"What are you doing here, Zack?" her mother asked.
The tiger curled his lips as he opened a drawer. "The bastard escaped us. I need something with his scent on it to disseminate to the Strati who seek him."
Aimee arched a brow at that. The Strati were elite Katagaria soldiers who were carefully trained to hunt and to kill. Her brothers Zar and Dev, along with her father, were technically Strati warriors even though they shouldn't have been. But the Peltier clan was all about keeping up appearances.
"You need nothing of his," her mother said to her utter shock as she defended Wren. "Get out of my house."
Zack didn't listen. He moved to open another drawer.
Her mother used her powers to slam it shut. "I said for you to leave."
The tiger turned to confront her. "Don't screw with me, bear. You have as much to lose by this as I do."
"What do you mean?"
But Aimee already knew. Her powers painted a perfect image of what was going on here. "You're the one who spoke out against Wren at the Omegrion . . . you lied."
Her mother jerked her head to look at her. "Do not be foolish, cub. I would have smelled a lie."
Aimee shook her head. "Not if the animal makes a habit of lying. He could easily mask his scent."
Zack took a step toward her only to find his path blocked by her mother.
"Is Aimee telling the truth?"
Zack answered with a question of his own. "Were you?" He arched a brow at her mother. "Do you really think Wren's gone mad? Honestly? You just wanted him out of here and you seized on any excuse to expel him. Admit it, Lo. You don't want anyone here but your family and it galls you to have to play nice with the rest of us."
Her mother growled low in her throat.
It wasn't the truth. Her mother would protect most of them with her life, but there were those like Wren her mother didn't trust at all. And those, he was right, Nicolette hated having here under her roof. Thanks to Josef.
Her family was too scarred by the past. By the one they'd trusted who had killed her brothers. And for that, she couldn't blame her mother at all.
Zack narrowed his gaze. "If Savitar ever learns the truth, he'll come for you and all your cubs. There won't be a brick left of your precious Sanctuary."
Her mother seized him and threw him against the wall. He landed with his back against it, but it didn't appear to faze him at all.
Zack actually laughed at her. "What happened to the rules of Sanctuary, Nicolette?"
Aimee caught her mother before she could attack the tiger again.
"Get out, tiger," Aimee snarled. "If I let go of my mother, there won't be enough left of you to worry about Savitar or anything else."
Zack pushed himself away from the wall. He glared at them both. "You have even more to lose than I do. Give me what I need to cover both our asses."
Now it was her mother who laughed. "Are you completely stupid? Wren has never left his scent on anything. Look around you, idiot. There is no personal item here. As soon as an article of clothing comes off his body, he has always washed it or destroyed it. He even keeps a monkey here so that its scent camouflages his own. You will never be able to track him. Face it, Zack, the cub has more intelligence than you and your father combined."
Aimee was suddenly impressed by her mother. Her mother had known that and still she'd allowed Wren to keep Marvin. How unlike her. And it caused a new wave of respect to fill her heart.
Zack's nostrils flared in anger. "This isn't over."
"Oui, but it is. You come here again and code or no code, I will see you dead."
Growling, Zack vanished.
The tension in the air eased considerably.
Maman let out a slow breath as she turned toward her. "Aimee, call your wolf and warn him what has happened. I am sure he knows where Wren is and he can warn them that the tiger is cornered and desperate. In his position, Zack is capable of anything."