Page 77 of Cruel Revenge
“She wasn’t going to survive as a human. I made the call. Which means those witches don’t have three werewolves and a human. They have three werewolves and a werecat… Mydaughter, recognized by a far higher authority than your own.”
“You can’t be serious?—”
“I’ve never been more serious,” I growled at Rhodes, cutting him off. “They nearly killed me, but I wasn’t letting Carey die because of them. I’ll die a thousand times for that girl. I’ll fight a thousand armies. I will never regret saving her life. Judge me all you like. There’s a piece of information you didn’t have. Now give me what I want!”
Rhodes stood up slowly again.
“We tried for years to keep that girl alive and human, to give her the life she deserves,” the Director said softly. “And you made her one of you.”
“She’s now a member of the werecat ruling family,” I said, baring my teeth. “And you don’t want a fight with my family.”
“Youcursedher!” Rhodes yelled. “A sixteen-year-old girl!”
“Don’t stand there and try to tell me that you think she would have been better off dead,” I warned, the threat of violence making my claws scratch the table.
“Do you know how bad this is?” Rhodes asked.
“I think I know far better than you do,” I said, knowing it probably fractured my relationship with the love of my life. But standing in this room, I was willing to throw everything away for Carey and her survival. All of it. I would be alone for eternity if it meant she would breathe freely for another day.
“Maybe it’s best we stop talking about Carey. We’ll come back to it,” Beth said, trying once again to get us directed at her. “Please. There’s nothing we can do about it right now… or ever. If she’s Changed, then she’s Changed. She’s a werecat now. Done. Director, there were other questions…”
Come on, Davor. There’s only so much I really want to tell them.
“There are…. Jacky, why did the witches take her or the young werewolves?” Rhodes demanded to know. “Why, Jacky? What is going on?”
“How far back do you want me to go?” I asked. “We can go back to the initial Dallas coup if we wanted to.”
Because that coup was everything. It was the first attempt at a plot that no one knew was building. It led to Heath and me coming together, and I met and tried to protect Carey. Everything went back to that moment in time, the first time the witches tried to take the moon cursed as their own. It feltlike just a power play by a couple of werewolves, one of whom happened to be a witch as well. But everything was unraveling now. They were a piece of a bigger puzzle who had done their part and attempted to gain power before the others. But it wasn’t unraveled enough to see the end.
Rhodes glared at me, waiting for me to continue, but I wanted him to play my game, regardless of how I couldn’t let him do the same.
There was a knock at the door, and when the door opened, an agent stepped in, looking at the Director.
“Sir, the Atlanta office called,” an agent said. “They’ll want a meeting with you soon, but wanted you apprised of something happening in the city.”
“Damn it! What now?” He turned to the agent. “Let’s hear it?—”
“Sir! New York just called!” Another agent ran up and came to a hard stop before running into the other agent.
“One at a time!” Rhodes snapped. “I’m in a fucking important meeting, so this better be an emergency.”
I relaxed, knowing what this was. Of course, the BSA would be watching the most public of witch-owned businesses.
“Werewolves from the Atlanta pack have been showing up in groups like they’re… raiding witch businesses,” the first agent finally said. “It’s being done quietly, but it’s happening. The Atlanta Alpha won’t talk to them. None of the werewolves in the city will explain what they’re doing. The witches, though, said they expected it. It’s not violent yet, but Atlanta is worried.”
“It’s the same in New York…” the second agent said. “New York also said they were notifying other offices to see if it was similar. Seattle can’t reach the Alpha there. No one can get a hold of Callahan in Los Angeles either. Before I came here, I asked agents to call around to other offices like New York is doing.”
I smiled.
“Has anyone spoken to D.C.?” Rhodes looked between them. “If not, have someone call them immediately. We need to make sure all information is being sent to the main headquarters so they can collect all the details. There are no raids here, but the only Alpha to worry about is…”
Everyone looked at me.
“Heath isn’t in power anymore,” Rhodes said, clearly relieved.
“He’s not?” I said softly, still smiling.
“Stop playing fucking games with me,” Rhodes snapped harshly, spit coming out of his mouth. “He’s not on the NAWC.”
