Chapter Thirty-Four

"What did Jabari mean when he left me on the phone?" Davor asked out of nowhere as we entered the Tribunal, leaving behind the mess that was Alaska and the secrets it had held. I immediately knew what he was trying to do, distracting himself from the horror we had left behind.

"What did he say?" Subira asked, curious at Davor's question as she closed the door on Alaska completely.

"Something about someone being right with their theory," he explained.

"Ah…" Subira nodded and opened the door again, revealing my office, where Heath sat on my desk, clearly waiting on me. I rushed in and threw my arms around him, feeling the power of his hug. It was the most comforting thing I could have asked for at that moment.

"I told you I would come back," I whispered into his shoulder.

"You did." He kissed my cheek, holding me there.

I fought tears as I let him hold me until someone cleared their throat, and I released him to see what my family needed.

"Heath went to Portland, where the human victims had come from," Subira began, smiling as she looked at Davor. "While there, he discovered that they had been stealing from their supernatural clients, who the humans didn't know existed. They worked with vampires and fae. They were convinced the deaths were a hit, and they were most likely correct. We'll probably find evidence of that in the documents you have collected. Good practice for the disturbing magic they were using, using a bloody trade such as mercenary work. Zuri and I had agreed, believing it was a very real possibility, but we couldn't get ahold of any of you, and none of you called once we discovered that. Things were happening quickly, though, since it wasn't long until you called and let us know everything you had discovered." Subira waved for Davor and Niko to come into my home as well. "Davor, get the rest of your things, and we'll head to your home."

"Oh, um, I have it," my brother said, lifting the case. "We really did lose everything else, and what I left here, I left for Dirk."

"Ah, I see." She stepped in but didn't close the door, leaving it sitting open. "Well, let me say goodbye to these two."

I accepted the powerful, warm hug from Subira. She rubbed my back, pulling me down to her level to put my forehead on her shoulder. She said nothing, but she didn't need to. All I could smell was love and pride, and that was all I needed. She let me go and pulled Niko down even further than I had to go, the scent never changing.

"I'll miss you two. Remember to call and to stop discussing things that you shouldn't be discussing," she said with a smile. "Aside from that, just… be safe, okay? Tell everyone here what's going on. Tighten security. Be watchful. Be ready."

"We will be," Niko promised.

"No one is getting anyone here," I added.

"Good." She touched each of our cheeks with a hand as we stood side by side. "My two troublemakers. Niko, don't step on your sister's toes. This is her home and region. Jacky, don't be afraid to rely on us as much as you rely on your wolves. We're all in this together." She dropped her hands and pulled Davor back through the door. "And Heath… keep loving my daughter. You do it well."

"Of course," he said, a smile evident though I couldn't see it.

She closed the door as Davor waved goodbye, leaving the three of us in my office.

"Where are the others?" Niko asked, looking at Heath as I turned as well to wrap my arms around him.

"Dirk and Landon are driving over with Carey. I wanted them to come a bit later."

"Yeah, I'll go to the living room," Niko said quickly as Heath's arms wrapped around me and it was clear what Heath's intentions had been. He nearly ran out, making me chuckle, which was cut off by Heath's kiss. He moved off the desk, spinning us without moving from my lips. With ease, he lifted me onto the desk and became the center of my world, a lifeline I needed. We were breathing a little harder than necessary when he pulled away.

"I wish you gave me a chance to brush my teeth," I said, flushing.

"I'm an old man who remembers a time when dental care didn't exist. I do want to know what… caused that, though," he said, clearly avoiding saying what I meant when I said I wished I could brush my teeth.

"It's…" I pushed him away, the mood rapidly declining as I was forced once again to think about it. I had focused on the task at hand while in Alaska. I could keep doing so, but Heath needed to know. If anyone could handle it with me, it was him.

"Please, Jacky. Please, tell me," he whispered. "Just say it."

"You know about the witches controlling the werecat, yeah?"

"And the werewolves. Jabari told me everything Davor told him," Heath confirmed, running his thumb over my cheekbone as he held me.

"They needed a werecat they could control, which is apparently harder than a werewolf. They, um…" I blinked, and the tears returned again. "Hasan and Subira realized he couldn't have been older than… older than…"

"Okay, okay, I understand. You don't have to say anymore," he said quickly, pulling me into another tight hug, my head to his chest as I cried again. I didn't let the anger come for me this time. This time, I just let myself be sad. Safe in Heath's arms and safe in my territory, I let myself grieve as I recognized the fact that another ghost was going to haunt me now. He rubbed my head and back.

I only distantly recognized that Landon and Dirk arrived at my house. I barely heard Carey calling out and someone telling her to hold on a moment.

When I was done, I pushed Heath gently, letting him know I was ready.

