CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

Amanic rage burning in his gut, Deke strode into the cold, sterile room in which the human was being held. Located above the pride’s antique shop, it was also the spare bedroom of the previous Alpha. Though Vinnie no longer had an official status, he liked to be very involved in pride business. Providing a space for people to be interrogated was one of the ways in which he contributed.

The only person in the room was the human. There had been no need to leave a guard with him. The particular cuffs holding him captive were made to withstand shifter strength, so he was going nowhere.

In a chair, the human writhed—his cheeks flushed, his eyes wide, his mouth covered by the strip of tape that Isaiah had slapped over his face earlier.

“Ah, you’ve almost shaken off the effects of the venom,” Deke realized. “Good.” That was all he’d needed to know, because the Alphas were ready to begin questioning the little shit.

Blue eyes dark with anger, dread, and defiance honed in on Deke. The asshole wasn’t going to break easily. Not an issue. Because Deke was in absolutely no rush to get the whole beat-him-into-breaking part of the interrogation over with quickly.

The human deserved every bit of pain coming his way. Acid. He’d thrown fucking acid in Bailey’s face. God, it was tempting, so very tempting, to just snap his neck there and then.

Deke clenched his fists. He tasted fury with every breath he took. It sat on his tongue like ash. Grated the back of his throat like razors.

His pacing cat, no less pissed, was practically foaming at the mouth. He might not have the time of day for people in general lately, but he was still protective of his pride. And Bailey wasn’t simply any member. She was one who shared his bed and wore his mark—neither of those things were insignificant to the cat.

Deke glared down at the human, who eventually averted his gaze. “If you have any sense, you’ll shove down that defiance. Refusing to answer our questions won’t go well for you.” He then stalked out of the room, down the hallway, and into the kitchen.

Several people stood around—the Alphas, Betas, Aspen, Camden, Isaiah, Vinnie, Farrell, and Alex. All were engaged in a debate, their words coming sharp and fast, unable to agree what the pride’s next move should be.

At the mercy of her temper, Havana wanted to storm Westwood Pack territory.

Tate felt they should first question their captive to be sure that the pack had arranged the acid attack—it was clear that he didn’t believe they had.

Some agreed with Havana. Some agreed with Tate … much like Deke himself.

Was it beneath the pack to have gone after Bailey that way? No. But they wouldn’t have hired a human—that they’d have considered beneath them. They’d have done the deed themselves or sent a loner to do it on their behalf.

Only one person in the room wasn’t throwing in their two-cents’ worth. Bailey. She sat alone at the table. So quiet. So still. So very not Bailey.

Her facial features soft and her posture relaxed, she looked the absolute picture of serenity. But her rage was a feral thing that pulsed through the air.

She should have gone home, taken a shower, changed clothes, and rested. But Deke understood why she hadn’t; understood her need to be part of the interrogation. In her shoes, he’d have insisted on it just the same.

Her gaze snapped to Deke as he began making his way toward her. She showed no reaction. Would probably react very little to anything. She’d pulled inward to keep a grip on her temper, and it was costing her.

His jaw tightened as he reached the mamba. The stench of acid clung to her. Mostly due to the stains on her coat. It made his cat’s fur puff up.

Deke didn’t ask if she was okay—it would have been a ridiculous question that didn’t deserve an answer. He also didn’t dare reach out and touch her for the same reason that the others were giving her a wide berth. She would not tolerate anyone getting too close until she’d calmed some. And it didn’t seem as though that would happen any time soon.

He was about to inform her that the human had almost fully shaken off the effects of her venom, but then Havana whirled to face her and asked, “What do you think, Bailey?”

The mamba slowly looked up to meet the Alpha’s hard gaze. “About?”

“Whether or not the jackals are behind what happened tonight,” the devil replied.

Bailey stared at her, her gaze unreadable. Long moments of silence went by before she said, “It makes no sense that the pack would have lowered themselves—and that’s how they’d have seen it—to hiring a human.” Her voice was low and unnaturally calm. “But I’d still like to mention tonight’s incident to them and see what they say.” She plucked a small card out of one pocket and fished her cell from another.

Remembering that she’d been given a business card when approached, Deke asked, “Is that the number for the jackal?”

“Yes,” she replied as she punched in the number. A ringing sound filled the air as she placed the call on speaker.

The phone rang several times before a voice answered, “Hello?”

Bailey licked her front teeth. “This is Amiri, I’m guessing?”

