Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,88

lot I owe you for. For Carey. For the pack. I’m just trying to help you as an honored guest in my house, and you’re making it really easy to bother you. The skittishness…amuses me, though.”

“The worst,” I muttered, leaving the room. I was ten feet away when I realized I really had nowhere to go except to another confined space to monitor his damn phone. I stomped into the office and found a wolf in my seat. “Hey, I’m here to take over,” I told the little female.

“Oh, I just got here. Alpha doesn’t want our guest working too hard. Says you’ll need to take time to heal before the trade.”

I ground my teeth as I heard the chuckling behind me. I looked over my shoulder and glared.

“I’m right and you know it. Why don’t you relax and enjoy my hospitality until we receive word from the traitors?”

“I think I hate you.” I wanted to stay busy. I needed to stay busy. Sitting around felt like I was doing nothing to save Carey. And that’s not acceptable. I have to save Carey.

“That’s okay, but really, after what I just saw, you do need to get some rest. You need to stop moving around and pulling the scars and stitches. Kick back and watch TV all day. Something. There’s nothing to be done until we get a call.” He leaned on the wall, crossing his arms. It was now a stare-down.

“You can’t keep me here doing nothing,” I warned softly.

“I can, and I will if I have to,” he retorted. “I have over twenty-five wolves here. More than enough to handle an injured werecat, and I don’t think you’re going to kill any of the wolves helping get my daughter back.”

He was right, but I hated it. I didn’t want to be useless. Sure, I had no idea what I was doing, but I needed a task, any task and he even took my little job away from me.

“Let me man the phone, please,” I asked, nearly begging. “I can’t do useless.”

“I’m not asking you to be useless. I’m asking you to heal so you can be the most useful at the right time.”

Well, when you put it that way… “Fine. I’ll…find somewhere to sit down. Anyone have a deck of cards or something?”

“I’m sure we can find one. No money, though. I don’t let my wolves gamble. Terrible vice.”

“Taking all the fun out of it then,” I muttered, shaking my head. One of the reasons I made my bar into a billiard bar was for the light gambling done at the pool table. It added a bit of spice and I always made sure it was friendly. I didn’t let pool sharks screw with my customers, because I could smell their intent from a mile away.

I let him lead me out of the office, feeling a little lost, very out of place, and insecure as we walked into the main area of the warehouse. It was still packed with wolves, all doing their own things in little groups. A few looked up at Heath and me as we walked, only adding to my belief that I had a sign over me that screamed ‘WERECAT’ in big red letters. Maybe they thought I would be gone after a day, because something told me they were still as uncomfortable with me as I was with them. It was like everything was back at square one, the same as it was when I had arrived yesterday with their Alpha.

“Sit,” he ordered. Before I could correct him, he rephrased. “Would you have a seat?” He indicated the chair at a table near the middle of the room. “Anyone have a deck of cards? I’m trying to keep our guest busy.”

“Here, boss.” One ran up and handed over exactly what he asked for.

Heath, in turn, handed them to me and sat across the table. “Would you like to sit down and play with us?” he asked the wolf.

I started shuffling, showing I had some skill in it. I played on the bar sometimes, and more than a few times, I’d hosted small poker nights at Kick Shot. I absolutely knew what I was doing.

“Sure…” The wolf fell into a seat as if his Alpha’s words had been an order and not a question. The remaining three seats were taken slowly as I shuffled, waiting to see if anyone else dared to come play with the werecat. Once they were all full, I announced the