Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,14

else are you planning?”

“To deal with the ‘she’s missing’ problem, I’m going to contact the werewolves’ council and have them make an announcement that she’s been found, to call off the search and continue managing things in the city. They won’t be stupid enough to think I can’t protect her.”

“Don’t get overconfident. There’s a lot of wolves in DFW. A lot. Last count I heard was seventy-five. Now, this turmoil might break them up, but a werecat your age might be able to handle five, ten if you’re lucky. You can’t take twenty or thirty. Hell, I’ve been around for a few centuries and I couldn’t take the Dallas-Fort Worth pack.”

“My Duty is to protect Carey Everson, daughter of the deposed Alpha of the Dallas-Fort Worth pack. I will do my Duty, Lani. It’s not overconfidence. It’s fact.” I tried my damnedest to put as much truth in those words as I could. I couldn’t fail. It wouldn’t just look poorly on me. It would look poorly on all werecats—and Hasan. I might dislike the man for several personal reasons, but I wasn’t going to fail in this. Not even for him or the werecats.

There was a strong, scared little girl on my couch who outweighed all of them.

There was silence. I could hear Lani breathing now, obviously trying to stay calm. “Be safe. Call if you need any more information. I’ll text a number I know for the wolves.”

“Will do. Thank you.” I hung up first, not worried about Lani like I was with Hasan. My phone dinged only a minute later. I texted the family lawyer first, explaining I was called to Duty by a minor. I needed anything I could get my hands on to make it legal to the humans. He responded instantly, which wasn’t strange. He might have been human, but he worked for monsters. He had to be nocturnal because we were. Thanks to client privilege, he wouldn’t tell Hasan what was going on either. The last damn thing I needed was him showing up. He would start a damn war no one needed.

Finally, I punched in the number Lani gave me. It rang twice before a quiet and tired woman answered.

“Hello. This is the North American Werewolf Council’s office. May I get your name?”

“Hello, I’m Jacky Leon and I need to speak with a wolf,” I said quickly. “Fang and claw to fang and claw. Secure line, someone important.”

There was an immediate beep. I had no hope I would get someone important, but it was worth a shot.

“George of the Atlanta Pack speaking.”

“Are you important?” I asked immediately. “I need to speak with someone who has anything to do with the turmoil in Texas.”

The wolf laughed at me. I gritted my teeth. “Like I’m going to give a stranger one of those lines. State your business and I’ll think about it.”

“How about this? I’m a fucking werecat called to Duty and you’ll give me to someone in charge.” I knew it would be easier to just explain what that Duty was, where I lived and the like, but I didn’t give my information to random phone boys and that’s all George was. He was some guy sitting in an office doing his pack’s duty to support the council, and that was answering phones.

“Look here, kitten. I don’t care if you’re the president of the fucking United States. You’re a werecat and you’re—”

“I have the Duty of protecting the deposed Alpha’s eleven-year-old human daughter,” I whispered harshly. “You’ll give me to who I fucking want to talk to.”

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit is right, you mangy mutt.”

“One moment, Miss Leon.” I was put on hold after that harried correction.

I nearly laughed. He wasn’t the first werewolf I’d ever spoken to, and it was always a bit hostile, even though we’ve been at peace for over eight hundred years. A fragile peace, though. One that relied on two things. First, the werewolves had to stop hunting the werecats. Second, the werecats upheld and did their Duty. That was all that kept the peace between us. Not even the fae or vampires wanted the war to restart. It would spill into their communities, the human world, and probably beyond. It wouldn’t end until one side was extinct.

That was why this was an entirely bad situation. If I screwed up, there could be an angry werewolf out there waiting to put a bullet in me, and then the war would kick off. There would be no peace if I

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