A long pause. “It is. And I recognize that voice. Bailey, yes?”

“Correct,” she said, still eerily cool. “Not gonna lie, you’re far from my favorite person right now.”

Another pause. “And that would be because?”

“I’m not a big fan of people tossing acid in my face.” The words were soft. Calm. Deadly.

Seconds of silence ticked by. “Excuse me?”

“Pretty sure you heard me just fine.”

“You were attacked?” He sounded genuinely stunned.

“You should know. You orchestrated it.”

“I assure you, my pack had no hand in it,” he swore—not with any sense of panic in what the consequences might be, but casually … as one would when informing someone that, yes, it was in fact raining outside. Well, little worried jackals.

“You expect me to believe that?” Bailey asked him with a snort, but Deke sensed that she wasn’t so doubtful.

“I can understand why you would be dubious. But truly, we have no actual wish to cause you harm. And what would we have to gain from it? We want your cooperation, not your anger. Angry mambas do nothing for no one.”

Well, that was true enough.

As Tate approached her, Bailey said, “My Alpha wants to talk to you, Amiri.”

“So,” began Tate, folding his arms, “you’re one of the jackals who thought to corner a member of my pride.”

“Not to threaten or harm her,” Amiri told him. “It is Roman we want. And I can assure you that we did not orchestrate what happened to her tonight. Such a thing would inevitably lead to war. If we wanted war with your pride, we would not declare it via a warning. We would simply come at you when you least expected.”

“Then you would die,” Tate stated, his voice a lethal blade. “Every last one of you.”

“We are not your enemy, Devereaux.”

“If that’s truly the case, her attacker will verify it—we have him in our custody.”

“He will verify it.” Amiri sounded positive of that.

“If you have any more questions regarding Roman in the future, you bring them to me, not to Bailey,” Tate stated, his tone non-negotiable. “If any of you go near her again, or anyone approaches her on behalf of your pack, I will take it as a declaration of war.”

Amiri paused. “I will make my Alpha aware of it.”

“Be sure that you do.” Tate gave Bailey a nod, and she ended the call.

Leaning back against the counter, Vinnie blew out a breath. “Personally, I believe the jackal. I don’t think his pack were behind this.”

“Then he’s right; the human will confirm it.” Tate turned to Deke. “Is he still out of it?”

“No,” replied Deke. “He was wide awake and squirming in his chair when I last checked on him.”

Bailey slowly pushed out of her seat. “Then let’s talk to him.”

“Maybe you should hang back for now,” Havana suggested.

Instead of snapping as Deke had expected, Bailey gave her a brittle smile and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t lose my temper. I’ll wait until he crumbles before I kill him.”

Havana hiked up a brow. “Can you say the same for your snake?”

Bailey nodded. “She went for the kill in the parking lot because she didn’t want him to escape. But he’s tied up now, so she doesn’t have that concern.”

Satisfied, Havana gently squeezed her shoulder. “All right, then we all go talk to him.”

The Alphas led the way as they headed for the makeshift interrogation room. Deke walked behind Bailey, needing to be close to her while protectiveness was an ache in his bones. His cat needed it, too; needed to feel he was close enough to intervene should another threat abruptly come her way.

Inside the interrogation room, they all fanned out, facing the human. He swept his gaze over them, panic flaring in his blue eyes for a mere second. But then the defiance was back, and he jutted out his chin.

Alex stepped forward. The wolverine was often called on when interrogations were necessary. He had a knack for making people talk. “Name?” he asked their captive, his voice containing little emotion.

The human clamped his lips tightly shut.

Alex gave an indifferent shrug. “We’ll have your ID soon enough.”

They would. Deke had snapped a photo of the human and sent it to River so the male could search the police database.

“You’re all shifters, aren’t you?” It was a guess on the human’s part.

“Clever boy.” Bailey slowly walked toward her attacker, who leaned back slightly. She didn’t stop in front of him, though. She moved to stand behind him, idly scraping a nail along his scalp.

He tensed. “I won’t tell you anything, no matter what you do to me.”

Alex scratched his temple. “I’ve heard that before. They all talk eventually.”

“Well, look at this,” Bailey drawled, her finger tugging the back of the human’s collar away from his body. “We have an extremist in our midst.”

Deke crossed to her, his lips thinning when he saw a tattoo of a familiar sigil. “You hate us so much you wear it on your skin, I see.”

Havana rubbed her hands, a sadistic gleefulness shimmering in her eyes. “We just love having fun with your kind.”

