have shared, I realized belatedly. He hadn’t known that. Hell, Lani didn’t even know that.
“Yes, well, I was dying after a storm made the roads slick and I went over a cliff,” I said quietly, shifting my body to face away from Heath, an obvious sign I wasn’t up to giving away any more of my life story. “It’s just rare,” I finally said. “And avoided.”
It was because some people didn’t accept the Change. For the werewolves, Hasan had told me they were laxer about it because they were easier to put down. For werecats, because of the bonds we made and the strength we had, it was too risky. He’d said if I didn’t have control of my werecat within a year, he would have put me down before I got too strong for him to potentially stop.
Luckily, I gained control.
“I think we’re done interrogating the local werecat, Stacy,” Heath said gently. “Why don’t you call the safe house and let them know we’re on our way back?”
“Okay…Sorry, Jacky, if I offended you.”
I shrugged. “Not offended. Just a sore topic,” I told her. “You didn’t know. Don’t feel bad.” Couldn’t have kids feeling bad for their curiosity.
The rest of the ride was quiet for me, as everyone else talked softly about who was where and doing what. When we arrived at the warehouse, lost somewhere in Dallas, I was ready to face the next challenge.
I had to work with a wolf pack to get Carey back.
15
Chapter Fifteen
The warehouse was completely nondescript. Boring, plain, it blended in with several other warehouses. Heath walked in the front of our group with Stacy next to him. I wish I could say it was a place of respect, but I knew it wasn’t. It was a place of safety. He was showing the pack that Stacy mattered and he would die for even their future wolves, probably because the future was important, or something idealistic like that. Shamus was behind him, a few feet back. Casually protecting his Alpha’s back without crowding or being overprotective. A sign that he trusted his Alpha to protect his still-human daughter.
I was tailing the entire group, just behind Shamus, who smartly kept me more to his back right and not directly behind him. A sign that he knew I could make trouble and wasn’t going to let me get the drop on him. Smart wolf. Not that I was planning on trying, but I had nowhere else to walk. They didn’t really leave me any other options.
There were no werewolves outside the warehouse, giving even more of a normal, ‘nothing weird going on here’ look, but I could smell them. There were so many that the scents blended together until it just smelled like werewolf and I couldn’t pull them apart.
It was disconcerting, and I was about to walk into the middle of them. The idea made me feel fidgety and anxious, something that must have become obvious as Shamus looked back at me when we got close to the building, frowning.
“We’re not bringing you back here to eat you,” he said quietly.
“Sure,” I replied, crossing my arms to cover the important bits, like my lungs and heart.
“I thought werecats were supposed to be a werewolf’s boogie man.” There was something light about Heath’s tone from the front.
I hissed. In the presence of other animals, I knew I could relax on one thing, and that was showing the more animalistic parts of my personality. Any humans in this building would probably know about the werewolves, and that meant there was a chance they knew about me or my kind.
“What big eyes you have,” Shamus teased, a toothy grin appearing on his face. “We’ve got her right where we want her, boss.”
I snarled, snapping at the closer wolf. He jumped away, laughing.
“Kidding. We’ve got more important things to do than trying to kill you.”
“He’s right,” Heath said loudly, looking back at us now. “Killing you only gets rid of one more layer of protection my daughter could use. I’m not going to do that. And I’ll swear it here: no wolves of mine will attempt to hurt you while you’re here or in our territory, as long as you prove to be dedicated to the task of rescuing my daughter from those that would do her harm.”
I inclined my head as my anxiety eased. If any of his wolves broke that, he would be required to step in on my behalf if he wanted to keep his honor,