betrayed him? Niko the Traitor? How did he get the title?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. It wasn’t something I gave much thought and not something I cared to think about. I had other shit to deal with.
“So, there you have it. That’s how I got roped into this. I’m expected to get roped into these things. I’m the daughter of the only leader the werecats have, and that comes with responsibilities I’ve been ignoring for seven years. Ignoring them hasn’t played out too well for me, so I’m going to take the reins and deal with this.”
“And use me to achieve your goals in the process.” He shifted in his seat, turning his body away from me and looking ahead.
“Think of it this way. You’re the only wolf who can be considered a friend or ally of someone close to Hasan. You even live in my territory.”
“Is Carey safe?” he asked, obviously holding back some thought. I heard the hint of a growl in his voice.
“I…” I considered my answer carefully. “I’m not safe, but any werecat that goes after a human child is signing their death warrant. If a werecat were to attack me and win, you’re not safe. Neither is Landon…but Carey would walk away completely unscathed for as long as she’s human. If you Change her into a werewolf one day, she’ll play by the same rules as the rest of us.”
“I don’t want that for her. I don’t want this world for her.” Heath was shaking his head as he talked, and I wondered if his precocious daughter was already asking about it. “Thank you for reassuring me. If you die, then Landon and I die, but that’s all okay because Carey will just…go live with her mother, I guess.”
“Or Hasan would take her in,” I said, trying to be light about it. Heath growled.
“Why?”
“I was kidding,” I said quickly, sharp enough it made him pull back. “Mostly. Hasan likes to think I’ve half adopted your daughter. If he felt her mother wasn’t good enough, he would take her in to honor me, knowing I would want her taken care of.” I never asked Hasan, but I knew the man well enough. He wouldn’t let someone important to me disappear—not again. “He owes me.”
“That scares me, the idea of him owing you.”
“You have no idea,” I muttered, refocusing on the road. “Anything else you want to know?”
“No…not right now. We’ll see.” He sounded like he was drifting into his thoughts.
“Oh, joy,” I mumbled under my breath.
10
Chapter Ten
We were able to get onto a plane without major incident. Heath made two calls before we entered the city, one to the Seattle pack, letting them know we were on our way, and one to his old pack, just letting them know we were passing through. That led to some of his old pack members waiting for us at the airport where they took our bags and tried to ask some invasive questions about why we were headed toward Seattle. I didn’t answer, and Heath took my example and did the same, claiming it was something minor to throw people off the scent. For him, it was minor, a simple introduction, so no one could pick up a lie on his scent.
Security had been a hoot. I was thought of as human and got through without incident, but TSA stopped Heath and gave him the whole pat down treatment. It was funny, stupid, and sad, all at the same time. Funny and stupid because a werewolf didn’t need illegal weapons or bombs to hijack a plane. There was nothing they could find to deny his right to fly. Sad because it was a classic sign of how fearful humans really were. I was roughly eleven years from humanity now and being on the other side really showed me just how scared humans could be about everything. Once he was through, I made sure to laugh at him, trying to make him a little less annoyed by it, and it worked, getting a chuckle out of him.
We were given early boarding onto the flight, and I couldn’t wait to watch him head to the main cabin while I settled. When I sat down next to a window in first class, I noticed Heath didn’t walk past, sliding in and claiming the seat directly next to me.
“Is this why you refused to show me your seating when you asked to see mine?” I gave him the most annoyed look I