Page 20 of Cruel Revenge (Jacky Leon #12)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

HEATH

“ A nother meeting down,” Landon said, sighing heavily, sinking into his chair.

“Another meeting down,” Heath said just as wearily as his son, but with a small chuckle at the end as he nodded.

He checked the time, restless. Heath had smartly kept as busy as he could through the day, trying not to think about Carey, Jacky, and Courtney.

He’d started the day with a private meeting to prepare for the NAWC meeting.

Then he, Landon, and Dirk went to that meeting, with Dirk quietly there only to be a note and timekeeper for him and Landon.

It allowed Dirk to be there without drawing too much attention to himself.

Dirk still drew attention; nothing would stop that.

He was a tall, built guy, and everyone knew who his family was and who he married, another werewolf in the room that most were scared of.

After that, he had a few private meetings, one with Callahan and then a few members of the NAWC who wanted to speak to him about everything.

Anyone who requested a meeting today was once a werewolf Heath had called his friends.

He wasn’t certain the friendship would ever come back, but one thing he could be grateful for was the lack of hostility today.

From anyone. He would have to think about it more later.

After that, he spent the afternoon directing his werewolves, watching them learn the ropes of the Tribunal.

Piper was now helping with Record Keeping, while Roselyn was discussing guard duties in the offices with Livia.

Ranger and Shamus were still trying to find their places, but Heath had ideas about that now.

There were a few major ideas he had for werewolf culture, and now that he had spoken to the NAWC and knew they wouldn’t be a problem yet, he could move on them.

Finally. He’d had the ideas for years, but they were shut down through the decades by his peers.

Not my peers anymore. I can finally start testing these projects… Once we get done with the witches. We’re too busy right now. Maybe I could start one of them, though. Just one of them.

“That’s the fourth time you checked the time in ten minutes, Pa. Waiting on the bell to ring, and we get to go home?” Landon was both curious and teasing.

“I didn’t want to make a big deal about this, but I guess it’s time to tell you that Carey and Jacky are having dinner with Courtney Lane today,” Heath answered, looking up at his son to see a wolf’s eyes glaring at him.

“What? That bitch crawled out of her hole?” Landon’s growl promised violence if he saw Courtney.

“The look on your face is why I didn’t tell you when I learned that Carey approached Jacky about it,” Heath said, shaking his head. “She deserves a chance to meet her mother.”

“How did this happen?”

Heath explained everything that had been explained to him. He also added that he had gone over the security plans and had signed off.

“Fucking hell,” Landon muttered, shaking his head. “Well… Carey will see who her mother is finally and never want anything to do with her ever again. How did Jacky handle this? She loves Carey. Might as well be her real mom over Courtney.”

“I know… and she spiraled a little, but only in front of me, not in front of Carey. I was able to calm her down. I know a big part of it isn’t just how much she loves Carey, but also that possessive werecat side of her. It’s a dangerous mix,” Heath said, sighing.

“It is,” a deep voice said from the open office door. Heath looked up right as Hasan’s scent finally reached him.

“Do you have a recommendation?” Heath asked the old werecat. “You being a werecat and a father, you might have the most experience with this.”

“When it comes to a mother werecat?” Hasan chuckled darkly, his gold eyes bright. He smiled as though he suddenly thought of a fond memory. “Don’t argue with her if she decides she needs to kill someone for her baby. She’ll just turn all of that fierceness and rage on you.”

“Damn,” Landon said with a snort. “Well, you two can talk while I go find my husband.”

Heath let his son leave, Hasan stepping out of the way. However, Landon still turned his Talent up, making Hasan bristle a little as Landon passed.

“Sorry about him,” Heath said once he knew Landon would be out of earshot.

“Don’t be. Young men, particularly powerful sons, like to puff their chests every chance they get… especially when they don’t like the person.” Hasan stepped into the office. “And your son hates me.”

“He doesn’t?—”

“Don’t lie to me for the sake of keeping the peace,” Hasan said as he lifted a hand. “It’s okay that your son hates me. I did him and Dirk wrong. It’s mine to atone for. No amount of diplomacy will retract what I said to them and about them while they were in the room.”

“We work together now. He can’t continue to hate you.”

