Chapter Fifteen

When I woke up, Heath was already out of bed, and I couldn't hear him in the bathroom. I closed my eyes again and listened, not ready to haul myself from the bed. There was something cooking. I could hear the sizzle in the kitchen and the silent steps of someone walking around. Others were moving around downstairs as well, just as quiet. Knowing it had to be Heath, Davor, and Niko, I knew that the last few days hadn't been some nightmare. This was still something we were doing, and my bones were heavy as I sat up. I took a shower, taking my time, not out of laziness but rather being unable to really push myself.

By the time I was downstairs, a full spread of breakfast was laid out, and my brothers were already eating quietly with Heath on the opposite side of the table. He had two prepared plates, and when he saw me, he slid one for me to sit next to him.

"Thank you. This looks good."

"Without Carey here begging for her favorites, half a dozen werewolves bothering me in the morning, or the boys sniffing around for free food, it felt good to cook breakfast in peace and quiet," he explained, clearly going for that silver lining about why none of those things were taking place. Carey had gone to crash with her brother because Heath didn't want her to see all the dangerous things my brothers were messing with. That would make her worry, and I didn't want that. I was making Heath jump through hoops he normally didn't have to, and thankfully, he was jumping gracefully.

"I'm glad you got to putter around the kitchen without being harassed this morning and will accept the gift of breakfast," I said with a soft chuckle, grateful that Heath was the wise man he was. He knew how to find moments of joy in otherwise troublesome situations. He didn't do so at inappropriate times, but when we had a moment to breathe, he took advantage of them.

"Amazing…"

"Do you two really flirt over breakfast?" Niko asked.

"It's their house and table," Davor said before I could figure out what to retort with.

"But we're here."

"And?" Davor and I asked at the same time.

Niko shrugged with a smile and continued eating, leaving the air filling with the scent of confusion from Davor and me. I turned to Heath, the werewolf not confused like myself. He'd caught whatever Niko was doing while Davor and I had no idea.

Deciding to forget about all of that, I finished breakfast as Heath was prepared to get everyone's plates.

"Stay here for a moment. I want to mention something before you all go," he said as he grabbed Davor's and went into the kitchen. Once he was back, he sat back down, but now with a photo of a couple.

"Those are the victims," Niko said, his head tilting as he looked at the photo.

"Yes, they are," Heath confirmed. "I know you asked for no werewolves to get involved, but I've been thinking. When a werewolf injures a human in a fit of anger, on accident, or even for a reason, the pack makes a substantial payment to the family. It's carved out of that werewolf's assets as a punishment, and if the wolf can't afford it, we dock their pack pay if they work for us. If they don't get a payment from the pack, it's added to their pack dues. We find ways. Deaths to a Last Change werewolf, however, get paid by the NAWC in secret. The BSA doesn't ever tell the family of the victims that the victim was killed by someone supernatural. There's no murderer to arrest because the werewolf had to be killed."

"And these rules technically apply to werecats as well," I said, sighing. "But we don't have that sort of power structure to enforce those sorts of things."

"No, you don't, but that only means helping the victims gets a little harder and roundabout. It doesn't make it impossible."

"You want to go to the family of these people and give them money for this couple," Davor said softly.

"It's rather nice of werewolves to do that. It must be done quietly since I never see a big show about it," Niko said as he leaned forward, his eyes lit with curiosity.

"It is. There's nothing political about it. We're not trying to buy anyone or shake hands for cameras. For all our faults, we werewolves do want to live with humans openly. We also know we're dangerous. It was something the NAWC voted on very early on as we started trying to think of all the possible outcomes of our choice to go public and how living openly would turn out. Different Alphas and werewolves already did these sorts of things, knowing in secret we couldn't actually do anything else. We knew this couldn't be a stunt. Some tried to make it into one, but I was one of the werewolves that debated for it not to be."

"Why not?" Niko asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair again.

"We do similar but for humans that work for our family in the world if they're hurt by a supernatural," Davor interjected, but I didn't think he was going to stop the exchange between Heath and Niko now.