“I honestly can’t wait to get started,” Aspen told her, smiling.

“What faction do you belong to?” Tate demanded of him, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Again, the human said nothing.

“It’s fine. We’ll have the info shortly.” Bailey pressed her mouth to his ear. “What I most want to know is why you targeted me.”

He swallowed. “Do whatever you want. I won’t tell you a fucking thing.”

Alex took another step forward. “Now that’s where you’re wrong. And I’m about to prove it.”

The wolverine unsheathed his long, curved claws. Claws he then used on the human—slicing his arms, delivering shallow stabs to his thighs, disfiguring the sigil on his nape, carving ‘I love shifters’ along his forehead.

Camden joined in at one point. No surprise. He was a sadistic shit.

The whole time, the two shifters peppered the human with questions and gave him every attempt to end the torture by simply cooperating. But though their captive was clearly in a lot of pain and his defiance was being steadily drowned out by fear, he told them nothing.

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. He did answer some of their questions. But his responses were all lies—the deception was clear in his voice and body language.

Deke’s phone began to ring. Digging it out of his pocket, he saw River’s name on the screen. He exited the room and answered, “You got anything?”

“Yes,” replied River. “He’s not talking yet?”

“Not the way we’d like.”

An annoyed grunt. “His name is Austen Perry. He’s an extremist from one of the small, independent factions in these parts. They’re not powerful, organized, or in any way connected to any of the main factions. They mostly stage protests and commit random attacks on shifters. But it isn’t known to humans that Bailey is a shifter, so there has to be some other reason he targeted her.”

Deke narrowed his eyes. “Such as he was hired directly, or his faction was hired and he drew the short straw?”

“That would be my guess. I’m going to send you a photo of his ex-wife and two children. Not sure if he’ll care so much about his ex, but I doubt he’d be willing to risk his kids. He might speak up if he believes they’ll otherwise be hurt.”

“Appreciate it.” Deke ended the call. None of the pride would ever hurt innocents, particularly not children, but Austen wouldn’t know that.

Once he received the photo from River, Deke returned to the interrogation room. Austen was panting and sweating, his eyes glassy with pain and terror. Neither Deke nor his cat felt any sympathy for this person who had likely been involved in many attacks against shifters merely because they were “different.”

“He still not cooperating?” Deke asked no one in particular.

It was Luke who replied, “Not in the slightest. He still thinks he can bullshit us.” The Beta looked eager to pounce on the asshole.

Crossing to the human, Deke said, “You have a high pain tolerance threshold—I’ll give you that much. I’m curious … Does your ex stand up so well against pain? What about your daughters?” He held up his phone so Austen could see the photo on the screen.

Bone-deep fear bloomed in his eyes. “If you dare hurt—”

“We don’t actually want to hurt them, Austen,” said Deke. “We’re not like you. We don’t target people without reason.” He leaned forward. “So don’t give us a reason.”

Still standing behind Austen, Bailey dragged a sharp nail down the side of his face. “You’re going to die here tonight. But if you answer our questions, they’ll live; you’ll die knowing they’re safe. Don’t answer our questions … and all four of you will be executed.”

Austen squeezed his eyes tightly shut, his shoulders slumping in defeat. It was no shock that he didn’t accuse them of bluffing. In the view of the extremists, shifters were monsters with no conscience or limits.

While Deke didn’t feel good about threatening the man’s family, he’d make such a threat if it meant finding out where the true danger to Bailey was coming from. He needed to eliminate that danger yesterday.

Opening his eyes, Austen swallowed. “There was a guy.”

“What guy?” asked Deke.

“Just a guy. He came to one of our faction’s hangouts. A bar called Liberty. Made small talk. Asked how I’d feel about giving a shifter a scare.”

Bailey flicked his earlobe with her nail. “And what did you reply?”

Austen nervously licked his lips. “I said I’d do it for the right price.”

Camden poked his tongue into the inside of his cheek. “I’m sensing that it isn’t an unusual occurrence for you.”

Austen raised his shoulders as much as the cuffs would allow. “Extremists get offers like that a lot. Not all the people who come to us hate shifters. They usually just have beef with one in particular; they want revenge, or for a point to be made.”

And extremists didn’t need to be convinced to do violence against shifters, Deke knew. “Why did he send you after Bailey?”