“Oh, he certainly can, Heath. More people in these offices hate each other than like each other. So long as the hate is personal, and the business is professional, there won’t be any problem. And even if he was rude to me professionally, I would expect you to set him straight on that.”

“I would,” Heath promised. Landon had a sharp temper, but he knew when to behave for work. He didn’t like Landon acting too foolish if this was a more official meeting.

“Now, back to Jacky…” Hasan said, sitting down where Landon had just been. “Carey is the daughter of her heart and soul. This Courtney Lane won’t be able to break that. Only Carey could and… well, I don’t think any of us see that happening.”

“And the killing someone part?”

“The war eight hundred years ago came about because someone killed the wrong werecat’s person,” Hasan reminded me.

“We have few people, and we don’t make strong relationships with most. Jacky is by far one of the most social werecats, but you must notice how she craves alone time.

How she can become overwhelmed by having too many people around all the time. ”

“I do know,” Heath confirmed. “We manage. I built the pack house as a solution, so the pack wasn’t in and around her house so much. She never really complained, but I could see, smell her weariness. She started taking more walks.”

“She’ll always do those things. I do all the time.

She gets her social nature from the family.

We push ourselves not to be as isolated as most werecats.

We learn to manage and feed both sides. You must also have noticed, though, that there are some that don’t drain her.

Carey is at the top of that list. Carey will never drain her, will never make her feel like she’s being crowded or needs to step out to reset.

When a werecat finds those people, we keep them. ”

“How many have you kept?” Heath asked, just wondering if Hasan would even answer.

“You’ve met seven of them.” Hasan smiled. “My children don’t drain me in the werecat way. As a father, they are immensely exhausting in the best ways.”

Heath chuckled at that. It made too much sense. He knew it well with Richard, Landon, and Carey.

“So, you would start a war for them,” Heath said, through his chuckling.

“I have before,” Hasan said with a smile.

Heath stopped chuckling, studying the gold-eyed werecat. They were Jacky’s eyes, or rather, she had her father’s. In two different faces, he didn’t think of the other when he saw them. Hasan’s were full of ancient knowledge, immense power. Jacky’s were filled with fire and passion.

“Which one?” Heath asked softly.

“The second,” Hasan answered. “The first was started when the curse came about, of course, led by… them . The second was because of Subira and me. Less of a real war and more of general chaos for a few hundred years as things were changing quickly for a lot of ancient peoples who didn’t know what to do next. ”

“I see.” Heath nodded and started to stand. “Do you want a drink? We’re going to be wrapping up and leaving for the day in the next hour or so.”

“Absolutely.”

Heath poured two scotches, keeping a bottle now in his Tribunal office. He made sure to sniff it first.

“No one is going to poison you here. There are protections.”

“Thank you,” Heath said, handing Hasan his drink before sipping on his own as he sat back down.

They drank for a moment, hearing Landon and Dirk in the hallway. Something banged, making both of them stare at the door.

“Do we investigate that?” Heath asked, frowning. There was more banging, someone running down the halls. People shouted as bodies thumped together or into the walls.

“No…” Hasan said, looking annoyed with whatever was happening.

“FATHER!” Davor’s roar echoed in the halls. Hasan dropped his glass and started to get up. Heath was right behind him.

“PA!” Landon screamed next.

They were both rushing for the door. Davor was the one who was closest, with Dirk and Landon behind them, trying to catch up.

“What’s wrong?” Heath demanded.

“What’s going on?” Hasan asked at the same time.

Davor was panting, holding a tablet up.

“Jacky. Breaking news. Killed someone in a parking lot. Carey was dragged into an SUV.” Davor was holding up the live article, being updated in real time, with someone talking on a video at the top. “Police tried to stop the chase through Tyler.”

Heath was already turning, knowing where he had to be.

Carey was dragged into an SUV.

Jacky killed someone.

“Heath!” Hasan’s word snapped through the air. “Keep your door open. I’m getting Subira.”

Heath could only nod, and Dirk said something that he couldn’t hear. He was already running to his door. He yanked it open and felt it grab him. He snarled, only to see Dirk holding it now.

“I’ll hold the door, Alpha,” Dirk said as Davor and Landon were coming behind him.

They followed him into his office and out into the packhouse.

Heath stopped there, remembering he was an Alpha, a member of the Tribunal, and while he only wanted to run after Jacky and Carey, he had several werewolves to consider.