Reese (Pack of Misfits #2) - Raven Kennedy Page 0,68

a few that I don’t recognize, which isn’t surprising, considering I haven’t met all of my new packmates yet. But I ignore all of those foreign smells and try to pick up Sid or Rick Dick, or any of the other mongooses. Except I find nothing familiar.

I shift back and get dressed again, just as Jetta comes back over to the truck.

“I don’t recognize any of the shifters,” she tells Igor.

“Me either.”

He rubs his jaw. “Alright. I’ll let Hugo know. It could just be Rockhead fucking with us.”

“Or it could be someone looking for one of us, but they sent someone we wouldn’t recognize,” Jetta counters.

Igor nods. “Exactly. I need both of you to stay alert.”

“I’m always alert,” Jetta says before walking around the truck and getting into the back seat.

I shrug at her dismissive behavior. “Sorry we weren’t more help.”

“You ruled out some shifters. That helps.”

Jetta is quiet during the drive back, which is no surprise. I find myself insanely curious as to why she opted not to shift. But I guess some people are protective and secretive about their animals, and Jetta is more secretive than most. I’ve been rooming with her for a while, and I still don’t know anything about her. Every time I try to ask her even the simplest questions, she replies with one-word answers or walks out.

Even so, she’s not a bitch or anything. I actually like her. She’s just...in fighting mode all the time. Like she’s always anticipating an attack where she’ll need to defend herself. Or that she’s used to people watching her and using her reactions and words against her, so she chooses to stay quiet and disconnected from everything and everyone. I find myself feeling bad for her. Who knows what she’s been through?

Igor drops us off outside the warehouse. When we get back into our bedroom, my curiosity gets the better of me. Jetta sits down on her bed with her knees bent and the remote already in her hand, flipping on yet another murder show.

“So...” I say tentatively as I sit down on my own twin bed across from her. “Who’s looking for you?”

She doesn’t even glance over at me as she replies, “Assholes.”

“Me too. Sid—my old alpha—he would’ve felt my alpha bond break. He kept me as a rat for punishment. He won’t be happy that I escaped. It was his plan to make me suffer for a long time before killing me.”

She says nothing, but I really wasn’t expecting her to.

“Are you running from the assholes who put that collar on your neck?”

A tic in her jaw appears. I know I shouldn’t push, but I’m so morbidly curious about this girl. She’s clearly a badass. I can tell by the ravening way she watches everyone and the vicious grace to her movements.

That’s exactly what Jetta is—vicious grace. There’s really no other way to describe her.

“Look, Reese,” she says, getting up from her bed and tossing down the remote. “It’s nothing personal, but I don’t do heart-to-heart talks. I’m not staying here and becoming a new member of the offbeat oddballs.”

I open my mouth to reply, but she’s already turned and is striding away. I hear her black combat boots pounding down the metal stairs a moment later.

I sigh and grab the remote, flipping it on a home and garden channel. My rat likes to get ideas of nest decor. But even as I try to distract myself, my mind keeps wandering back to who was sneaking around the compound. Anxiety scrambles up my insides like eggs. What if it’s Rick Dick? I still have no idea what happened to him in the first place.

Sure, he’s gone on binges, but never for that long. Whatever agreement he had with Sid made sure that he kept me alive at least. If I hadn’t been taken to the pet shop, that might not have been the case. If he went back to his apartment and found that I was gone, he probably lost his shit. But I don’t think he would find me here. He never struck me as the kind of guy with the skills to track someone down. He’s too lazy.

So that brings me to Sid. Sid is many things, but lazy isn’t one of them. The mongoose is ruthless, especially when it comes to revenge. Which makes my anxiety heighten, because there’s no way he’s just going to accept the fact that I’m gone without a trace. He could very well have hired someone to