“He didn’t say. Just said he had a ‘friend’ who felt that a certain shifter needed to be given a right good scare. He wasn’t bothered how I did it, and he was fine with her receiving a little pain, but he didn’t want her dead. He told me her name and where to find her. He never mentioned she was a snake,” Austen grumbled.

“His name?” Aspen demanded through her teeth.

“He didn’t give me one,” Austen told her. “Or tell me anything about his friend, so I can’t tell you who sent him.”

The bearcat sidled up to her mate, keeping her gaze glued to the human. “What did he look like?”

“Average height. Bald. Stocky.” Austen paused. “He paid me, insisted I don’t delay in striking at the shifter, and then he left. That’s it. There’s nothing else to tell.”

Tate cocked his head, his gaze probing as it bore into the human. “You’re not even sorry, are you? You’re about to die, but you don’t regret what you did.”

Austen sneered. “Why would I? You’re abominations. You don’t belong in this world. You should be caged like the animals you are.”

Blair frowned. “I’ve never understood why humans think they’re so much better than every species on this planet. I mean, really, what’s so special about you? Because I don’t see it. You call us monsters, but the truth is there’s no race on this earth that’s as destructive as humanity.”

Austen’s face reddened. “At least we’re not the creations of Satan.”

Vinnie flicked his eyes up to the ceiling. “Oh, Lord.”

Bailey moved to stand in front of the human. “Out of interest, how much were you paid to come at me?”

“A hundred dollars,” replied Austen. “But I’d have done it for free, really.”

“For free, huh?” One of her slow, dangerous smiles took over her face. “Yeah, later it’s going to be literally impossible for me to feel bad that my snake bit your dick.”

“What?”

“If you have one, that is.” Then Bailey shifted.

The last to leave the interrogation room an hour later, Bailey closed the door and inhaled deeply. She felt marginally better. Calmer. Could think clearer.

Oh, she still felt the hot burn of anger in her blood. But it had lost its steely grip on her emotional state. Well, getting a little revenge always did a wonderful job of improving her mood and clearing her mind.

It wasn’t only her snake who’d had some fun with Austen. They’d all given him some special attention. Deke had done as promised and beaten the human bloody before her snake finished him off.

“You really think it wasn’t the jackals who hired him?” asked Havana, clearly unconvinced.

“It’s not their style,” said Bailey.

Sighing, the Alpha female walked alongside her as they all returned to the kitchen. “You’re right in that, but I’m not ready to dismiss them as suspects.”

“It could have been Roman hoping to sic our pride on the jackals,” Alex mused. “If the pack is wiped out, his problems are solved.”

Blair’s brows arched. “That’s a possibility. From what I remember of him, he isn’t bald or stocky like the guy who was at the bar. He is average height, though. He could have shaved his head and added some padding to his clothes to make himself look bigger.”

Havana shook her head. “He’s an asshole—no doubt about it. But he wouldn’t arrange for someone to hurt Bailey like that. Stage a failed attack, yeah. But he wouldn’t go any further than that. He wouldn’t give someone permission to put her through pain.”

“I agree.” Aspen twisted her mouth. “It could besomeone doing a little tit-for-tat. Jackson was attacked in the street. His brothers want to make the culprit pay.”

Bailey felt her nose wrinkle. “None of them are bald, stocky, and average height. I guess they could have asked someone to go seek out an extremist-for-hire on their behalf, though.”

“So could Ginny,” Havana pointed out. “She isn’t swimming in cash, but she could have scrounged up a hundred dollars.”

As people began to speculate around her, Bailey sighed. She didn’t want to discuss it anymore. She wanted to go home and shower—neither she nor her mamba had any chance of truly calming until they were no longer breathing in the astringent scent of acid.

She announced she was leaving, which quickly led to a bunch of people insisting on escorting her back to her building. It was … touching. They knew she didn’t need that many guards, just as they knew she likely wouldn’t be attacked twice in one night. Still, they wanted to escort her home safely all the same.

Once she’d slipped on her coat, she grabbed her purse and shopping bags. Her chest went all warm when she realized that Deke had earlier placed the dairy items in Vinnie’s fridge so they wouldn’t need to be trashed. She would have thanked the enforcer, but he shot her a don’t read anything into it look even as he helped return those same items to her bags. Bags he then insisted on carrying, the pushy bastard.

She caught Blair watching them closely, her eyes narrowed. Ugh, she likely suspected that it was Deke who’d bitten Bailey. At least the bush dog could be trusted not to blab.

