“So many?” Heath frowned. “Really?”
“Werecats grow older far easier than werewolves, mostly because we don’t have as much infighting. Rogue werecats roam, looking for a territory of their own, answer to other werecats, or just don’t want to settle down yet. I’ve fought a few of those when they got curious about someone’s territory and needed to be chased out. Those were never fatal, though. Territory fights are nearly never fatal. It’s frowned upon.” I was rambling again now.
“Have you gotten into any fights since we’ve been here?”
“No. I would have told you there was trouble just so you wouldn’t go near the border.”
“So, to recap, you’ve been avoiding my daughter, which hurts her, because you are…busy considering how to stop any possible wars that may have started thanks to our actions.”
“And how to keep out of trouble with other werecats. Or, I don’t know, make them see I don’t mean anyone harm, and neither do you. You better not mean my kind harm. If you do, you won’t make it out of my territory alive.”
“Understandable. No, I don’t mean any of your kind harm. Most of the time, I’m curious. Vampires, fae, werewolves, and werecats. Nagas, kitsunes, and more. I like to meet others from different species and get their perspective. You give me a close eye into the world of werecats. I don’t plan on using it against you, and I’m not spying under false pretenses.”
“You say that now, but if I threw you out or a werecat attacked, you would use everything you could to protect yourself and Carey,” I pointed out. “I’m not stupid.”
“Like you don’t know more than you let on about werewolves,” he reminded me with a small smile. “Some were very surprised by how much you knew about us, me included.”
“Touché.” And I was willing to use it all to survive, even if the urge to survive surprised me because before I met Carey, I didn’t have all that much to live for.
“Can I admit something since we’re doing this sharing thing tonight?” he asked, looking down at his hands, considering them. My thoughts wandered to the memory of how warm and calloused they were when he helped clean and re-bandage my injuries in that warehouse in Dallas. They were nice hands.
“You can say whatever you want.”
“I was mad at Carey for being so upset by you.”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise until he looked up. He chuckled sadly.
“Not to her face. Just privately annoyed by it. I thought…I thought she would be over you by now. I figured the first few months, her attachment would be understandable. You protected her, she was having nightmares, and being able to talk to you…helped her. She refuses to talk to me about Richard. So does Landon…” He groaned. “Yet she’s more in love with you now than she was six months ago. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Are you uncomfortable with it?” I asked in a small voice, knowing it was strange. A thirty-six-year-old shouldn’t be the best friend of an eleven-year-old, not to humans, and maybe not to werewolves. Werecats were different.
“Jealous,” he said, leaning down to put his forehead on the counter. “I’m jealous. Does she talk to you about him? My son, her brother tried to kill her. Wanted to kill me and Landon…and I don’t know how she feels. Part of me knows if she ever told anyone, it would be you, and that irks me. She used to tell me everything.”
“No, she doesn’t talk to me about Richard. None of you have since that night,” I answered, swallowing my guilt over killing his son. Richard refused to stop fighting, and I had to protect Carey, but it still didn’t wash all the guilt away. A man had to bury his child. His asshole child but a child, nonetheless.
“You understand her. Every female in my pack…either I didn’t trust them as much as I should or had reasons to keep them away. Every human woman who ever tried to get close to the family was looking to turn her into a princess, and she’s not that girl, will never be that girl, no matter how much I tried. You understand being a tough woman in a world of monsters and…I’m jealous it makes you special to her.”
“There’s no reason to be. She’s your daughter.” I shrugged, trying to play off how uncomfortable this conversation had turned.
“Just promise me one thing. Even if you do need to have us leave, keep talking to her. I don’t care what else you do, Jacky, but if you hurt my daughter, I’ll hunt you down and give her your hide.”
“I would give it to you,” I murmured. “I don’t agree with hurting kids, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep werecat drama far away from her. I can’t promise to keep it away from you, but then, you’re an adult werewolf. There’s not much I can do for you or Landon. She’s human, though. No one should try to hurt her.” I frowned. “You never answered my question.”
