girl!” he said happily. “I’m fine. I’m safe. A little bruised and cut, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“You promised everything would be fine! That you would be back before the end of the weekend and…” I heard her sniff, and my heart broke a little. “You promised.” Another sniff and I knew she was crying.
“I know. I did promise,” he consoled her gently. “This is life sometimes, baby girl. It’s going to be okay. We’re only going to be here for two more nights, then we can come home, and everything will go back to normal.”
I hadn’t told him Jabari was planning on following us home for a short time, so I let him keep that delusion for the moment. I would break it to him after we finished our business in Seattle. No reason to piss him off unnecessarily when we had shit to do.
“And where’s Jacky?” she demanded. “She promised not to get hurt too! Landon couldn’t tell me anything!”
“Where is your brother?” he asked softly. “And Jacky is fine, she’s right next to me. We’re waiting on dinner.”
“I’m behind her. She grabbed the phone before I could.” I snickered at Landon’s annoyed voice. “Are you really well?”
“I am and should remain so.” He eye-balled me hard as he said that. “But I would like to talk to you about business when you send Carey to bed.”
“Dad! Let me talk to Jacky, at least! I’ve been so worried!”
He held the phone out to me, sighing heavily and dramatically—the man who was jealous of his daughter’s best friend. I took the phone with a smile.
“Hey, Carey,” I greeted happily, not the fake cheerfulness I had used on my werecat family. The joy was genuine for her—always.
“Are you really okay?” she asked softly, the worry in her voice making me feel loved.
“I am, kiddo. It was messy, but we did it. No, we’re not going to give you the details.”
“Was it bad?” She was so quiet.
“It was pretty bad,” I answered. “But we’re all okay.”
“Good. I guess I should let Dad and Landon talk now that I know you’re both okay, huh?”
“That might be good. Don’t worry, we’ll catch up when we get back. You might be interested in something when I get home.” I eyed Heath, who gave me a narrowed-eyed stare.
Oh, that makes you curious, wolf? Wait until you find out I’m talking about introducing her to Jabari.
“Good night, Jacky.”
“Good night, Carey.”
I handed the phone back to Heath, and he told her good night as well, then launched into an explanation of the last few days to his son and what we were planning next. When room service knocked, I got it and separated our food out, the same order we had last time. I heard another knock right after, and Jabari received his own food.
I started eating and tuned out Landon and Heath, focusing on Jabari alone in my room. Oddly, I heard my siblings still, meaning the family meeting wasn’t actually done yet.
“Where is she? Why are you eating alone?” Zuri asked, her voice a little tight.
“She’s having dinner with Heath and talking to his family. He’ll be going with us to the nest tomorrow night, it seems.”
The walls were so thin. I didn’t think Heath could hear as well as I could, but I figured it was common knowledge among the group now that nothing said was secret. Maybe Jabari thought I was too preoccupied to listen to him because he continued.
“Heath is protective of her. She’s very protective of his daughter. It’s not normal. I’ve never seen a friendship quite like it before, but they trust each other beyond measure.”
“Interesting. I figured it would be a phase, and they would go their separate ways, eventually.” Hasan sighed. “She’s treading ground none of us have before, allying with a werewolf so closely.”
“She is. After I was Changed, none of them would accept me, and I tried.” Niko that time.
“Is it appropriate? She’s a member of this family. It’s funny to tease her about it, but she’s eating with him and not Jabari.”
“He understands her better than I do,” Jabari admitted. “Much better than me. She’s probably spent more time with him than I ever did with her. It’s really our fault. We neglected her, and now, we must suffer the consequences.”
“Everyone calls Niko the traitor,” Davor mumbled. “I wouldn’t even protect a wolf’s kid—”
“Davor, I swear on everything I am, if you do not stop, I will come, claim your territory, drag you home, and