much effort. He would never come for me in Texas, as an example. He would either run into Heath’s old pack or onto my territory, where I would win. “And I want no harm from wolves, yours or otherwise.”
“In the state of Washington,” he corrected. “I swear to you on my pack and honor that no wolves will harm you during your stay in the state of Washington.”
“If a rogue attacks us, we’ll kill him,” Heath said quickly. “And I won’t check if it’s a rogue beforehand, Geoffrey. If it turns out to be one of your pack, there will be repercussions. I’ll take it to the Council and let them handle it.”
“I know what I’m swearing to,” Geoffrey snapped. “Stop being so paranoid.”
I raised an eyebrow at Heath. He was fighting on my side. Maybe he didn’t want another wolf pack to cause problems for him or make a bad impression. Maybe he didn’t feel comfortable. He knew Geoffrey much better than I did, for obvious reasons. I was just using every lesson Hasan ever taught me. Heath was going by experience.
“I don’t mean any offense, Geoffrey,” Heath said quietly. “I’m just trying to make sure this goes smoothly. We don’t need any more dead bodies.”
“Of course,” Geoffrey said with a sigh. “Hearing those two are dead…It’s not what I was expecting.”
“Of course, it wasn’t. Now, Heath, I want to get settled in. You can stay here and hang out with an old friend, but I’m going to head out.” I was tired of the activity. I was tired of being far from home, listening to two wolves posture, and tired of politics.
“I’m going with you,” he said, stepping away from Geoffrey. “We’ll meet your driver downstairs.”
“He’ll be waiting for you.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Alpha Lewis.” I extended a hand as I passed in front of the wolf. He shook and offered the same courtesy. Heath gestured for me to walk out first, and we got into the elevator together. Heath leaned over to me, chuckling.
“You’re not too shabby a politician, you know.”
“Bite me,” I growled softly.
12
Chapter Twelve
It was the quiet wolf, who I now knew was named Mickey, who gave me the contact information for the park ranger. He was waiting downstairs at the desk with the two guards, which I could now smell as wolves as I drew close to them.
“I’ll be your driver as well. If you would like, we can get you a rental or a vehicle loaned from the pack for the duration of your stay in Seattle,” Mickey said as we walked out of the building together. “Alpha has already let me know what’s going on. I hope you two can find the answers we’re all looking for.”
“We’re hoping so, too,” Heath replied, sitting in the front seat beside Mickey this time, leaving me to the back seat. He even handed me my laptop bag, and I pulled it close to my chest. Mickey didn’t miss that, looking into the rearview mirror and meeting my eyes.
“Smart,” he mouthed, looking away so we would miss it. I didn’t really see it so much as hear the air that passed through his lips, making the mouthed word into the softest whisper I had ever heard. Heath missed it completely. My hearing, as many people forgot, was more sensitive than a werewolf’s. While we all had advanced senses, werewolves had the better ability to smell, but my hearing was much better than theirs.
I didn’t comment on it, though. I planned on letting Heath know what had just played out when we reached the hotel. Heath gave our driver the name of where we were staying, and he got us there quickly, helping us unload and waiting for us to check in before leaving. I was grateful he didn’t try to walk up with us to our rooms. I didn’t want to have to turn down hospitality and look like an ass.
“He knows our room numbers,” I pointed out as Heath and I stepped onto another elevator. “And thank you for coming with me and helping. I needed you in there with Alpha Lewis.”
“It’s no problem. It seems fortunate I came because now Geoffrey gets a mostly impartial wolf to help out instead of leaving it to werecats he doesn’t know. Jacky…if Titan and Gaia killed those wolves, I won’t hide it for you or your family.”
“I know.” I wouldn’t have asked him to. If our cats killed the wolves first, there were even