The walk back to her complex was completely uneventful. When Bailey and Deke stepped out of the elevator onto their floor, he didn’t stop at his own apartment. No, he kept on trailing behind her.

Halting outside her front door, she cast him a quick look as she tugged her keys out of her purse. “What are you doing?”

He raised a brow. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Following me.”

“Then I’m following you.”

Snorting, Bailey unlocked the door and shoved it open. She dropped her keys into the entryway drop-zone basket, hung her purse on a hook there, and shrugged off her coat.

“Go shower,” he told her, kicking the door shut. “I’ll put your shit away in the kitchen.”

She thought about objecting, but why bother? It wasn’t like he wanted to put his shit in her cupboards. And she’d rather hop straight into the shower than first put all her shopping away.

Hanging her coat on the hook beside her purse, she shrugged. “All right, have at it.”

He seemed surprised that she didn’t fight him on it, but he said nothing. He simply marched straight into the kitchen.

After placing her shoes on the wrought-iron rack beneath her coat, Bailey began to head for her bedroom, loving how the heat from the oak wood beneath her feet seeped through her socks. One thing she adored about her apartment was the heated flooring. It had cost a whack, but it was worth every cent.

She doubted anyone would be taken off-guard by the eclectic feel to her apartment. There were lots of bold colors and shiny brass and carved wood. She had plenty of quirky pieces, too. Like the retro stereo planter, the vintage lava lamp, and the antique hanging rotary dial phone.

Inside her modern en suite bathroom that held hints of the French Renaissance period, she stripped naked and stepped into the shower stall. As the hot spray pounded down on her, she scrubbed her body and hair again and again, until the stench of acid was gone; until all she could smell was her coconut soap and her pine-scented hair products.

Done, she dried herself off, pulled on some sweats, dragged a comb through her wet hair, and then left the room. She found Deke still in the kitchen, a mug in hand. The scent of fresh coffee blanketed her.

His gaze swept over her, heating in a way that made her belly roll. “Have you eaten?”

Slipping onto a stool at the island, she shook her head. “I’m not hungry, though.”

He tipped his chin at a particular cupboard. “There’s a snake in there, by the way.”

“Clive likes to play hide and seek.” How he got into the cupboards she hadn’t yet figured out.

Deke gave her a pointed look. “You told Havana you’d gotten rid of the snakes in the building.”

“And I did.” Sort of. “Clive’s just a regular visitor. Like a stray cat, but not a cat.”

He grunted and then took a sip of his drink. “Want coffee?”

“No. I want you to fuck me.”

His muscles bunched, and his eyes darkened. “You got attacked earlier—”

“And I’m healed now. Also pissed. I like to work off my anger with sex. That’s where you come in.”

He lowered his cup to the island. “How do you wind down when sex isn’t available?”

“Masturbate.” She ignored his low curse. “Or go down to the bar and start a fight.” Her eyes widened at the delightful thought. “Actually—”

“No, no barfights.”

“But they’re fun.”

“No. We’re gonna stay inside. I’m going to make you food. You’re going to eat it. Then I’m going to make you come with my mouth before I fuck you.”

That wasn’t an offer she felt the need to refuse. Still, she had to ask, “What is it with you Hammonds and feeding people? Your mom is the ultimate feeder.”

“Only when she likes someone.” He arched a brow. “Now, do we have a plan or what?”

“I guess.”

He snorted. “Don’t sound too enthusiastic.”

“Okay.”

Sheer exasperation flashing across his face, he sighed. “Just so you know, I ain’t a good cook.”

“Who needs to cook when there are microwaves?”

He blinked. “Exactly. But few people would agree with us.”

She shrugged. “I figure that’s their problem.”

Grunting again, he walked to the freezer and opened the door. “So, you like mac and cheese.”

Considering the freezer was practically loaded with mac and cheese micro meals, it was no shock that he’d reached that conclusion. “You could say that.”

He tugged one of said meals from the freezer.

Her snake watched him closely, not so sure she was comfortable having him in her private space. Well, she wasn’t the trusting sort, nor was she accustomed to having men over.

But she didn’t urge Bailey to make him leave. She liked this male who hadn’t shied away when she’d delivered a crap load of pain to Austen. Liked that when Deke had first learned what happened to Bailey, he’d almost killed the human before anyone had the chance to question him. That his first instinct had been to eliminate a threat to Bailey was something the snake approved of.

Thinking of Austen made Bailey flex her fingers. That little shit stain was no loss to the world.

