“Thanks,” I tried to say as the rest of the brood tried to talk at once. Davor was the only one who didn’t say anything…not yet. “Good shower. Let me put some clothes on, then you can go, and I’ll talk to them, so they can see I’m alive.”
Jabari only nodded before looking back at the screen to continue talking to the family. I honestly didn’t want to talk to any of them, but once I was dressed, I switched places with Jabari.
“Hi, everyone,” I said, aiming for cheerful.
“Jacqueline,” Hasan whispered in a sad and concerned tone. “What happened during those fights that led to that?”
“One of them got a good grab on me and tried to tear my head in half, using my snout as the starting point,” I answered, swallowing. One of them gasped at my explanation, but I didn’t catch who. “So, Jabari left something out.”
“What?”
“I have a fae gift,” I said softly. “And before any one of you freak out like he did, I didn’t ask for it, nor did I trade for it. It was a gift. Ran into this fae that decided I needed some help last year when I was protecting Carey.”
“Fae are known to meddle if they feel it might benefit them down the road. They walk roads we can’t understand, and some of them are known to see the future,” Hasan explained carefully. “What was the gift?”
“Pack magic,” I whispered. “I can communicate like a werewolf while in my werecat form.”
“Oh.” His eyes went wide. Others in the family weren’t much different. “And you’ve had this for…several months now.”
“Yeah. Only a few trustworthy people knew before Jabari, and that was because I used it while we were rescuing Carey. They’ve kept it quiet, and I don’t have much reason to use it. I figured…if it got out, it would be bad. They all agreed with me.” I could name those people on one hand. The only people alive who knew about the gift were Heath, Landon, Carey, and Tywin, the current alpha in Dallas.
“If a wolf pack you didn’t trust learned that, they would hunt you down,” Niko said plainly. “We’ll keep it a secret, but that’s really useful. Really useful. Hasan, the ways we could—”
“We’ll discuss it another time. Did it help you deal with the vampires?” He was leaning on a hand now, much like The Thinker.
“Yeah. It just made communication easier. It’s not like I am suddenly a superhero or anything. Being able to talk in werecat form is useful.” I shrugged. “Should have told you sooner, Hasan. Sorry.”
“You live and learn,” he said, dismissing my apology and forgiving me at the same time. “Who was the fae?”
“Nope. Not telling you that. Don’t need or want anyone tracking him down. He might remember he gave it to me, and I might suddenly owe him something.”
That made half of them laugh, including Hasan.
Before I could continue, Jabari was out of the bathroom and clean. I narrowed my eyes on him.
“Really? You were in there like…five minutes.”
“I don’t need an hour to get clean,” he retorted. “Move over so they can also see me.”
“Put some fucking clothes on!” I yelled, pushing him away before he could sit down. “And actually dry off! Don’t get my shit wet, asshole!”
Jabari backed away, his hands up. He went to get a towel, dried off as I asked, and put on some clothes. When he came back, I moved my chair over and let him bring the second chair around to sit next to me. The entire time this was happening, our siblings either sat with horror on their faces or snickered, nearly an even split between the two. Hasan just had an indulgent smile on his face.
Right as Jabari sat down, there was a knock on the door, and I sighed.
“Let me get that. It’s probably Heath.”
I jumped up before any of them could say otherwise and went to the door. I was right. When I opened it, there was Heath, still dirty from the forest, the rain, and mud.
“Hey,” I said softly, leaning on the door frame. I had missed him a little, realizing it as I saw his tired grey-blue eyes. He felt sane compared to the ones I left on the video call.
“Hey. I just wanted to let you know I got in safely. I’m going to shower and order some room service. Want to join me? Some real peace and quiet while I give