Page 9

eight

No sooner had we tipped our waitress and stepped onto the sidewalk, ready to burn off the yummy carbs on the walk back to GSG, than a familiar voice snarled into his phone several yards to our left.

“Stalker.” I wasn’t surprised Bowie had followed me, someone did every single day, so I elected to ignore his outburst. “No wonder he wanted me to eat with him if he’s under orders to shadow me everywhere I go.”

“We’re downwind,” Sloane murmured. “I don’t think he’s noticed us yet.”

“Hmm.” Curious what, other than me, would have lured him from his post, I strained to hear anything damning he had to say to the person on the other end of the line. “Care to eavesdrop?”

Sloane, God help her, grinned at me and tuned in while I struggled to locate the on switch in myself.

Most of the time, I kept my senses dulled to avoid overstimulation from the barking, whining, and general chaos of working among animals.

I missed a few things that way, but I had never been allowed to rely on myself for protection, so I didn’t see the point in suffering eight hours a day for nothing.

“…still there…” Bowie dragged a hand through his hair. “…Sartori can’t know I…”

About to follow to find out just what he didn’t want Dad knowing about, Sloane gripped my arm. She held me back as a sleek black car pulled up to the curb. Bowie, still on the phone, got in, not missing a beat.

“I only caught the tail end of that.” I sagged as he drove out of sight. “What did you hear?”

“The Walsh situation is heating up, whatever that is, and time is running out. Bowie has done something he doesn’t want your dad to know about, but he didn’t say what.

” She turned thoughtful. “I can tell you the guy in that car wasn’t pack.

I caught a whiff of him when Bowie opened the door. I’ve never smelled anything like it.”

Another problem with leashing my senses was I got so tuned in to whichever one I was amplifying, I lost track of the others. If I had the driver’s scent, I could have filed it away in case I ever ran across it again. But I had missed that chance for a few words that lacked any true context.

“I have an appointment at one.” I frowned down the street. “We should get back to work.”

“Yeah.” Sloane fell in step with me. “I need to walk Bailey and clean her suite.”

A text chime had me reaching for my phone, but I already had a good idea of who it would be.

Mercer.

Bowie had a family emergency.

Zoe will be filling in for him the rest of the day.

Thanks for the update.

“Mercer says Bowie had a family emergency. Zoe will be here soon to fill in for him.”

“Does it ever drive you crazy not knowing what’s going on?”

“I grew up shielded from pack business, and then outright excluded, so it’s never interested me.

Dad put too much effort into keeping me apart from the drama for it to feel relevant to me.

” I kicked an acorn skittering down the sidewalk.

“If Myrtle hadn’t shown up at GSG, I would have ignored this dustup too.

” I felt my shoulders inching up around my ears.

“And that is how I earned a reputation as a self-centered pack princess.”

“Animals are the best judges of character.” Sloane bumped her shoulder into mine. “All the pets love you, so you can’t be that bad.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Do you think your vampire will come back?”

“He’s not mine.” I ignored the burn in my cheeks. “He was mighty pretty, though.”

Only after I had played our encounter over and over in my head, searching for clues about the Walsh situation everyone was buzzing about, had I let my focus shift enough to remember the sharp cut of his jaw, the gentle curve of his lips, and his intoxicating scent.

“You left out that part.” Sloane flushed too. “Spill, spill, spill.”

Shamelessly, I dished on the way to work, and we were still red-faced when Zoe emerged with a wave.

“Hey.” I resisted the urge to fan myself. “I heard Bowie had to leave early.”

Sloane, doing her best to cool her cheeks too, cleared her throat. “I hope everything’s okay.”

“They called me in to sub,” Zoe hedged, shoulders tight, “but I don’t have any details.”

“No worries.” I was quick to reassure her no digging was necessary. “I’ll check in with Dad about it later.”

With a firm nod, she set out to begin her patrol while Sloane and I returned to GSG with matching grins.

Glass shattering shot my heart into my throat, and I secured Francis the bulldog on the grooming table then sprinted into the lobby.

Someone had broken the far left panel of the bay window with a hunk of granite stolen from the landscaping, and shards glinted across the floor right up to Myrtle’s bed.

