at Carey for being so upset by you.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise until he looked up. He chuckled sadly.
“Not to her face. Just privately annoyed by it. I thought…I thought she would be over you by now. I figured the first few months, her attachment would be understandable. You protected her, she was having nightmares, and being able to talk to you…helped her. She refuses to talk to me about Richard. So does Landon…” He groaned. “Yet she’s more in love with you now than she was six months ago. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Are you uncomfortable with it?” I asked in a small voice, knowing it was strange. A thirty-six-year-old shouldn’t be the best friend of an eleven-year-old, not to humans, and maybe not to werewolves. Werecats were different.
“Jealous,” he said, leaning down to put his forehead on the counter. “I’m jealous. Does she talk to you about him? My son, her brother tried to kill her. Wanted to kill me and Landon…and I don’t know how she feels. Part of me knows if she ever told anyone, it would be you, and that irks me. She used to tell me everything.”
“No, she doesn’t talk to me about Richard. None of you have since that night,” I answered, swallowing my guilt over killing his son. Richard refused to stop fighting, and I had to protect Carey, but it still didn’t wash all the guilt away. A man had to bury his child. His asshole child but a child, nonetheless.
“You understand her. Every female in my pack…either I didn’t trust them as much as I should or had reasons to keep them away. Every human woman who ever tried to get close to the family was looking to turn her into a princess, and she’s not that girl, will never be that girl, no matter how much I tried. You understand being a tough woman in a world of monsters and…I’m jealous it makes you special to her.”
“There’s no reason to be. She’s your daughter.” I shrugged, trying to play off how uncomfortable this conversation had turned.
“Just promise me one thing. Even if you do need to have us leave, keep talking to her. I don’t care what else you do, Jacky, but if you hurt my daughter, I’ll hunt you down and give her your hide.”
“I would give it to you,” I murmured. “I don’t agree with hurting kids, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep werecat drama far away from her. I can’t promise to keep it away from you, but then, you’re an adult werewolf. There’s not much I can do for you or Landon. She’s human, though. No one should try to hurt her.” I frowned. “You never answered my question.”
“No, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable,” he replied, looking up again. “I’ve seen it in wolves, too. An adult will take someone under their wing, mentor and guide them to adulthood. Protect them. Not as…privately as you, not for the same reasons, but I don’t think anything weird is going on. I’m just jealous.”
“She’s a great kid,” I said, smiling. “I’ll keep you updated on this. You can’t share what I told you tonight, though. It could seriously harm me and other werecats. Please.”
“It’s safe with me. There’s no reason to tell anyone about what the werecats are dealing with on their own.” He checked the time. “Thank you for talking to me. Don’t ignore her anymore, please. If there’s something on your mind, tell me, then talk to her about whatever. She’s been a mess since Tuesday.”
“I’ll text her tomorrow and apologize.” Carey was probably already in bed, so there was no way I was texting her tonight and waking her up for Heath to deal with when he got home. “Do you want one more drink?”
“No, I’m fine. Landon is probably prowling around the house, wondering if he should come get me, or if I’m alive. He doesn’t trust you very much, which is typical for Landon. He’ll warm up, eventually.”
“Is that why he used to come in with you but not often? Because he’s worried I’m going to attack you?”
“Yes and no,” Heath answered with a small smile. Pushing off the bar, he adjusted his light jacket, making sure the zipper was exactly halfway up. The longer I looked at it, the more I began to think he must have ironed it. Did he iron his casual clothes?
Weird ass wolf.
He started walking toward the door, and I took the last chance