Zander’s frown deepened. “I don’t blind myself to anything.”
“So nothing at all has happened here that’s spooked you?” He didn’t answer, and Gwen smiled. “Thought as much.” She turned back to the Beta pair only to realize that they were both staring at the mark on her neck. Busted. Before they could comment on it, she checked them in and slid their key across the desk.
“What floor are they on?” Zander asked.
“Same floor as you.”
“I’ll show them the way.”
Gwen was totally fine with that. “Okay.” She cast the Betas another smile. “There’s a Welcome Hamper and leaflets with all you need to know in your room—Zander will fill you in. Hope you enjoy your stay.”
Ally’s mouth curled. “Thanks.”
Derren looked at Gwen, eyes narrowed, jaw hard. But at Ally’s urging, he followed Zander and Bracken up the stairs.
Blowing out a breath, Gwen turned back to the desk.
As the four of them gathered in Ally and Derren’s room, Zander folded his arms. “So, why are you here?” He sincerely doubted that Nick sent them as backup, given things had so far been uneventful.
“A couple of reasons,” said Derren. “Someone made an anonymous call to the police to say that Harley sells drugs at the club to humans. Even though it’s a club exclusive to shifters and all shifter territory is beyond their jurisdiction, the police turned up anyway. Nothing came of it, but it was a pain in the ass. Our guess is that the anonymous caller was Rory.”
His brother was such a fucking asshole. “You could have told me this on the phone. What’s your other reason for coming here?”
“Nick wanted us to check on you.”
Zander slid a brief look at Ally, who was sitting on the bed, looking awkward. “You mean he wanted Ally to get a read on Gwen.”
Derren’s brow arched. “I’d be surprised by how much that seems to piss you off if her scent wasn’t all over you, and I hadn’t seen that brand on her neck. At what point were you going to mention that you’re involved with the human?”
At no point, really. “There’s no need. It’s my personal business. It doesn’t affect the pack.”
Derren sighed. “Look, I appreciate what the human is doing for the cougar. I respect it. And, yeah, where you choose to dip your dick is your own business. But there are things you don’t know.”
It wasn’t just Derren’s words that made his hackles rise. There was something in the Beta’s tone that told Zander he really wasn’t going to like this. “What does that mean?”
“I asked Donovan to do some checking on Gwen. If you and Bracken were going to spend time out of your lives protecting her, I wanted to be sure she was on the level. Has she ever spoken to you about her parents?”
“I know her stepfather is a drunk who abused her mother.”
“Fucker,” muttered Bracken, who was leaning against the wall.
“He is a fucker,” agreed Derren. “And apparently the woman’s a glutton for punishment because they’re still together, and he still beats her ass. She’s a stripper. The strip bar is owned by Kenny Cogman, a seedy bastard who’s a drug dealer and a big sponsor of the extremists.”
Yeah, Zander had heard of him.
“Cogman likes to sample his employees. Zander, he’s Gwen’s fucking father.”
Everything in Zander stilled. “You’re sure of that?”
“His name’s not on her birth certificate—the father’s name came up blank. But it’s pretty much common knowledge down there that he’s her father. He has the same big Prussian-blue eyes that your human down there has.”
Gut clenching, Zander silently cursed. Should he feel betrayed that she’d kept it from him? Probably not. He wasn’t an open book either, and it wasn’t likely to be something she was proud to share—especially with a shifter. Still, that sense of betrayal beat at him.
Bracken spoke. “It’s not a point against Gwen, Derren. She doesn’t use his name. She clearly doesn’t think like him or she wouldn’t be helping the cougar.”
The Beta shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Are she and Cogman in contact with one another?” Bracken asked.
“From what Donovan gathered, no,” replied Derren. “But she’s in contact with Cogman’s other daughter. If you’ve heard of him, you’ll have heard of Geena.”
Zander had heard of her. Heard that she was stone fucking cold and even more ruthless than her father.
“Geena plays a major role in the family business,” Derren added, upper lip curling.
“That doesn’t mean Gwen plays any part in it,” said Zander.
Derren sighed, impatient. “Zander, Geena Cogman is not someone who’d give a shit about a half sister and be sure to stay in contact with her for any warm, fuzzy reasons. If they’re in contact, it’s for business reasons only.”
Face hard, Bracken asked, “How often are they in contact?”
“On a monthly basis.” Derren turned back to Zander. “Nick sent us here to get a feel for her. He’s worried that your feelings about what happened to Shelby are coloring your reading of Gwen. Given that you’ve marked her, he was obviously right that something’s coloring it.”
Bristling at that, Zander took a step toward Derren. In a flash, Ally was between them.
“Now hang on a minute.” Planting a hand on Derren’s chest, she said, “I picked up no disgust or prejudice from Gwen. She was a little nervous, but that’s it. I didn’t get any bad vibes from her, and my wolf didn’t pick up anything either. As such, I think we can safely say she’s not anti-shifter.” Ally turned to Zander. “I realize that Derren’s coming across as an asshole right now. Admittedly, he does that a lot. The point he’s trying to make is that you don’t know Gwen, so we should be careful here.”
By his own admission, Zander was a jaded bastard with serious trust issues. Although he couldn’t deny that he didn’t know her well, everything he did know about Gwen Miller told him that she was nothing like her father or half sister. Of course, that distrustful part of him wondered if he was wrong, wondered if the reason his wolf was wary of her was that he’d sensed a prejudice that Zander himself had failed to see. But his gut instantly dismissed that theory.
“I’m not saying she’s anti-shifter,” said Derren. “I’m saying that there’s a very strong possibility that she’s into illegal shit, and I have a lot of reservations about you getting involved with her. When it comes to my pack, I don’t take chances. Hearing you’re involved with the daughter of Kenny Cogman . . . I don’t like it.”
“With all due respect, Derren, you don’t have to like it.”
Derren arched a brow. “So that’s the way it is? Now, see, that’s what I was afraid of.”