“Stay,” I ordered Myrtle, who hadn’t done more than lift her head at the commotion. “I’ll come to you.”

“Ana?” Sloane skidded in behind me. “What in the…?”

The front door banged open to reveal Zoe, teeth bared, blood trickling down her throat. For a second, I thought the vampire had come back and taken a bite out of her, but no. There was a gash under her jaw.

“Are you okay?” I scooped up Myrtle, unfastened her leash, and carried her with me to Zoe. “What happened?”

“I’m fine.” She touched her wound, already healing with shifter swiftness. “I noticed the intruder before he finished throwing the rock at your window. I intercepted him, but he was faster than I anticipated. He slashed at my throat then ran while I radioed for help.”

“I’ll secure Francis,” Sloane volunteered, aiming a stern look at me. “Stick with Zoe until I get back.”

Faster than I could answer, she sprinted off to ensure the safety of our client.

“Zoe,” I began, leading her into the break room. “What’s going on here?”

“You’re being targeted, Ana, that’s all I know.” Her gaze dipped to Myrtle. “None of this makes sense.”

“You’re working with Bowie on the Walsh situation.

” I was risking my neck by bringing this up to her, but neither she nor Bowie were regulars.

I figured Dad was roping in heavy hitters after all the commotion, but it didn’t sit right with me how Bowie had sped off while Zoe got tapped to fill in for him.

Just in time for her to witness yet another incident at GSG.

“Does this have anything to do with that?”

“I need you to wait here until reinforcements arrive.” Her face shut down as she smacked into the brick wall of loyalty to Dad, who wanted me kept in the dark. “Sloane, don’t let her out of your sight.”

“I won’t.” Sloane, back from her errand, planted herself behind me. “Go.” She jerked her chin. “Secure the perimeter.”

Heartened by the order, Zoe prowled out the front door into the oncoming night.

The second I quit hearing her crunching footsteps, I darted back into the lobby, Myrtle grunting when I tucked her under my arm.

“What are you doing?” Sloane scanned the room. “Get away from there.”

“Anytime someone throws a rock through a window in the movies, there’s a note attached to it.”

“This isn’t a movie, and your dad will skin us alive if we’re caught in here.”

“This won’t take but a second.” I bent and lifted the hunk of landscaping, turning it over carefully.

Myrtle wiggled against me, unimpressed with my investigation.

“Crap.” I put it back right where I found it.

“It was worth a shot.” With my Myrtle-free hand, I grabbed Sloane and hauled butt returning to the break room.

“Well, that was disappointing.” I sank into a chair. “I was so sure there would be a clue.”

“The only thing I picked up on was Zoe’s blood, but I’m guessing she inspected the rock on her way out.”

Less than five minutes later, Mercer barreled through the door, aiming straight for me.

“Your dad wants to speak with you.” He nodded to Sloane. “You’re coming too.”

“He’s not here?” I stepped around him, but no one else was there. “He sent you to fetch me?”

“We can’t have this conversation here.” Mercer swept the room. “This is an unsecured location.”

“I’m not going home.” I cuddled Myrtle against my chest. “To Dad’s home, I mean.”

“You don’t get a choice.” He offered me a lollipop I wanted to crush under my heel. “Come on, kiddo.”

“We’ll go,” Sloane said frostily. “But after Ana talks to her dad, I’m taking her home. To her home.”

A low growl rose up Mercer’s throat, his wolf unhappy with the challenge, but he swallowed it down.

No one stood up to Mercer. No one. Yet there was Sloane, ready to throw down with him.

Earning that kind of loyalty in such a short period of time convinced me Sloane had been as lonely as me and just as desperate to forge a connection with someone.

Too bad she chose me. I was grateful, don’t get me wrong, but it would cause her no end of trouble if she stood up to the wrong wolf.

And Mercer was far from the right one to let raise her hackles.

“I can’t make that promise.” His brow pinched as he glanced between us. “Neither can you.”

Hooking my arm through hers in a show of solidarity, one that left Myrtle grumbling about my dog-holding technique, I marched out to Mercer’s waiting SUV.

For a heartbeat, I thought he would demand I leave Myrtle, but he swallowed those words too.

