Chapter Nine

It was too human-looking. I stood up slowly, leaning closer, wondering if I was really seeing what I thought I was. So human, but not at all. My own hands had looked similar before. I recognized it all too well even though I shouldn't have been able to.

In my lifetime, there hadn't been any werecats who entered the Last Change. From my understanding, it hadn't happened in a very long time. It was one thing to control the curse the way many moon cursed could. We couldn't fight the full moon, but we stayed in one of two forms, human or animal. I had only seen one of either of our kinds lose complete control, and that had been Fenris. It had been Rainer. I had killed him with my own hands, but it had nearly driven me to the same.

More powerful than we were in either form, the Last Change was a death sentence. Strong emotions, a lack of control, violence. There wasn't an exact science to it, but it happened. We became movie monsters, but the movies didn't do the true power of it justice.

"We'll need everything you have," Niko said for me. "I understand the secrecy of this meeting now. You want to make sure the human public doesn't find out about these instances."

"Exactly. We've done both small and large-scale cover-ups in these regards to keep the public from discovering the full truth of the matter. There are some conspiracy theorists out there with footage and images we would like deleted, but nothing concrete enough for anyone to pay much mind to. If this got out, there would be war, humans trying to gun down werewolves, and now, werecats in the streets and in your own homes. We understand this is rare and do our best to have a response to it that allows your kinds to clean up your own messes."

"National security," I hissed. "Makes sense now." I looked at Agent Miller, knowing my eyes were gold now. "Why was I never privy to these types of meetings before? I know for a fact that Last Change werewolves have happened since your agency started working with me, and we figured all of that out. I was never invited before." I knew those stories through the grapevine, having nothing to do with those situations, but I had heard of them.

"The strength of the NAWC means we didn't feel the need to invite you into those cases. They've proven to be able to handle their own?—"

"And I'm not?" I asked, growling softly.

"You're… one person, Miss Leon, and for the vast majority of the time, you don't work with any other werecats. When you have, they have disappeared quickly after everything was said and done. All the werecats we've met through you, we've been mostly unable to maintain any sort of idea of their locations, businesses, or known aliases. Because of that, we decided the NAWC should be here as well because we can at least trust their ability to handle these situations."

"We'll help in any way," Callahan said, smiling benignly, but I knew the power move when I saw it.

"We don't need your help," I said softly, trying to hold back the snarl that threatened to erupt from my chest.

"We truly don't," Niko confirmed. "We'll handle this situation."

"Now, wait a minute. You need to let them help you. The BSA needs the security?—"

"There is no way in hell those werewolves are getting in our way," I snapped, finally letting the snarl out, rumbling through the room. "Certainly not him." I pointed at Callahan, drawing the line in the sand.

"Excuse me? You would jeopardize all of us to be petty?" Callahan sounded incredulous, but I wasn't buying it even though my nose told me he was being honest.

"Not petty. Vindictive," I corrected.

"And what charge would you lay at my feet to give a reason to your vindictiveness, Jacky?" he demanded, standing up with his hands on the desk.

"Hiding a werewolf in your ranks for roughly eight hundred years, the last living member of the Black Forest pack of old," Niko coldly explained. "My biological brother."

Callahan didn't sit back down, but he recoiled, his hands falling to the side.

"What haven't I heard?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I said with a vicious snarl. I laid all the blame at his feet. If he had tried at all to help Fenris, to help Rainer, maybe one of them would be alive. Maybe Fenris never would have existed, but maybe Rainer could have healed. Anything. Anything at all.

I was just lashing out, but it felt fucking good to see the horror on the faces of every fucking werewolf on the other side of the room.

"With that out in the open, we would prefer that no werewolves are involved. In fact, if we catch any werewolves trying to involve themselves, we'll send them back to their packs… in body bags," Niko continued for me, a growl emphasizing his threat. "We have the resources and expertise in this matter. A werecat lost in the Last Change would destroy a pack, anyway. My sister might be young, but she's killed dozens of werewolves by herself. Imagine how easy it would be for an enraged werecat who's more powerful than it ever had been and completely out of control."

"If they feel they don't need our assistance, then we won't interfere," Callahan said, regaining his composure before he sat back down. He went back to the perfect image of a politician who was trying to best navigate the situation. "From my understanding, Nikolaus and Jacky have a private, secure network that will allow them to keep this information quiet. You can trust them with it. It won't be exposed to the public."

"We do," Niko confirmed. He looked up at me, then back at Agent Miller. "We'll be reading in only a handful of people to this information, though those will include Heath and Landon Everson, as well as my son Dirk Brandt."

"The rest of the Everson pack will have no idea," I promised. "There's no reason for them to know, but those three need to know due to our personal relationships and their need to change security plans in case we're absent. The others we tell will be instrumental in our operation to track down this werecat and put it down."

"You'll keep us informed, correct? We need to know if the werecat is moving toward any populated areas. We can't have a killing spree on our hands."

"Clear the reserve as best as you can," Niko ordered simply. "We'll take it from there."

"Then…" Agent Miller reached down, turning off the projector. He clicked a few buttons and removed a thumb drive from his laptop. I couldn't help but notice how he was shaking a little as he held out the thumb drive to me. I didn't sit back down. As far as I was concerned, this meeting was over, and I was leaving. I started heading for the door as Niko stood up to follow me.

"Miss Leon—" the agent tried to call out.

"Jacky—" Callahan started to say.

A growl stopped both of them. I was at the door when Niko silenced them.

"The next time you speak to my sister, Callahan, you will address her by her proper name. Jacky, daughter of Subira. Are we clear?" Niko's tone was clear enough. If Callahan was casual with me one more time, there would be a fight.

"Crystal," Callahan answered softly.

I left the room, Niko right behind me. I didn't loiter to see Bethany, knowing that Niko and I needed to start calling everyone we could as soon as possible, and we damn sure couldn't talk about any plan of action while we were in the building. My car probably wasn't safe anymore, not after being in the parking lot. There were probably half a dozen trackers and listening devices on it already.

"You gave her name," I hissed as we got into my car.

"They'll never find her," he replied. "It was more important that he knew because there's been no reason for you to tell anyone of the change yet."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, but I'll tell her about it just to make you feel comfortable."

"But why? He already knows who our family is."

Niko gave me an intense look so powerful, it scared me a little.

"You're more powerful as one of her children than one of Hasan"s," he explained. "Far more powerful."

Swallowing any response I tried to come up with, I accepted that for now and drove us fast toward home. Niko spent much of the time on the phone, texts flying in at a rapid speed. After forty minutes of texting, he shoved his phone away with a frustrated growl.

"Okay, the family is moving to get ready for an emergency meeting. They might not be available when we get back to your place, but they are moving to get on the call and see what we've learned."

"You don't have a call room set up, do you?"

"Not yet, no," Niko confirmed. "What are you thinking about?"

"Uh…" I didn't honestly know. Every second, a dozen thoughts were flying through my head, and it was difficult trying to figure out which one needed to be my main priority. There was a werecat in the Last Change in Alaska. There was the political trading we had just done with Callahan and the BSA. There was how our family would handle any of it, how Heath, Landon, and Dirk might react.

"We'll talk when we get back to the house," I said simply. White-knuckling my steering wheel, I flew through traffic, barely taking time to use my turn signals.