went about as one could have expected. She was glad we were safe, and Heath was very careful to make sure nothing about what was going on in Seattle was brought up while he talked to her. I followed his lead when I was on the phone, then handed it back to him for his time with Landon. He would tell his son everything, including about me, so I walked out. There was nothing he could say that would surprise me. He’d learned a lot over the course of the day, and I had to give up a lot of information about the world of werecats to get through my meeting with Alpha Lewis. He would probably repeat all of it.
I locked my door when I was back in my room, making sure the damn wolf couldn’t sneak up on me. I was annoyed by his attractiveness, his arrogance about it, and the way he thought it was a good laugh to tease me about it.
I’ll just have to make it a point to completely ignore him now.
I moved my laptop to the small desk in my hotel room and found I had barely enough time to open it and get into the video conference program for the family meeting. Videos began popping up, and I sighed, seeing the quality of my laptop’s camera.
“Sorry, using a shit laptop for this trip,” I said quickly before anyone could call it out.
“It’s fine. We’re just glad to see you made it there safely,” Hasan said, almost a dare for any of my siblings to say anything to the contrary. “Now, everyone, Jaqueline has already given me a progress report. The Seattle pack isn’t hiding our killers.”
“Knowingly,” I added. “The Alpha is going to commit to a round of investigations into his pack to make sure.”
“What would have caused this?” Zuri asked quickly. “Is there any reason to believe the pack might be hostile?”
“Four wolves went missing in or near the werecats’ territories,” I explained. “They had a long-standing deal that werewolves were allowed to visit and camp when it wasn’t a full moon. Those wolves went missing a month ago, and two weeks ago, Titan and Gaia were found dead. There’s some reason to believe the werecats may have died in a revenge killing.”
“Do we know anything about the bodies?” Hisao asked softly. It sent chills down my spine.
“No. They were cremated per werecat custom by the time Jabari arrived,” Hasan answered. “That’s why I never brought them up. Complete dead end.”
“Maybe not,” Zuri countered. “Is there any way to speak to those who saw the bodies?”
“Jabari met with the park rangers who found them and had nothing special to report. They were human. They don’t have our sense of smell or anything to help them without contacting the authorities, which we’re lucky they didn’t do.” He sighed. “Jacqueline, please be careful.”
“I always am,” I cheerily responded, feeling my gut sink. By the looks of everyone on screen, they didn’t find my cover attitude funny or reassuring. I sagged, letting it go. “This is a clusterfuck up here. If Jabari and the Seattle pack had talked, we could have avoided some of this, and he might have had backup out there.”
“You will not go looking for him, Jacqueline. Do not make me say that more than once.”
“I won’t!” I growled. “I’m pointing out the obvious. If the damn wolf pack here had given him a meeting, they would have been able to exchange this information. As it is, they had no idea Titan and Gaia were dead. The damn rangers at the park didn’t even tell them, probably worried it was the wolves who did it. Their lack of intel was the first thing I fucking noticed while I was there. I also noticed my lack of intel. They’ve lost four damn wolves. Heath is planning to extend his stay to help them find answers.” I leaned over and rubbed my forehead. They didn’t need to know about my embarrassing moment with the wolf, though it was partially why I was already a touch frustrated with the trip.
“This is bigger than expected,” Mischa commented lightly. “Well, we take the punches as they’re thrown. Are you worried about Heath’s loyalty? Are you in any danger?”
“No,” I mumbled. I quickly explained what I heard Geoffrey say. “On top of that, for helping me, I agreed to let Heath get to know me. That’s my problem, though, not any of yours.”
“How much have you told