. We have a couple unaccounted for, but I'm certain they're lying low, keeping their heads down until they think it's safe to reach out. Even if they're traitors, I overpower them."

"How did this start?" I went back to crossing my arms, not wanting to think about how warm and calloused his hand had been. Reminded me of my late fiancé.

"I was working late. Sniper took a shot and hit me in the back, which is why we've been quiet, hiding. So I can heal and deal with the challenger properly, while figuring out who belongs to who. Shamus here found me and took me underground and into hiding while also scrambling to find out about my family. My sons protected Carey long enough for her to get out, and somehow she made it to you. She's a smart kid…" He trailed off, showing just a peek at the worried father I knew was underneath.

"She is," I agreed. "I enjoyed spending time with her. She's a sweetheart with a big heart."

"Yes, she is." He nodded. "Well, I think my sons were taken, but we haven't had word. That alone has given me a little hope about this. No word means they might not have been grabbed and they're also hiding out. They're adults, and intelligent. I trust their judgement in staying safe and helping me from afar, if that's what they're doing."

"Oh! Then I do have some news for you." Finally, something good I had to offer for him. "Carey, at one point and against my wishes, checked her cellphone. I say against my wishes because of GPS tracking, but—"

"Carey's phone couldn't be tracked. I swear to you on that." He waved that off. "Now, what were you—"

"Then how the hell did the wolves find us outside of my territory?"

He sighed. "They could have at least one person who knew about you, or more likely, stole my file on you from my office. Either way, I think they used the information I had on you. For that, I am sorry."

"That makes a lot of sense, considering what you knew. Okay, so back to the important thing. Carey got a text from Richard that said he and Landon were okay."

I heard him stop breathing, even if I couldn't see any change in his posture or outward appearance.

"Thank God," he exhaled. "Richard and Landon are my…" He rubbed his face. "Nothing. Between those two and Carey, I'm glad to hear that. That's the best news I've had in days."

"Good," I murmured, lowering my eyes.

"We're here," Shamus said softly.

Heath straightened and fixed himself. I didn't think he looked rumpled at all, but apparently he did. "Stacy, go in with Ms. Leon and help her retrieve her things. Jacky, I recommend staying checked in with the hotel and leaving your vehicle here. It'll distract the wolves until they get access to security and see Stacy with you."

"How are you keeping Stacy safe?" I asked, flicking my eyes to the girl. "She shouldn't…"

"She's opted for the Change. She's to be treated like a wolf until that time," Heath answered.

I nodded respectfully. Fine, then. Stacy hadn't told me that, but then, no human wanted to admit to a stranger that they were willing to give up their humanity.

She and I jumped out and walked inside together. I ignored the front counter for the most part, just making sure it wasn't the woman from the night before, and it wasn't. Stacy was silent beside me until we reached my room. I was aching by the time we reached it. Between the walking I'd done all morning, the running the night before, and, you know, being shot until I died, every part of my body fucking hurt.

"You were protecting her…" Stacy looked over my things, frowning. "They shot you for it."

"Have those two taught you the Law?" I asked softly, putting my things back into my suitcase.

"Yeah. I never read more than the general rules and the part about the werewolves, though."

"There's a werecat section that deals with all Laws for my kind and for others dealing with mine. We're the reason the Laws exist, you and I. Did you know that?"

She shook her head, and I rolled my eyes.

"Ask your father or Heath for a better history lesson, then." I zipped up the suitcase. "Do you know Carey?"

"I babysit her," she said with a bite. "Of course I know her. My father is Heath's fourth."

"Ah. I'm sorry, then." The guilt ate into my soul a little more the longer Carey was missing. I failed all of them by losing her. Being dead just didn't seem like a good enough excuse to me, even if it was for them.

"So, you were really injured…we have someone who can help with that. A half-witch who can heal."

"Really?" That perked me up. I knew about the half-witch, but I didn't want to reveal that. They might not have liked Carey talking about pack secrets with me, and that should be a secret. I definitely did not know she could heal.

"Yeah. We can ask Heath if she can patch you up. No offense, but you walk funny and you're favoring your right arm."