"Why would we want to make a stunt out of cleaning up a mess we created?" Heath asked in retort but without heat. I was grateful that Niko's prying didn't upset him, as though he might have thought Niko was questioning his integrity. "It only highlights that someone was hurt by a werewolf and that we're patching that wound and trying to buy our way back into good graces with the humans after it. No, we have to deal with it and try to stop it from happening again. We announce that the werewolf was punished according to the laws agreed upon between the federal government and the NAWC. That's all the public needs to hear. The family can say they got money if they want, but I think only a few have told the public."

"That's smart. It would be too easy to try to spin something like that into a positive," Niko said, leaning back again.

"A false thing. It would look like a spin, and that undermines everything," Heath replied as he relaxed a fraction beside me.

"I think you should do it," I finally said, reaching out to grab his hand. "Use my accounts to fund it. You know what sort of numbers you paid out as an Alpha for different things. Use those for this. I have no doubt it's a lot of money."

"It is," he confirmed, his eyes soft as he looked at me. With a squeeze of my hand, a gentle smile spread. "Thank you. I'll do what I can for the family while you're dealing with this."

"I'll tell Subira that you're dealing with this for us," Davor said, pulling out his phone. "She'll have some thoughts on it, and maybe Jacky's wealth can be restored once it's done."

"My wealth is fine," I said, groaning.

"You're the poorest member of the family who has done the least with the wealth to help it grow," he said, typing on his phone with thumbs faster than any I had ever seen. "Wealth is important as an immortal. It's not a status thing. Live however you like; we all do. It's important because you need to be able to rebuild if something happens."

"He's not talking about something small like someone throwing a Molotov cocktail into your bar either," Niko said, sighing as he looked away. "He means someone is dropping bombs sort of bad. Fall of a nation bad. Losing all your businesses, losing a lot of your money tied up in a dead economy. That sort of bad. You have to have wealth, and it has to be everywhere."

"I know, but… I don't like—" A simple squeeze from Heath made me stop. I looked at him and saw his expression. He believed in the same thing. He had done it before. I knew that.

"Let them recoup the cost," he said softly as he pulled up my hand, placing a small kiss on the back of it.

The table was silent for a moment, and I sighed.

"Okay. Thank you for doing this. Davor, thank you for thinking of me and my future."

Davor nodded and went back to typing on his phone at a speed I could never reach.

"Do we have their names?" Niko asked, tapping the picture of the couple again.

"We do. I'll deal with it. You three should focus on the trip you're about to take."

With that, the three of us snapped into action, knowing that was what we needed to do. Grabbing our bags, we did last-minute checks of our gear, making sure we didn't forget anything. When Davor busted out a two-page-long checklist, I knew we'd be fine on the preparation front. We loaded up my car, and I kissed Heath goodbye. It was shorter than I wanted but long enough to make my cheeks warm.

"I won't be stupid enough to ask you to be safe. None of this is safe… but remember your promise," Heath whispered against my lips.

"I will come home," I promised him one more time before letting him pull away. "I love you. Tell Carey I already miss her, but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I will, and I love you, too," he said, stepping back a little farther.

I opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat, Niko in the passenger, and Davor in the back. I moved quickly, knowing I couldn't linger. If I lingered, it would get harder and feel worse. Once we were on the highway to Dallas, I let my hands relax on the steering wheel.

"This sucks," I mumbled, not paying any mind to the men in the vehicle with me.

"It always does," Niko said, leaning as he stared out the window. "Do you think the BSA will see us at the airport? They'll figure out Davor is a werecat immediately if he's with us."

"I don't care," Davor said, the verbal shrug coming through clearly. "The last thing I'm scared of is a government agency."

"You would probably give them some virus, huh?"

"I have options. It depends on if they publicize me or let it leak, like what happened to you. I can't delete things from the internet. That's impossible, as we all know. If they kept it private and harassed me, that would be easier to deal with. I have options either way, though."

