Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,75

I sighed, closing my eyes for a second, remembering the action. “I jumped in, human and stupid, and killed a few before they were able to put me down. They’re carrying silver, by the way, so when we do find Carey, be mindful of that.”

“Shit,” Chrissy growled. “That’s low of them.”

“Right?” I chuckled darkly. “In the last week, they’ve put five silver bullets in me.” I started to laugh, a bit too high-pitched. “Oh, this is a fucking disaster.” I was laughing harder now, bending over.

The wolves stepped away from me as I laughed until I cried. I was in the middle of a werewolf pack having what was probably a nervous breakdown. Carey needed me, but my brain was refusing to function properly as the severity of what was going on once again pressured me into freaking out.

Warm arms wrapped around me. “Woah there, cat,” Heath whispered. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. None of this was supposed to happen.” A hand rubbed over my hair, and I was led to a seat. “Jacky…are you going to be okay? Do I need to put you in a safe house?”

“No. No safe houses,” I finally managed. “Ah, shit, Heath, you brought this down on me and I wasn’t ready for it.” I rubbed my face, trying to wipe the tears away.

“I know,” he whispered. “I know.”

“How?” I looked up, finding him kneeling in front of me. He gave me a sad smile. The other wolves were behind him, looking various degrees of concerned and freaked out.

“I did a lot of research on you, Jacqueline. I know you have two living human parents and a twin sister who is a successful doctor. You didn’t make it through med school, though, opting to become an EMT instead. You’re not a soldier. You aren’t a killer. You saved things once, and it was that reason I picked you over the other werecats to protect Carey.” He sighed. “I’m sorry my actions have changed that for you.”

“You know too much,” I said softly. “My family…They could have been at risk because of you.”

“I’ll see all the information burned and deleted myself, the moment this is all handled,” he promised. “You don’t have to keep going, Jacky. You can stay here and let us handle the rest. You can go home right now and I won’t begrudge you for it at all.”

I shook my head. “Too late for that. I’m fine now. Thanks.” I pushed him away a little, standing back up to get some air. “God. Sorry about that. I’ve been running on fumes.”

“You look like it, too. I take it the wolves put those bruises on your face?” Laurent pointed, gesturing to my entire face.

“Yeah.”

“Huh. I thought werecats were cold-blooded killers,” Chrissy said thoughtfully. “You don’t seem like that. You definitely don’t seem like someone who’s killed…over ten werewolves in the last week.”

I crossed my arms protectively again. “I did what I had to do,” I said softly. “I’m fine. Let’s continue. They’re armed with silver. Does your pack keep a supply of it?”

“Yes, but it’s more for self-preservation. Rogue wolves causing trouble and the like. We’ve never authorized its use on your kind or anyone in the pack proper.” Heath was watching me curiously. I knew he was probably thinking about my breakdown, everything he knew about me, and everything that had happened. He probably thought I was weak now, because I was suffering from a moment of massive panic and insecurity about it all.

That was why I had pushed the topic back onto the job at hand, and I was going to force it to stay there. “Where did you keep the supply?”

He shook his head. “Everywhere. Everyone had a small supply for self-protection from other wolves, though the rule was to use it only as a last resort. There’s no secret stash I can point at and say ‘the guns are right there.’ That’s going to have to change. I won’t feel comfortable letting my wolves keep silver after this.”

“Sir, they’re not going to be your wolves soon,” Teagan said softly.

“What?” I raised an eyebrow, intrigued by that new revelation. Heath’s glare at Teagan made it apparent that he hadn’t wanted that to come out. “Heath, I’m in the middle of this now. I need to know what the fuck is going on.”

For what it was worth, he looked back over at me and finally nodded, gesturing for me to sit down. “This goes into how this all started, I