I hadn't even noticed, and while I hurt, I wasn't going to bitch about it or let it slow me down. "Yeah. If you feel comfortable with that, sure. I'm fine, though. Really." Not really, but again, not letting it slow me down.

"Good." She nodded wisely and took the suitcase from me. She carefully laid my gym bag on top of it.

"So, you want to be a werewolf," I said casually.

"I want to try. I know the Change might kill me, but it's my decision." She raised her chin, ready for me to try and convince her not to, I bet.

"Who's mad at you?" I asked softly.

"My mom, who divorced my dad ten years ago. She doesn't get a say, in my opinion. My dad and Heath are going to walk me through it, so my odds are pretty good. There's something about genetics, that if one person in the direct line successfully Changed, then the others have a good chance. I want to research it when I'm in college and beyond. I can help further humans and wolves, if we can discover what that little…something is that determines it."

"You can," I agreed. "Though the chance of it being successful is higher when someone is born to the werewolf and not to the human before the Change."

"Yeah, but still, my odds aren't one out of ten or worse, like they are for most humans. There's more like a sixty-six percent chance of me surviving, which is why I think my dad relented and let me go through with it. Those are good odds." She shrugged.

Fuck. I hope I'm never that comfortable facing my possible doom.

Wait.

I shrugged with her. "Fair point."

"How did you choose?" she asked as we left the room.

"I didn't," I answered. "I was dying."

She didn't say anything else, just giving me a wide-eyed stare as the doors closed. Finally, she broke out of the shock. I knew it would puzzle her.

"Is that a werecat thing?"

"Not at all." I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Ask Heath. He seems to know a lot about my kind."

"Yeah, but you're one of your kind. So why don't you tell me?"

"Not out here in public. My kind isn't out to the humans, kid." I scoffed as the doors opened and walked ahead of her, ignoring my pain. The curiosity of the young. I was only thirty-six and that meant in the eyes of many, I was a child too, but I wasn't that nosy. Or rather, I knew how to be nosy without…being overtly nosy, or so I believed.

We got back into the SUV and I sat quietly next to Heath as we started driving off.

"You haven't told Stacy how the Laws came to be," I said, loudly enough that I knew they would all hear me and the small bite of ‘what the fuck' in it.

Heath bared his teeth. "You mean the war with your kind we had and practically won, before we were forced to sit down and play for peace?"

"Woah!" Stacy heard that too, looking back at us. "Really? We had a war? With her kind? And yet you let her protect Carey?" The end was angry at Heath, disbelieving.

"Jacky here is too young to have been a part of the war."

"How do you know?" I demanded, glaring at him.

"You act too modern. If it helps, I wasn't around for it either, but I'm much older than you." He kept his teeth bared, but it turned into a predatory smile. "You brought it up."

"I just figured that's something you should teach people. She's also never read all of the Laws."

"Have you?"

No, but I wasn't going to tell him that. I read the ones that really mattered. "She should have at least read the section about werewolves and werecats."

"Don't tell me how to teach my pack," he snapped.

"Do you make all your wolves prove that they have read and understand them? It might have kept the others from blatantly breaking them and coming after Carey and me." I wasn't dropping it now.

He snarled, reaching out for me. I grabbed his wrist, holding him off. I was weak, I was tired, and I was in pain, but I was still a damn werecat. Two werewolves and a human teenager were no match, especially if I fought each of them one on one. My confidence soared in my chest again, less afraid than I had been, as I pushed his hand further away from me.

"Forgive me," I said softly. "But I think I have a point."

"Yes, I make sure they all know, but do you know when the last real Tribunal concerning a broken Law was? A very long time ago. A lot of wolves barely make it to fifty, which means they weren't alive for it. To them, the Law and being in front of the Tribunal is a horror story, not something that actually happens." He yanked his hand away, looking down at it. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Did you forget I'm the stronger species?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I actually never believed it. I've only met one werecat, and it was in passing. I couldn't believe that she would be able to beat me, and I didn't think you could stop my strike. Consider me educated."

