Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,80
just fine.”
“Jacky, what you said—”
“I was serious. When this is over, I never want to hear from another wolf, especially not one from this fucking pack. Is that clear? I’ve been shot at. I’ve been clawed and bitten. I’ve been harassed, and oh, the best one, fucking killed. I should apologize for my attitude to you right now, but I won’t because all of this is your fault!” I was standing and never even remembered making the move. “I’m in here, just monitoring your damn phone, and some fucking rabid animal comes for me! Now, I’m sure that Fenris has a great reason for hating my kind, much like Teagan probably does, but god damn, I’m trying to help here!”
“I know.” He clasped his hands and let them hang in front of him. “Fenris is a one-off case. He’s more traumatized by the old war than Teagan. I’m sorry. I really was trying to keep an eye out for him, but then I got busy with everything else and—”
“I’m not one of your wolves, so you forgot about me.” I jerkily nodded, understanding. “Yeah. Well, leave. I’m going to get back to work.”
“I’ll stay here,” he said softly, pulling up a chair.
“What?” I couldn’t have sounded more not okay with that than I already did. I curled a lip, trying to understand why he was sticking around. I didn’t want him breathing down my neck all damn night.
“I promised to keep you out of harm’s way, that my pack wouldn’t attack you. I failed due to my own distraction. I’ll be sitting right here until we find you a place to sleep that I feel is safe and secure.” He pulled over a chair from the meeting table and sat down. “So, no one has tried to contact me today?”
“No. No one,” I answered, breathing hard. “Have the others talked to you?”
“They brought me what they’ve put together so far. I don’t think we’re going to find my daughter the old-fashioned way.” He sounded distant for a moment. “We have to hope they call.”
“They will,” I promised. “Could be tonight. Could be tomorrow, but they will. There’s a chance your wolves capture a traitor and we get the information that way. You never know.”
“You said earlier that you found a wolf and sent him with a message.”
“Yeah, to his superior, Little Tim. Apparently a nickname for a guy called Timothy. Want to tell me about him?”
“He’s seventy-three and something of a slime ball. I never thought it was in a bad way. He’s good at business and leading people in the direction he wants them. He has a fascination with magic. He helped with the accounting firm. Middle of the pack.”
“Never considered he would betray you, being ‘somewhat of a slime ball’?” I raised an eyebrow in question.
“No, but then, no Alpha thinks half his pack is going to betray him.” He chuckled darkly. “Arrogant, I know, but it’s unheard of. Hostile takeovers are normally one wolf who takes on and takes out the Alpha. The rest of the pack falls into place. We don’t do political parties or any of the human nonsense. We just lead and follow. We survive, knowing that the strength of the community is more important than the wealth and power of the individual.”
“Ah. Confident in how your people think, are you?”
“I’m nearly three hundred. I’ve known a lot of wolves,” he said, giving me a bitter smile.
“Do you think your sons will contact you?” I asked softly. “Do you think they’re safe from the machinations of the traitors?”
“I hope so. They’re not young, my boys. Richard is only twenty-two years younger than I am. I had him while I was still human and Changed him myself. Landon was born during the Civil War. They’re good men with good heads on their shoulders.” He leaned back, shifting around in the seat. “What about you, Jacky? Like I said earlier, I have a lot of research on you. I know about your human life. I know about a lot since you moved to Jacksonville. What happened in between?”
“I was Changed and I lived with my werecat parent,” I answered, shutting down any and all emotion on my face. Wolves were the last species I could say Hasan was my father to, not if their kind killed his daughter before me. “I flew the nest younger than most do, but said werecat parent supported me in it.”
“Who?” He sounded blandly curious.
I just stared at him, refusing to