As part of her old job, she’d been in more dangerous situations than she could count. She’d been attacked with everything from knives to guns. But never acid. She hadn’t seen it coming, hadn’t—

“If you keep stewing on what happened tonight you’ll never calm down,” said Deke as the microwave whirred to life.

“It’s not so easy.” Bailey leaned her folded arms on the surface of the island. “I can still feel it. Smell it.”

“The acid?”

She nodded. It was like the stench and burn of it was imprinted on her system.

Deke’s jaw tightened. “Fucker deserved what he got.” He angled his head. “You didn’t agree with Havana.”

“What?”

“She said she didn’t believe that Roman could be behind the acid attack. Aspen agreed. You didn’t. What’s your opinion?”

“I don’t think it was him. His nest overflows with assholes, but they do have some morals.” Though not many.

He snorted. “I’m not so sure. They could have took you in when you were a kid. They didn’t.”

Bailey felt her brow knit. “Took me in?”

“You were a loner. They could have fixed that.”

Ohhhhh, he hadn’t yet figured out that she’d once been part of the Umber Nest; that, in fact, they were at fault for her being a loner. “Hmm.”

His eyes narrowed. “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

He kept staring at her, his eyes delving into hers. “Wait, that was your nest, wasn’t it? The bastards banished you. Banished a child.”

She only twisted her mouth.

Several harsh curses exploded out of him. “What possible justification could they have for that?”

“The Umber Nest … it isn’t like most groupings of shifters.”

“In what sense?”

“It’s tight-knit for sure. But if you fuck up in a way that puts the others in danger, you’re on your own.”

“And you, then a child, fucked up?”

“No. My parents did.” Too many times to count, actually. They’d had so many “last chances” it wasn’t even funny.

His eyes blazed, two lasers of rage. “You’re saying they made a child pay for her parents’ sins?”

She licked her lips. “Yes. But that’s another story.” One she had no intention of telling. She rarely spoke of the people who were responsible for her birth but had done little for her. “A long, boring tale.”

“I have time for you,” he said.

Her throat went tight. “I’m already pissed off. Talking about what happened back then will only make me more pissed.”

He held her gaze for endless seconds. “Then we’ll table this discussion for another time.”

She squinted. “Do you always pester your bed-buddies to share such personal stuff?”

“No.”

“Why pester me, then?”

More moments of silence went by. “I want to know you.”

“You know enough.”

The microwave beeped.

Deke pulled out the meal, peeled back the cover, stirred the mac and cheese, and then returned it to the microwave. He pressed a few buttons, and it came to life once more. Planting his fists on the island, he said, “You’d better eat all this. You’re going to need your energy for what comes next.”

Her body perked up from head to toe. “Awesome. So long as it’s sexual.”

“It’s sexual. But Bailey,” he began, leaning across the island, “you can’t keep that wall up between us forever.”

“Ooh, I happily accept your challenge.”

His lips quirked. “Yeah, you do that.”

“On another note, I should warn you …”

“What?”

“Blair was stood behind me while I was dressing in the parking lot after shifting, so she saw the mark on the back of my shoulder.”

He went rigid.

“I don’t think anybody else did. I had my hair down, which will have helped cover it. And even if the others weren’t focused on Austen, they aren’t likely to have watched me dress.” Shifters weren’t bothered by nakedness—they stripped in front of each other all the time to release their inner animals—but they wouldn’t openly stare at someone who was naked.

“I see,” he drawled.

“I was careful when I was in the interrogation room—I kept my back to the wall while naked after shifting back to my human form. But I’d been too pissed to think about that earlier in the lot. Blair won’t tell anyone, but I can’t be sure that no one else saw the mark.

“If they did, well, you know how the pride likes to gossip, so whispers might start. Obviously, no one will know it’s your brand. But they’ll speculate, and they might wonder if it was you—if only because you almost killed Austen on the spot when you heard what he’d done.”

He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip. “What do you plan to say if they ask who bit you?”

“I’ll tell them to mind their own biz. Except for Havana and Aspen, because I trust that they’d keep it to themselves. In other words, you don’t have to worry that all this will get back to Dayna. I just wanted to give you a heads-up so you won’t be taken off-guard if anyone mentions it to you.”

He crossed his arms over his broad chest, his expression pensive. “I doubt anyone else noticed the bite. They’d surely have asked about it. And as you said, their attention was locked on the human. It’ll be fine,” he decided with a nod. “There’ll be no gossip. You’re worrying for nothing.”