“No, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable,” he replied, looking up again. “I’ve seen it in wolves, too. An adult will take someone under their wing, mentor and guide them to adulthood. Protect them. Not as…privately as you, not for the same reasons, but I don’t think anything weird is going on. I’m just jealous.”
“She’s a great kid,” I said, smiling. “I’ll keep you updated on this. You can’t share what I told you tonight, though. It could seriously harm me and other werecats. Please.”
“It’s safe with me. There’s no reason to tell anyone about what the werecats are dealing with on their own.” He checked the time. “Thank you for talking to me. Don’t ignore her anymore, please. If there’s something on your mind, tell me, then talk to her about whatever. She’s been a mess since Tuesday.”
“I’ll text her tomorrow and apologize.” Carey was probably already in bed, so there was no way I was texting her tonight and waking her up for Heath to deal with when he got home. “Do you want one more drink?”
“No, I’m fine. Landon is probably prowling around the house, wondering if he should come get me, or if I’m alive. He doesn’t trust you very much, which is typical for Landon. He’ll warm up, eventually.”
“Is that why he used to come in with you but not often? Because he’s worried I’m going to attack you?”
“Yes and no,” Heath answered with a small smile. Pushing off the bar, he adjusted his light jacket, making sure the zipper was exactly halfway up. The longer I looked at it, the more I began to think he must have ironed it. Did he iron his casual clothes?
Weird ass wolf.
He started walking toward the door, and I took the last chance I had to say something.
“Look, I am sorry for the cold shoulder all week. It was nothing personal, really.”
“Just remember to tell her that,” he replied, pulling open the door. “I like you, but if you disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn’t be hurt. I would just be angry that my daughter would lose you and not understand why.”
I tried not to take that personally. No love lost between us, he walked out. After he was gone, I did take it personally.
He wouldn’t care at all? Really? After everything in Dallas and the last six months living in the same area, seeing each other every damn weekend? Then why is he at my bar all the fucking time?
Chapter Seven
I waited until midafternoon on Sunday to make any calls. Or I told myself that. Really, I slept until one in the afternoon and realized I couldn’t put off calling people for the rest of the day. I had to apologize to Carey for ignoring her, yell at Hasan for ignoring me, and maybe try Lani again. She hadn’t contacted me all week, though that could just be a sign she really didn’t consider me as much of a friend as I considered her.
I went to the safest option first, hitting Carey’s name in my contacts.
“Hello?” she said, cautious. “Jacky?”
“Hey, Carey. I…I wanted to call to say I’m sorry. It’s been a bad week for me, and I didn’t want to take it out on you.” I’m trying to find a way to protect you because I’m paranoid, scared, and hurt by what I heard other werecats say.
“Yeah, Dad told me this morning you were just really busy with werecat stuff,” she replied.
I closed my eyes in dismay. Heath and I gave her two different explanations, which meant she knew one was lying. Honestly, the two explanations only explained half the issue each. The truth was in their totality, but Carey would probably not see it that way.
“We’re still on for tomorrow, right?” I asked her, hoping she would agree.
“Duh. I would have had Dad drive me over if you didn’t show up.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. It was serious. The girl threw it out like an obvious fact of life and a threat at the same time.
“I’ll remember that.” If I want to skip a Monday with Carey, I would need to hide better than her father can find me. “So, what can I do to make the last week up to you?”
“We’re going out to see a new movie. No more movies at your apartment. And I want to see your real house.”
“You’re playing hard ball. I’ll take you to a real movie at a movie theater and out to dinner. Not my house.”
“Done. I’ll find some movie times for tomorrow, and you’ll feel better after a good movie away from your bar.” She sounded so mature like she couldn’t possibly be wrong. Half the time, she was too mature. The other half, it was obvious she was only just about to turn twelve. “Dad says getting out of the house is good for you.”
“Does he mean for people in general or just me?”
“I think he meant in general, but you never leave your house, so it must be good for you.” I could hear her smile on the other end. I wondered if Heath was listening in and had fed her some lines this morning, knowing I was going to call.
“Tell your dad I said hello. I’ll be there at four tomorrow, don’t worry.”