life. The subconscious was a powerful thing, and this had been an extremely traumatic event for her. Lucky for us, and her, Nick was one of the strongest wielders of the gift. There were only a few humans who hadn’t succumbed to his efforts, and the guy heading straight toward me was one of them.
Cripes.
No matter how many times Nick had tried, Raymond Hart’s mind had never taken to persuasion. The alterations in his line of thinking never stuck for more than an hour at most. And Ray always acted crazy for the next few days. He had no idea what had happened to him, just that something had, and he always blamed me, his anger becoming more intense every time we tried. It was a lost cause, so we’d stopped trying.
“Ray, it’s such a nice surprise to see you here,” I said. “I’m assuming you rushed all the way over here, nowhere near your jurisdiction, to make sure I was safe after my awful run-in with a pedophile. Thanks for caring so much, big guy.” I mocked punching his arm
“Cut the shit, Hannon. This has your name written all over it,” he said.
“Well, yes it does, doesn’t it?” I smiled. “I guess it makes sense my name would be attached to it, since I’m the one who took the creep down a few minutes ago. If it had someone else’s name attached, we’d be in a quandary.”
“You don’t fool me for one minute. Destruction follows you like metal to a magnet. I don’t care if you have some lousy, half-concocted story about why you happened to be here tonight. Or why you knew exactly when an attempted teenage rape was going to take place. Or why there’s a man over there with half his face caved in.” Ray took a step forward, getting into my personal space. He was actually pretty good at intimidation for a non-wolf. I wasn’t shaking in my boots, but he’d made me think twice. My wolf wasn’t the least interested, which was nice. I didn’t need that complication right now. But if Ray continued to push, there was no doubt she’d want in on the action at some point. “I know,” he continued in a harsh whisper. “I know you have something more to do with this than you’re letting on. I can feel it in my bones. And when I find out what it is, I’m going to throw your ass in jail, make no mistake about it. And when I do, I’m gonna sing to the high heavens. You’re going down, Hannon. And there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop it.”
He turned on his heel and stalked away, his swagger assuring me he meant every last word. I knew he was going to stick his nose into the Drake investigation, and I also had a sinking feeling if he made a lot of noise our thin story wouldn’t hold up. A coroner would know better, if he or she was forced to make a serious assessment about a possible murder weapon. It most likely would not come back in my favor.
If Drake lived, my life would be much easier.
I yawned. I needed some sleep. “Let’s get out of here. I’m beat,” I said to Nick, who’d just finished up and was walking around the car.
“Beat doesn’t cover it. What a crazy-ass night,” Nick said. It was only ten-thirty, but it felt like three a.m.
We walked across the parking lot and I poured myself into the passenger side. Nick slipped behind the wheel. I mindlessly grabbed the bag of pastries and fished the last one out and took a bite as Nick drove away.
Nick was quiet for a while before he finally turned to me. “Jess, now that you’re a full-blooded werewolf everything is going to be different. You get that, right? Especially with a serious threat like Ray Hart. Before, he was a mild inconvenience in your life, but now he’ll be viewed by Pack as a direct threat. You’ll be protected at all costs whether you like it or not.” Nick kept his eyes on the road. “That’s Pack Law to the letter. We all follow it. If there’s even a slight chance Ray might find out what you are, or if he comes too close, or threatens you physically …”
“You mean, I’ll be protected by some at all costs,” I answered with a snip. “I have a distinct feeling Pack Law won’t fully apply to me. There’s no precedent for a female in Pack, and the wolves are in an uproar already and they only suspect I’ve changed. I can name quite a few wolves who’d be elated to let Ray do their job for them. It would be much less dirty that way.”
Nick gave a faint psst sound. “Please. Do you think your father is going to let Ray Hart—or anyone else for that matter—threaten you outright? You’re his daughter, for chris-sake. Anyone dumb enough to lash out at you will be paying a huge price—like with their life. Wolves won’t take that risk easily no matter how much they grumble. Waging war against Pack is no small thing. Some wolves may be pissed now, but when it comes time to choose, they won’t leave Callum McClain. Your dad is the strongest Alpha on the planet. They’re going to come around and accept you … eventually. They have to. Ray doesn’t stand a chance if he doesn’t back down.”
Nick was right. Ray had catapulted himself into a game he couldn’t possibly win. Even though I disliked him for a thousand reasons, I didn’t want to be the impetus of his death. I’d joined the police force all those years ago not only because I was good at it, but because I actually believed in the notion of justice. The right to live and be free. Without those two things, I wouldn’t be alive right now.
Unfortunately, that viewpoint wasn’t embraced among wolves. In fact, it didn’t even exist for them. They had no philosophical debate going on in their minds about humans; it’d always been cut-and-dry. Humans were necessary, but not equal. End of story.
I’d lived up to this point as a human, and killing one for no other reason than to keep his silence wasn’t going to happen if I had anything to say about it. When the time came, and if it was up to me, I’d find another way. There had to be another way.
“Well,” I said. “We’ll just have to make damn sure Raymond Hart doesn’t step in any deeper, then. We’re going to have to make sure he follows up other leads. The ones we plant.” I closed my eyes both physically and figuratively on the topic. My eyes burned and I needed sleep. It was safe to say I could add exhaustion to my list of newborn traits. My body was still adjusting to the changes. It was going to take time, and I planned to use that time curled up in bed.
The ride home took fifteen minutes and I dozed off completely. Nick pulled into my parking lot and turned off the car.
I opened my eyes and yawned. “Thanks for the ride. But now you have to walk—” Screaming ripped through my consciousness. I lunged forward, grabbing on to the dashboard. My fingers punched right though the plastic. Shit. This night was just getting
WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? Jessica! Jessica! Can you hear me? Jessica …
Tyler, I’m here! You can stop yelling now. I yanked my fingers out of the dashboard one at a time. Molded plastic didn’t puncture uniformly, it cracked. What is it? What’s wrong?
Nick glanced over at me, one eyebrow slightly raised. I lifted my freed index finger and placed it on my forehead.
He gave me a sympathetic smile.
What’s wrong? Tyler grumbled. What’s wrong is I’ve been trying to get into your head for the last fucking hour. You start calling some guy an asshole and then I feel this wicked pulsating anger thing, and then nothing. Completely blank. You blocked me. How in the hell did you cut me off?
My dad’s words rang as a warning in my head. I trusted Tyler with my life, he was my brother, but the last thing I was going to do was place him in jeopardy. Caution was my new best friend. The less any wolf knew at this point, the better, and that included Tyler. I selected my words carefully, knowing he’d be able to sense a lie if I didn’t believe what I was saying to be true. I have no idea, Ty. Blocking you wasn’t a conscious thing on my part. I can assure you that much. I must have cut you off accidentally when the fight started.
What goddamn fight? His impatience was loud and clear.
I fought the imp we were tailing tonight when he grabbed a teen. He turned out to be more than I bargained for, but I won.
How in the hell can I possibly protect you if I can’t even find you? Tyler shouted. I put a finger up to my temple and pressed. Being yelled at inside my head was making my head ache. Nick was supposed to be with you tonight! Where the hell was Nick?
He was with me. It was my choice to go after the imp. Nick had nothing to do with it.
My brother’s emotions simmered as images of my death floated through his subconscious. It startled the hell out of me. Quit doing that! I can see what you’re thinking!
Jess, I thought you died tonight. His voice wasn’t above a whisper. Again.
My heart jumped. Tyler, honestly, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It wasn’t anything I did on purpose, I swear. If I would have heard you, I would’ve answered. I promise. Even if it was only to tell you to get