With two sentinels left to guard my animals and board up my window, I got in with Sloane.

And the whole way there, I held the gold chain in my hand, the charm cutting into my palm like a promise.

A shiver rippled down my spine as I entered the house where I grew up on miles of forested land. I had fallen asleep to howling wolves most nights, my own personal lullaby. I hadn’t minded their songs, even when they woke me, or the flashes of fur as they raced each other through the trees.

Truthfully, I had loved their wildness, had felt it echoing in my soul. Right up until I understood it would never be me out there. I would never sing with my packmates. I would never tussle with friends or hunt. I would never stop feeling like a disappointment. A failure. A liability .

Then Dad locked me down for my own good , so it was hard to say how much of my bitterness stemmed from the forced isolation—as if I had turned from flesh and blood to a wraith in a window overnight—and how much of the blame could be laid at the paws of those who made sure I never forgot I wasn’t one of them and never would be.

That not even having an alpha father could make me a wolf.

“Peanut.” Dad greeted me in the foyer, and I set Myrtle down, holding tight to her leash. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come in person, but I’m here now.”

Sloane was a warm reassurance one step behind me as Dad embraced me.

“Sloane.” His eyes tightened at their corners. “You came too?”

“I was nervous,” I blurted, wiping the unreadable expression from his face. “She came as a favor to me.”

“I didn’t realize you two were so close.” He glanced toward Mercer. “Well, Sloane, I’m sure you know the way to the kitchen. Help yourself to some of the oatmeal cookies Nina baked earlier.” He draped his arm across my shoulders. “I need a moment alone with my Peanut.”

“That sounds great.” She ducked her head, avoiding eye contact. “Thank you, sir.”

As much as obedience was part of the routine, tonight I found it grated on me to watch Sloane bow.

“I notice you didn’t bring a bag, but you have plenty of things here.

” He guided me into his office, where I was only ever brought if I was in trouble.

But I had a feeling if he knew about the note, or the vampire, I wouldn’t have received such a warm reception.

“Have a seat, Peanut, and let’s talk this through. ”

Lowering myself into the chair across from his desk, I played the role of dutiful daughter to the hilt.

“The incidents at GSG are escalating, and I can’t, in good conscience, allow you to remain there alone.”

“I have Sloane,” I cut in, “and there’s always one sentinel on the property.”

“I’m glad to see you and Sloane are getting along so well, but she’s not enough protection for you.” He sat on the edge of his desk, clasping his hands in his lap. “The sentinels are a limited resource, and right now they’re needed here.”

“What’s going on?” I was starting to feel like Harvey as often as I repeated those words. “The truth.”

“There’s a new pack moving into the area,” he said slowly, picking and choosing what to share. As usual. “The alpha wants to claim Brentwood as their territory. The Sartoris have a strong presence in the town because of you, but I can’t very well tell them no since it’s not mine.”

Heart crumpling, I struggled to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “I see.”

“This new pack—the Walshes—are the ones targeting you. They don’t take kindly to us having a sentinel presence in what will soon be their town, which is understandable.

They’ve given us thirty days to settle your affairs and vacate the premises.

Though they’re willing to allow you to return for signing legal documents to offload GSG and the house your aunt left you. ”

“Sell my…?” I shoved to my feet. “You’re asking me to sell my house ?”

“Either we honor the Walshes’ requests and make room for our new neighbors, or we fight them for it. We hadn’t planned on an expansion, not so soon, and not in that direction, but if it’s what you want…”

The burden of making a decision that could get my packmates killed slammed down on my shoulders.

As a latent, I couldn’t be alpha. Any standing I held within the pack was due to my father’s position.

I hadn’t been raised to make these kinds of decisions, or any decisions for myself period. “Can I have tonight to think about it?”

There was no choice, not really, but I wanted the time to mourn what I had and what I was losing.

“Why don’t you and Sloane stay in your old room?” He brought me in for a tight hug that smelled like frost and pine, like my childhood. “The trundle is still tucked under your bed, so there’s plenty of room.”

“Sure,” I mumbled against his shoulder. “That sounds…”

…like the end of my world as I knew it.