“Do I want to ask?” I asked and rubbed my face, trying not to acknowledge the heat of my cheeks and the redness that was probably taking over.
“I like you finally trust us,” she explained, her smile unfading. “Is there anything else you want to talk about?”
I shook my head as I leaned back in my chair. I caught her looking at her phone and frowning.
“I don’t immediately recognize it. It looks like an incorrect concealment rune,” she murmured, mostly to herself, her head tilted to the side, causing her long braids to fall over her shoulder. “If it was a correct concealment rune, we’d have a problem, but this would be powerless if that was the effect intended.”
“Really?” That made me curious, but not worried. If the rune had no power, then I had nothing to worry about. I was curious what the concealment rune did, though.
“A concealment rune would have hidden a supernatural from your territory’s notice,” she said with a small growl. “It’s a problem if she had a real one. She wouldn’t have fooled your nose, but you wouldn’t have known what she was until you caught her scent.”
“She smelled human. So, in theory, if she had the correct rune, she could have been a witch.”
“Yes, though you might have smelled magic on her as well. A werewolf would have picked it up without a problem, even if you couldn’t.” She finally put her phone down and looked back to her camera. “There’s nothing to worry about with the concealment rune, though, or we would have warned you about it ages ago. First, not many know the runes of power, and most have been too butchered by humans over the centuries to have a place in modern magics. Even if someone did use it, it would only get them so far. Second, not many want to toy with werecats. There are people who work for the Tribunal who don’t want to toy with even the youngest of our kind.” She gave me a pointed look I could have assumed was directed at anyone else, but I wasn’t an idiot. She was making sure that sank in with me. “I also can’t think of a reason a witch would target you specifically. Jabari and me? We have history with them, but that was thousands of years ago.”
“So, this human probably had some bogus reason she thought the rune would help her, but it’s powerless. Seen it before, will see it again,” Davor said, nonchalant and dismissive. Bored. There was something bored in his tone. “Are we done?”
“You can go,” Hasan said, his words only betraying the barest hint of annoyance. Davor disconnected without another word. I kept my mouth firmly shut. I would not ask Hasan for the hundredth time why he thought Davor was worth the trouble. Knowing my werecat father, he would only remind me Davor often asked the same question about me.
“He can be such a petulant boy,” Zuri commented, chuckling. “Don’t mind him, Jacky.”
“I wasn’t minding him,” I said with a stiffness that betrayed me.
“I can’t smell the lie, but I can see it on your face,” she retorted. “Before we go, since it’s just us and Father, I feel like I should say something.”
I noted Hasan’s face didn’t change at all. At this point, it seemed like he was waiting on the sidelines like a referee, ready to break up his children if needed.
“Say whatever you want,” I said, killing the silence Zuri had left in her wake. “You know you can text or call me any time.”
“Well, this is just something I’ve been thinking about, and now seems like a good time to bring it up after your brush with human authorities. Jacky, the best way to avoid being exposed is to close your circle of friends. It would be safer for you to distance yourself from the wolves…and from Carey. When this all started, none of us knew human authorities might take an interest in a werewolf father and his human daughter, but they do, so it’s time to consider taking a step back from them. It would be safer in the end, at least until Carey is an adult. You’ve done a lot for them, and I’m certain they’re friends, but…” She trailed off with a look of ‘you know what I’m saying.’ I totally understood every word that came out of her mouth, comprehended the sentiment, and I couldn’t refute it.
It would be safer if I never saw the werewolves again.
She doesn’t even know how deep it goes.
“I swore an oath to Heath when he asked to move his family into my territory to protect Carey for as long as she lived here. Or something like that. I don’t remember exactly what I said,” I explained, swallowing. There was no reason to bring up that I was intensely attracted to the Alpha, or that he had the insane ability to make me want more than I had wanted in over a decade. No reason to bring up that I was risking everything to dabble in the taboo of getting physical with our mortal enemy.
No reason at all.
“I’m certain he would understand needing more space for your safety and the necessary secrecy of your life,” she said with a motherly sternness that made me a little more worried. There was a hardness to her stare that made me want to squirm.
There was no way she knew, I was certain of it, but the rush of fear in the back of my mind and the tightness in my chest were instinctive reactions.
