“Relax, Jess.” Nick came over and put his hands on my shoulders. “It wasn’t Ray, and they were just here to investigate a ‘noise’ disturbance—not a gruesome werewolf killing. I convinced them they were at the wrong building. Everything’s fine now.”
“Thanks.” My wolf paced inside my mind. She and I were both still agitated. “We have to get him out of here quickly.” I glanced at the rolled-up corpse. “And then we have to figure out what the hell is going on—why he was even here in the first place. I’ve only been a werewolf for a day. It seems too quick to have someone after me already, almost like this guy had been sitting by the phone.”
“We need to bring him back to the Safe House so we can look into his identity and figure out what’s going on,” James said.
“Agreed,” Tyler said. “We’ll take him off the balcony. Danny and I’ll go down in front and you can drop him out to us.”
I raised an eyebrow and interjected, “Um, that seems a little on the unsubtle side, don’t you think? Tossing a body-shaped object off my balcony is bound to be noticed by someone.”
They stared at me blankly.
Reasoning with wolves was going to require patience, but right now I had none. “Well, how about this, then,” I said. “If it does get noticed—and subsequently reported—I can’t afford any more scrutiny on me right now. In case you’ve all been living with your heads up your asses the last few days”—my voice rose several decibels as I spread my fingers apart and started emphatically ticking off—“I just finished killing a werewolf we know nothing about. I will likely have to testify in court about killing a pedophile imp. My apartment has already been the scene of a vicious, unexplainable break-in, which happened … oh, that’s right … four fucking days ago. An identified drug that could knock out a stable of animals was taken from my home”—my voice peaked as I slammed my pinky finger—“and I just made some freaky, impossible transformation into a beast, bound to have every superstitious werewolf in the entire goddamn universe gunning to end my life. So I refuse, refuse to add tossing a human body wrapped in my own bedding from my balcony to that damn list! Are we clear?” Tension radiated off me like a furnace. It swirled around the room, hot and palpable.
Three pairs of wolf eyes locked on me, each of them sparking with more than a hint of amber. Only one pair of calm golden ones in the mix.
Wolves did not function well in heightened emotional situations. It certainly didn’t help when my muscles started to vibrate and soft fur began to sprout along the backs of my hands once again.
My wolf stood in a protective stance, legs apart, muzzle up in my mind.
Danny broke the tension and strode forward. He walked to me in a surrender pose, shoulders hunched, eyes carefully downcast. “Easy there, Jess,” he murmured as he knelt down in front of me. “I promise you the lot of us here aren’t going to do anything to bring you any harm. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, really. Wolves can be really bloody stupid, it’s true. We’re stubborn and aggressive, and we never take kindly to change. But I promise, you’re safe with us.” He placed one of his hands over his heart. “I swear to it on my own life.”
I stood very still. I didn’t trust myself to respond. My wolf watched Danny carefully. The lines between her and me were still blurred from our encounter with the rogue. I’m not sure what had happened during the fight, but for now she was on this side. There were no dominance issues between us at the moment, only an equal unity to keep us both safe.
Danny’s eyes met mine for a moment and skittered away. He glanced quickly over his shoulder at James, Tyler, and Nick, who stood slightly behind him. “I think I can speak for everyone in this room, the very ones who watched over you as you grew up”—his face changed to a devilish grin—“and may I interject here to say you grew into quite a ravishing beauty.” He winked. “All of us plan to stand by you and we are fully prepared to lay down our lives to protect you, Jessica McClain. We always have been.” Leave it to Danny to defuse an awful situation with a pseudo pickup line and end with a heartfelt statement.
I smiled warily. My wolf relaxed a tad at his words and fur stopped sprouting along my arms.
“We have always known,” he continued, “that having a female among us would be risky. I knew it when I joined this Pack, and we all chose to stick it out despite the myths and rumors. Any one of us could’ve left anytime we wanted to, but we didn’t. We chose to stand by you and your father. Callum McClain is a great leader who deserves our respect, just as you do.” Danny bowed his head. “I gave my vow of fealty freely to my Alpha. I swore to follow this Pack to my death. Now I give it to you. I intend to hold up my end of the bargain and to protect you at all costs. I promise, you have nothing to fear from me, Jessica McClain.”
Shockingly, he dropped his head back and exposed his neck to me.