I know exactly how strong you are. I didn’t even fight you on your determination to stay in your apartment building.
“I know you’re a force to be fucking reckoned with, Mila. And I know it would hurt you if I implied differently, so I shelved my own fears for you. But today, a neurotic bitch shot you in the fucking chest. A human. Easy to take down. But none of us managed it before she could hurt you. None of us. Sometimes, being strong isn’t enough.”
Mila couldn’t argue that, but . . . “There’s no longer a price on my head, and Rosemary is no longer a factor, so the danger has passed.”
Dominic shook his head. “Pierson’s articles and my pack’s responses garnered a lot of attention. His daughter just tried to kill you. This is going to turn into a media circus. He’s going to lose his shit, and he’s going to somehow blame us for Rosemary’s actions. Extremists will side with him, deeming you a shifter groupie, and they might try to attack you.
“All kinds of people are going to show up near your building and the barbershop. Reporters, video bloggers, nosy-ass people. It’s going to be a security nightmare for your pride. There is no way they can keep a close watch on you during that time.”
Vinnie sighed, his expression grim. “He’s right, Mila. The street was packed with people when we left. This will be plastered all over the internet. You know from what happened to Bracken’s family exactly how far the extremists will go. You know how much they love tossing firebombs through the windows of shops, houses, and apartment buildings.”
“Don’t think of staying here as lying low,” Luke said to her. “Think of it as making it hard for any bastards to get near you. Think of it as protecting the pride, even. If the extremists choose to target you, and they believe you’re here—”
“They’ll bomb Phoenix Pack territory,” Mila snapped. “Does that not matter to anyone here?”
“The dwelling is too deep within the land for any bombs to hit it,” said Trey. “They might cause damage to the surrounding woods, but that would be all. And we have precautions in place to deal with such events.”
James tilted his head as he spoke to Trey. “It won’t bother you to have her here, knowing it could bring danger to your territory?”
“She’s Dominic’s mate—that’s all I need to know,” said Trey. “And there’ll always be a possibility of danger coming our way, because there’ll always be extremists. That’s the reason why no shifter in their right mind would ever start a war with the fuckers. You can’t kill prejudice. It’ll sadly always exist, which means there will always be people who want to act on it. A war would only lead to pointless deaths, nothing more.”
Alex nodded. “The Movement does a good job of handling the extremists anyway. The rates of attacks have lowered dramatically, and the extremists have lost a lot of support from their own kind. With all the PR work that shifter groups have been doing, humans and shifters are coexisting more peacefully than ever before. But, as you said, there’ll always be prejudice. Dean’s problem with my sister could be that he has something against pallas cats.”
“I didn’t pick up any prejudice from him,” said Mila. “He was just . . . normal.”
“The wolf said Dean watched you,” Alex pointed out. “That’s not exactly normal.”
“It doesn’t have to mean that he was thinking anything bad,” said Mila. “And could you please call Dominic by his name?”
“No.”
Just then, Tate strolled back into the room, pocketing his phone. “According to Archie, Dean Simmons is part of the Birch Pride, which isn’t more than a mile from here.”
Vinnie pushed to his feet. “Then let’s go pay him a visit. I won’t call his Alpha in advance; we don’t want to give Dean a heads-up that we’re coming. I’ll call you as soon as I get ahold of him, Mila.”
Everyone else stood, and Valentina crossed to Mila. Pulling her into yet another hug, Valentina said, “I know it is hard for you to stay behind. But this will go more smoothly if you are not in sight of this male who put price on your head.”
Mila exhaled heavily. “I know, but—”
“Four times, Mila,” said James. “In a short space of time, you’ve almost been killed four times. Take pity on our hearts, and give us a rest from the worry.”