in a lounge chair and watched Max and her teammates playing ball against a few of the locals. To say they were wiping the floor with those guys would be an understatement.
“Hey!”
Zé let out a very long, very loud sigh.
“Damn,” Dutch complained. “I haven’t even said anything. Yet.”
“Just your presence annoys me.”
“People love me.”
“I doubt that.”
“And after I did you a favor.”
“Really?” Zé asked, licking chocolate ganache off his fingers. “And what favor was that?”
“I took care of everything with your company so that they and your girlfriend know you’re alive but don’t know you’re a shifter.”
“Shit,” Zé snarled at himself, lowering the half-eaten cupcake. “I forgot to call Kamatsu again. And she is not my girlfriend. She’s my team leader.” He looked at his watch, winced at the time. “I’ll call her in the morning.”
“Why are you going to call her?”
“Because she’s my friend. Do you have friends? Do you know what that’s like?”
“I have friends. And you can’t call her. What are you going to tell her?’
“What do you mean?”
Dutch moved his chair closer. “What are you going to tell her about where you’ve been? What you’ve been doing? How you healed so fast? Your blood was all over the place.”
“I’m sure I can come up with something.”
“Come up with something—or admit the truth? Because you look like someone who thinks he can get away with telling the truth. Except you can’t. Not now. Truth is off the table.”
“But isn’t it easier to—”
“What? Explain to her how you can shift into a big cat? That Max is a honey badger? Max’s best friend is a wolverine? That Max plays on a pro basketball team filled with shifters? Do you really think you can tell her all that and not have her think you’ve gone insane or, even worse, believe you, and tell the world?”
“She wouldn’t do that.”
“I know you believe that, because she’s your friend. But what if you’re wrong? Then what do you tell these people”—he looked out over the bears filling the MacKilligans’ yard—“when your friend’s government comes for them and their kids?”
Zé wanted to tell the man he was wrong. That he didn’t know Kamatsu. That his battle buddy would never betray him. But Zé also knew the risk was too great.
“So you’re saying I have to give up my entire life?”
“No,” Dutch said with a dismissive wave. “Don’t be stupid.”
“But you said—”
“Just don’t tell her the truth. Have your story ready before you see the woman. Then lie your ass off.”
“And my old job? Can I go back to that?”
“If you want, but now that you know what you can do, why would you want to?”
“What does that mean?”
“Full-humans will just hold you back. Because you can’t reveal what you can do. You can’t unleash your claws. You can’t unleash your fangs. You can’t roar.”
“You roar?”
“No, I’m a wolverine. Still, I can bite through thick human bone, which is helpful during a nasty fight. But I can’t do that if I’m standing around with a bunch of full-humans watching me, because we all know they’ll ask questions. They’re all so nosy.”
It took a few seconds for Zé to understand what was happening, but when he did, he asked, “Wait . . . are you pitching me something?”
“My organization is always looking for good people, and we love former military. We pay top dollar and everyone knows exactly what you are and what you can do. It’s something to think about when you’re ready.”
“Would I have to work for you directly?”
“No. Asshole. But just so we’re clear, I’m always around. Max is my best friend.”
“So?”
“What? Are you actually going to sit there and tell me you’re not interested in—owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!”
Shocked by his scream of pain, Zé looked up to see that Charlie had Dutch’s ear and was twisting it to the point that Zé was worried she’d tear the damn thing off.
“You will not bother Zé,” she told Max’s friend. “You will not talk to Zé. You will not annoy Zé. You will not interact with Zé at all. Do you understand me?”
Dutch pulled away, stumbling into a grizzly that roared a little and pushed Dutch back.
But Zé was impressed. Dutch didn’t hit the floor and start crying, which would be what Zé would expect after having a six-and-a-half-foot man attempt to shove you to the ground.
“I can talk to whoever I want to!” Dutch told Charlie while holding his ear.
Charlie moved in on Dutch. “Not if you’re missing your tongue.”
“I’m telling Max.”
Zé smirked when Dutch