“I’ll take it into consideration,” I promised, looking away. “It won’t be easy, though. They’re friends, and I love Carey. I really do. It would be hard losing her in my life. She’s so young, and she wouldn’t really understand…”
“Just think about it,” Zuri whispered, her stare too intense for me to be comfortable.
“I will,” I said with more conviction.
She disconnected first, and I rushed to cut off whatever Hasan opened his mouth to say. I stared at the screen for what felt like an eternity.
Zuri’s advice rang in my ears like some sort of condemnation. Distancing myself from the wolves was smart. Distancing myself from Heath was potentially lifesaving.
Zuri always gives out good advice, I’ll give her that.
I just have no intention of listening to it.
With my mind made up, I felt more resolve. I could keep my fling with the local werewolf a secret until I figured out exactly what I wanted out of Heath Everson.
“Well, at least they aren’t worried about my little run-in with the United States government,” I mumbled, finally closing my laptop and standing.
Taking a deep breath, I set myself to an evening of cleaning. I could still smell the human scents lingering in my space, humans I didn’t know and didn’t trust. There was no way I was going to leave them to dissipate naturally. They had to go.
Chapter Six
The week flew by on me. It was astounding, really. When I first started to relinquish control of Kick Shot, I had been at a loss what to do. I still was most of the time, but I was getting better at finding small things to do. Since the bar had been burned down and rebuilding took time, I had dedicated myself to new skills. I had always felt wholly ill-unequipped for my position as Hasan’s representative, and nothing was going to change that, due to my age and lack of experience, but all my free time was giving me a chance to try to make up for both of those things.
So, I was teaching myself languages. Thanks to my location, I decided the first had to be Spanish. I did quizzes, used apps and programs, and I was coming along. I still wasn’t very good, but it killed time. I was beginning to realize how my siblings knew so much. When there was only free time, learning something kept you sane.
I was finishing up my daily lesson when my phone started to ding with an alarm. Already knowing what it was, I silenced it without reading the notification. I had a meeting at Kick Shot about the interior design, a meeting I was thankful was just going to be me, Heath, and his favorite designer, who already knew the look I wanted. We just needed to finalize the pieces and colors.
I left my computer and dressed in something sensible. I spent my days in shorts and tank tops, thanks to the overbearing heat, not my usual jeans and band t-shirts. It wasn’t just the heat, though. I didn’t need to worry about dressing for work because I had none.
I didn’t move quickly. The meeting was at the bar, so the walk from my house was my only commute, something I had to fight for since the rebuilding process had begun. I was the one who paid for the trailer sitting in the parking lot because it had been my demand. Heath had tried to convince me to make the drive to his home for meetings. He wasn’t surprised when I had put my foot down on that idea.
As I walked around the building, I smiled at the sight of him, leaning on the hood of his truck. I had known he was there. The smile didn’t last long as the designer burst out of the trailer, blonde, her bone straight hair getting caught in the wind. She looked like a movie star, dressed to walk into the homes of the rich and belong there. Her blue eyes caught the sun and shone like stars.
“Finally! I’ve been here for an hour!” she declared, looking between Heath and me.
“You getting here early is not the client’s problem,” Heath said with a bite, his gaze shifting over to her. “You know that.”
The exaggerated sigh of the designer, Miss Lucille Ralston, was every stereotype I could think of. She was privileged and wealthy, from the moment she had been born with the typical silver spoon in her mouth. She was a good designer, but Heath had made sure to tell me everything about her, like the fact her grandfather was the werewolf Alpha of New York. Her business had boomed thanks to the silent, steady support of the pack. Now, she designed homes for the rich and famous. Heath had told me when he asked to hire her, he and the Alpha of Los Angeles were only tentative allies, both serving on the North American Werewolf Council. That rubbed off between Heath and Lucille, who tentatively worked together. He had made it clear to me Lucille was great at her job, but not the easiest for him to work with. He’d made it sound like a warning.
Sure enough, every time I was in the same area as both, there was friction. I’d grown used to it.
“You’re lucky you pay so well, considering the heat of this blasted place,” she snapped at Heath. “I can’t believe you moved out—”