"Same. You have a point." I crossed my arms again as I realized he wasn't going to try again. I couldn't really be mad at him. If I had been challenged like that, I would have gone for a control hold too. I knew he had wanted ownership over my throat to make his point and his position in the ranking clear, but this was exactly what I had been telling Carey.

I had to prove I was the top predator, and it made the Alpha very insecure. He didn't like that he couldn't take me, still staring at his hand and flexing it.

"How old are you exactly?" he asked, giving me a curious look. "If you're like my kind, you get stronger with age. Call me curious."

"I'm thirty-six and I've been a werecat for ten years," I answered, looking away from him. I was a baby compared to the other werecats. "I'm the youngest werecat I know of by…ninety-two years." I looked back over at him, watching him absorb that information.

"Interesting," he murmured.

"You?" I was curious, probably too curious, and the adage about cats' curiosity came to mind. I smirked. "Call me curious."

"I was Changed during the American Revolution, at the age of thirty. I'm two hundred and seventy-eight." He didn't like his answer.

I overpowered a nearly three hundred-year-old werewolf. I knew my kind was stronger than his, but he was old in their terms. Not by werecats terms, but for his kind, he was a survivor. With werewolves and their dominance struggles, they died easier, faster, than my own.

"Wait," Stacy cut in. "Can I ask more?"

"Stacy," Heath chastised softly, giving her a look.

"It's fine." I shrugged. I figured if there was nothing to do about Carey until we got with the rest of the wolves, I might as well help educate the wily youth about other supernaturals, especially if she planned on joining the ranks.

"Fine," he relented.

"Why are there no other young werecats? I mean, there's young wolves all the time. Lots of them. Everywhere."

"I know the answer to this one," Heath said before I could open my mouth. "It's a cultural difference."

"Yeah." I nodded in agreement. "We're solitary. We don't go out looking for companionship most of the time. To Change someone is putting someone in our care, probably for a long time. Like…if and when Heath or whoever Changes you, they're going to be responsible for you until you can handle things on your own. That's a bit of a turn-off to werecats." I sighed. "Also, we practically never Change someone without consent and years-long education about it and our world beforehand. Then you have to account for failures. So a werecat can invest thirty years in adopting a baby, raising it as their child, offering the Change, doing it, and…"

Well, I had heard from Hasan how heartbreaking those cases were. He hadn't done something like that in two hundred years, and he'd told me about two failures he had ages ago. I could still remember the shadows I saw in his eyes when he talked about the two young men that it happened to.

"Oh. So…there's no process like there is with us?" She frowned. "Why? There must not be many of you."

"There never will be. We're not community-oriented. We're territorial and stand-offish. We don't want too many werecats. There's not enough land to go around between us, you werewolves, the fae, the vampires, and so on. Our numbers are healthy right now, though." I yawned, suddenly tired. "You done? Any more?"

"You said that werecats practically never Change someone without their consent…but you were. Did anyone get into trouble for it, or is it just rare?"

Heath's eyebrows went up. That was something I really shouldn't have shared, I realized belatedly. He hadn't known that. Hell, Lani didn't even know that.

"Yes, well, I was dying after a storm made the roads slick and I went over a cliff," I said quietly, shifting my body to face away from Heath, an obvious sign I wasn't up to giving away any more of my life story. "It's just rare," I finally said. "And avoided."

It was because some people didn't accept the Change. For the werewolves, Hasan had told me they were laxer about it because they were easier to put down. For werecats, because of the bonds we made and the strength we had, it was too risky. He'd said if I didn't have control of my werecat within a year, he would have put me down before I got too strong for him to potentially stop.

Luckily, I gained control.

"I think we're done interrogating the local werecat, Stacy," Heath said gently. "Why don't you call the safe house and let them know we're on our way back?"

"Okay…Sorry, Jacky, if I offended you."

I shrugged. "Not offended. Just a sore topic," I told her. "You didn't know. Don't feel bad." Couldn't have kids feeling bad for their curiosity.

The rest of the ride was quiet for me, as everyone else talked softly about who was where and doing what. When we arrived at the warehouse, lost somewhere in Dallas, I was ready to face the next challenge.

I had to work with a wolf pack to get Carey back.