"Well, they don't know we're headed to the airport right now, not this early. It doesn't take off until closer to noon, and it's only eight in the morning," I said with a smile back at him. "And Beth has been very good at creating some boundaries for me. She can't stop stupid from being stupid, but… who can?"

"It's good we have a human who works well with you here. That's a useful ally." Davor leaned between our seats. "Do you consider her an ally?"

"I do. The BSA could be considered an ally, too, but they have their own goals and think they should have the final say in how things work…" Shaking my head, I took the turn I needed.

"That sounds like the Tribunal. The Tribunal is, for lack of a better term, a group of allies trying to rule the supernatural world. Even Callahan and Corissa with Hasan and vice versa." Niko shifted in his seat, trying to stretch his lanky legs. "But they don't always agree. They don't always have the same idea about how something needs to get done or when. They have different protocols among their own to do things. They have to come together and compromise… And just because they sit on the Tribunal together doesn't mean any of them feel safe with the others. There's a respect that at any point, a disagreement can become an assassination attempt or a brawl or a war." He reclined his chair and slid it all the way back, Davor moving his legs behind my seat instead.

"Like me and the BSA." I couldn't argue that there had never been moments when the BSA and I weren't in agreement, and things got heated. I made threats. They made threats. We both stepped back, tried to de-escalate, and kept working together.

"Yeah. I know it's also more nuanced as you get closer to those different examples. The core of it is similar." Niko stretched his arms over his head and closed his eyes as he put his hands behind his head. "But, with all of that, I think we should still let Davor go without us and see if we can keep him from being caught out as a werecat by association."

"I do know how to handle the airport myself," Davor conceded, leaning back from the center console.

"Fine, whatever you think is best." I had no strong feelings one way or another. The fact was, if a supernatural was near me, they were going to get found out at some point. That was proved when I invited werecats to visit me in Dallas. We did our best, but circumstances eventually led to it. I knew they would in this, too. Davor was going to be seen in Fairbanks when we went through the couple's things. There was really no avoiding it in the long run.

I didn't bring that up, letting my brothers put their plan in motion. I dropped Davor off, knowing my windows were tinted enough to keep me and Niko from being seen. Like speeding, the fae charm cast on my car kept anyone from considering it long enough to give me a ticket.

Once Davor was out with his hiking bag and case, I went to park the car. Landon and Dirk would come get it for me the next day, and the supernatural staff at the airport knew that. Niko and I didn't have to wait in any lines, being led through halls and doors until we reached the private jet that I had inherited from the Dallas pack. Davor was already on board, enjoying a drink as we put the bags away. I had to quickly talk to the captain about some scheduling things.

"We can take off right now even though we're early. I don't know how it all works, but he says we can get off the ground now if we want," I explained as I sat across the aisle from Niko and Davor, who claimed a little table section together.

"There's a lot of money involved. Let's get going. No point in waiting." Niko pulled a book out from his bag, but I didn't catch the title as he handed it to Davor.

"That's what I thought." I put up a thumbs up for the captain, and he nodded from the door to the cockpit.

"How do you not know how everything with your private jet works?" Niko asked me as Davor started reading.

"I don't manage it. Heath and Landon do everything," I answered, chuckling. "Without them, I would have figured out some way to sell it because I don't know what the hell I'm doing enough already. I didn't need to add anything to the list."

"Heath handles a lot for you," Davor said, looking up from the book.

"He does." Smiling, I relaxed into my seat. "Like what we talked about at breakfast. We've been so focused on what we have to find and deal with that we didn't consider… helping the poor family left behind by that couple. He did. He was scheduling our flight, arranging everything with the airport staff, and he thought of that." My smile grew emotional as I really considered the man I loved so much. "I don't know if I'd be here today if it wasn't for him. I don't know what I would do without him."

Neither brother responded. We got into the sky. Quietly, Davor left the table area with Niko and sat in the same area as me, not saying anything. I appreciated it.