Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,64

with was sharp. He wasn’t a rugged man like most werewolves I’d seen. He was classically beautiful, with a sharpness that made me uncomfortable. The only thing about him that wasn’t styled to perfection was his hair, which looked like he’d run his hand through it too many times. It fell over his face, framing his dastardly grey-blue eyes. And that was all before I got to his broad shoulders, encased in a crisp black suit. He didn’t look like a man who was fighting for his life. Not in the slightest.

Three…well, it was time for me to tell him that his daughter was taken from me, and I was pretty certain he would try to kill me after that.

“Start talking, Jacky.” He didn’t remove his eyes from me as the SUV got moving.

“Twenty-four hours or so ago, a hunting party showed up at the location I was hiding her at. We’d already been chased out of my territory by a small group that had silver on them. The next one was twice the size and put four silver bullets in me, leaving me for dead, and taking her with them.” I hoped he understood that I had done everything I could have thought of.

His eyes darkened with rage and for once, I was genuinely scared of a werewolf. Not because he was stronger than me. Not because he was faster.

He was a father who had a little girl, and now that little girl was in danger. Very real danger. Makes him the most dangerous monster in the city, to be honest.

“And you’re here,” he whispered.

“I made a choice to come and save her. I wasn’t going to give up and fail my Duty, no matter what Laws told me I probably should.” Let that be enough. Please.

“What about the silver wounds?” he asked, looking over me with disdain now. “You don’t look very injured.”

I didn’t have a way to say anything without whining, so I pulled my shirt up enough that he could see my gut, with the scabbed hole from one of silver bullets. The bruising around it was only going to get worse before it got better. I lifted higher to show him more.

“I have another hole in my thigh. There were some bystanders who kindly took the bullets out and did CPR on me.”

Someone coughed in the front. I glanced quickly, not wanting to take my eyes off the dangerous wolf next to me for too long. Stacy was staring into the back, her eyes wide. Her father was looking over at her.

“Stacy, stop staring.”

“Dad, they shot her!” she cried out. “Heath, you have to put a stop to this! Why is this about Carey? What happened?”

“Stacy, stay out of it,” her father snapped. “Now.”

She looked back to the front and I knew the teenage attitude when I saw it. I was a nineteen-year-old girl once and pulled the exact same move more times than I’m certain was necessary. Her arms crossed and she thumped back into her seat, creating the same effect as slamming a door.

“CPR? You died?” Heath lifted his chin and looked down his nose now, but I could see a tiny amount of lightening of his eyes. That boded well for me.

“For two minutes, they said.” I wasn’t going to tell him about Brin and his family. It wasn’t the wolf’s business. Brin had never exposed what he was to Carey, therefore it wasn’t much of consequence. “There had to have been thirteen wolves in that hunting party. I’m not an old or experienced werecat. I did what I could.” I felt shitty for it since it hadn’t been enough, but it had been my best.

“I know,” he said softly. “So, you think my daughter is now somewhere in Dallas.”

“The first group…They said they wanted her to flush you out. I expect you’ll be getting some hint or message soon to meet or something. Trade her safety for your defeat. Not very honorable, but from my understanding, nothing about this has been.” I shrugged. I didn’t really want to talk wolf politics with wolves. I was suddenly worried about being out of my territory, the anxiety making my chest tighten. I was in an SUV, an enclosed space, with two wolves, one of them very angry at me—and he had the power to destroy my life. Even kill me. He could invade my territory, even if I did make it back there. “I’m sorry, Alpha Everson.”

“It’s not your fault,” he whispered. “I