be distracted around Carey,” he growled softly. “You’re a dangerous predator, a monster, even stronger than Landon and me. You have to be ready for anything when you’re with her, including your own urges. If you’re spacing out, I don’t trust her near you.”
“That’s ridiculous, and you know it. I’m never going to be a danger to Carey.” I growled back, the rumble building in my chest as his accusation I was somehow a threat settled between us like a thrown gauntlet.
“Then why, even distracted, have you avoided her all week? And I’ve heard—‘Dad, Jacky didn’t respond to my text yesterday,’ or ‘Dad, Jacky hasn’t been answering my calls, and I really want to talk to her about something,’ and ‘Dad, did we do something to Jacky?’” He slid off the bar stool and crossed his arms. “So, did we do something? Or are you finally tired of dealing with a pre-teen?”
“Carey is the only person in this damn state that I like right now,” I snarled viciously. I shook my head, biting my bottom lip hard as I considered what to say to him. “I’m in trouble with other werecats. I’ve lived on the outside of werecat and supernatural society for so long, I naturally avoid it and don’t engage. I should have died, guilty as charged at the Tribunal—”
“Don’t ever say those words again,” Heath roared, kicking the barstool next to him hard enough that he ripped it out of the floor. “My family and my pack worked our damn hardest to get you out of that. You deserved to be a fucking hero for stepping up and helping us protect and save Carey.”
“Thank you for that, but every werecat in the world would have rather I died instead of shaken up the status quo!” I flung my hand toward the outside world. “All except…” I wasn’t ready to tell him that. “Hasan is the leader of our community, and if it weren’t for him, I would have died, and there wouldn’t be any werecats grieving over me. You know what they’re doing, though? They’re getting pissed werewolves are bothering them. We love our privacy. We don’t want to be tossed into problems and used as a meat shield for people we don’t know. It’s all we have, but that doesn’t mean we want it. Four werecats have been called to Duty in the last six months, Heath. Four! And it’s my fault!” I was yelling by the end. “They’re furious I let you live here with Landon just so I could see Carey. And it probably hasn’t escaped them that I swore an oath to protect Carey while you’re here! That’s un-fucking-heard of!”
“Who told you they all wanted you to die?” he asked softly, my words obviously making an impact.
“Lani,” I said, my voice breaking for a second. “My only friend for six years thought she was going to defend me like a good friend should, but I was going to die…and that would be that. Weird werecat without a family would be out of the equation, everything would be normal, and werecats would keep their private, nearly-forgotten lives.” I’d tried not to think about it all week, but telling someone else, my vision blurred as I blinked back tears. “Then I got thinking if they were all so damn mad at me…what if they came here? What if an older werecat challenged me for my territory, and I lost? You would be at their whim unless you ran, and Carey doesn’t deserve to be running for her life again…”
“What does this have to do with the two dead werecats?” He kept his voice just as soft as it was before my rambling spiel.
“They might be my fault,” I answered, swallowing the lump of guilt in my throat. “What if those two werecats weren’t considered possible allies by their neighbors? What if they only thought they were threats? Heath…I could have started another war, and I don’t know yet if I have or not.”
“We could have started a war,” he whispered.
“No—”
“Yes.” He nodded slowly, enforcing his idea that somehow it was both of us. “You would have never been involved with Carey or my pack if I had been a better Alpha. Even then, I should have sent you away from Dallas, but I didn’t. I let you make the decision, knowing full well where it could get you. If I had been considering the politics and not just my daughter’s life or my own pack, I