"Yeah," I said, my voice tight from the tears. "So, there was that. I heard it and, uh, vomited in front of everyone. Well, I made it to a bush."

"Shit. No one gave you a hard time, right?" Heath leaned in, his forehead to mine.

"No. Even Callahan and Corissa were pretty torn up by it," I said, shaking my head just a little. "Hasan was nice about it. Seemed to feel guilty about accidentally saying it in front of Niko and Davor even. You know it's bad when all of them are on the same page."

"Absolutely."

"There's one more thing," I said, reaching to grab his hand. "Something everyone in the pack needs to hear."

"What's that?"

"We're at war. We don't really know who the enemies are. We don't know how many there are. I think we don't even know the entirety of their goals, but we are certainly at war," I said evenly, knowing he could handle that.

"Witches?"

"A sect of them, yes," I said, nodding as I remembered how Subira described it. "We need to be cautious and ready for anything. I've been told I'll be kept in the loop about anything concerning it, and that's a promise from Hasan."

"He'll keep it," Heath said. "Wartime isn't the time for family problems to get in the way of survival."

"Today proved that he isn't holding a grudge right now," I said, shrugging. "He was… rather nice again, but then, you were never brought up. But that's a discussion for another day. I need to sit down with the pack."

"To explain this to them as well, yes? We'll work on some security measures. You were right when you told Subira that no one here was going to be lost. We'll make it happen. I can get the pack together right now. They'll drop everything."

"Please do," I said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to sit in here for a little while until they get here."

"Can I send Carey in?" he asked as he stepped away.

"Yes. Please," I said, a broken smile taking over my face at the thought of her. He opened the door, and there she stood, waiting.

"Go on," he said, moving out of her way. She was in the room and in my arms before he left. The door clicked softly as I lifted and spun her around. I didn't care that she was now taller than me. I didn't care that she was sixteen years old.

"I missed you," she said, holding tight.

"I missed you, too."

We stayed in the hug until I released it, knowing I could hold on to her forever. Once I let her go, though, I caught her expression.

Tears filled her eyes. While I could smell her sadness and joy from both missing me and seeing me back home alive again, I hadn't caught the undertone of anger until that moment when I could see it in her eyes.

"You didn't tell me," she said, wiping those tears. "You didn't tell me what was going on."

"I didn't want to worry you," I said, sitting back on my desk. "Carey?—"

"I've known about everything else, and you didn't tell me about this. Instead, I had to bother Landon and Dirk, then I had to force Dad to tell me. I'm not a little kid. You were going to do something dangerous, and you had to do it, and you didn't tell me. I was worried anyway when you just left so fast after a bunch of whispered conversations."

"I…" I didn't know what to say. I refused to think I had done anything wrong by trying to protect her in one of the few situations when I had a chance to, yet she was valid in the way she felt.

She's going to be an adult soon, and the choice I tried to make for her is going to be hers alone. This is just a part of the whole growing-up thing.

Those thoughts made me think of a boy who didn't get those choices and didn't have the future Carey was facing. Human, supernatural, or living a life in between, it didn't matter. This was the age when the future rolled out in front of the young and they had their first tastes of real freedom.

"I'm sorry," I finally said. "I don't regret it. I was trying to do something nice for you, and I missed how not knowing only hurt you, anyway. It's difficult, Carey, finding the balance of you growing up and not being grown up."

"Yeah."

"Tell me about school," I said, holding my arms open. She came back into them, and during the hug, she told me about school until someone knocked on the door.

"The pack is here, I know," I called out to Heath outside my office. I had been following all of their movements.

"What's happening now?" Carey asked.

Sighing, I considered how to best phrase it and knew that there was literally nothing I could do to protect her from this truth.

"I have to tell everyone out there that the moon cursed are officially at war with the witches who are attempting to control us."

"Oh…" Carey had apparently not been prepared for that.

"Yeah. Listen to me, Carey." I waited for her to meet my eyes. "I love you." Then I pushed her to the door, and she once again switched places with Heath, who made sure she didn't linger on the other side.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked me.

I had to think of an answer to that, just like I had to think about what to tell Carey. I was scarred and scared. I was tired, worn to the bone from the endless violence, the problems that never seemed to resolve, only to morph into the next. One thing continued to lead to another. That was life. Life left everyone scarred in some way or another. Before leaving for Alaska, I had been tired and scared, haunted by Fenris and Rainer. I still was, and now I had new things to haunt my dreams and nightmares. I knew one thing, though, as I stared at the man I would fight the world to be with, thinking of the girl I wished was my daughter, and beyond them, everyone else I loved. My resolve was scarred, but it was still strong. It was battle tested and I knew well it would handle the war.

"Yeah, I'm ready," I said, standing up. I chuckled humorlessly as I thought of what my enemies knew about me. I really didn't know how to stay down, and they were never going to be able to force me.