us into an ambush at Lake Tahoe, the ambush that killed our father.”
“Jesus, Adam.” I struggled to keep from raising my voice. “Do you think I’ve forgotten how Dad died? None of this is easy for me either.”
“So you went behind my back and arranged it with Lana.”
My brother had every reason to be pissed. Hell, I’d be pissed if he’d done this to me, but I didn’t have any other choice. Sasha needed me. And everything inside of me needed her.
“I’m sorry, bro. What I did sucked, but none of this is Nadya’s fault. Lana understood that. This guy working for Nero could scoop her up to use her as leverage against Sasha in a heartbeat.”
“And they’ll come straight for us to get her.”
I passed another car while I talked into my Bluetooth. “No, that’s the beauty of this. They’d never expect us to help Sasha. Reno will be the last place they’ll look for her sister.”
Adam was quiet for a minute, and I took a slow breath, waiting him out. Finally he cleared his throat.
“Shit.” He grumbled, probably kicking the dirt at the barn. “Fine, but the less everyone in the Pack knows the better. We won’t have her very long anyway, right?”
“Maybe a week or two?”
“Okay. I’ll talk to Lana. Maybe Nadya could work as a nanny to help her out with the twins or something.”
I started to smile. My brother could be a huge pain in the ass, but when he was on your team you couldn’t lose. “Sounds perfect. Let me know the cover story, and I’ll be sure we stick to it.”
“Be careful, Aren.”
“I will. You too.”
…
In just over three hours, I pulled into the hotel, gawking at all the costumed masses. What the hell? It wasn’t Halloween.
“Cool wheels, Bruce Wayne.” I must’ve looked as confused as I felt because the guy dressed as Speed Racer—complete with white helmet and red ascot—pointed at my black Lotus and added, “Batmobile. Bruce Wayne. Get it?”
I got it and tried not to roll my eyes. “Do you know where they’re showing movies in the hotel?”
Speed Racer pointed inside. “The Grand Ballroom on the second floor. You can’t miss it.”
I nodded and jogged toward the automatic doors, wincing when my ankle throbbed. The pain reminded me of the irony of my choice in mates.
Like I had any choice.
Fucking fate.
Chapter Eight
Heat shot through my body the second I caught his scent as he walked in the door. The determined look on his face kicked my pulse up a notch. In spite of sitting in the dark movie room, seeing wasn’t a problem. Not everything about being a jaguar sucked.
He moved with confidence even though it was nearly pitch black. I watched his broad shoulders weave between the costume wings, weapons, and who knew what else and my blood ran hot. The moment he reached my row of chairs and his green eyes met mine it was all I could do to stay in my seat.
What was it about this guy?
I forced myself to shift my focus toward the movie screen. I needed to get past this attraction. The stakes were too high. Besides, if hitting him with a Taser hadn’t been enough to make him hate me, putting bullet a in his ankle pretty much guaranteed it.
I couldn’t blame him.
He sat down beside me, but I didn’t turn his way. “Is someone picking up my sister?”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw him nod. He leaned in closer to me and muttered, “We need to talk.”
I tried not to notice how amazing he smelled. Clean, but wild, very masculine. Distracting. I cleared my throat and stood to make my way to the end of the row. The wolf shadowed me, and a tiny place inside of me wanted to stop walking, yearning for his body to brush against mine when he bumped into me.
Outside of the movie room, more costumed characters wandered the hallways. Finding a quiet place to talk would be a challenge. I stopped as a blond guy with a big metal arm passed by with a large robot mumbling about the world’s one and only truth.
“What’s up with this hotel?” he asked.
I turned back to find him very close to me, and for a moment I couldn’t process his question. “Oh.” I shook my head, breaking my temporary stupor. “Something called Anime Expo. People come from all over the country to watch these anime cartoons and dress up as their favorite characters. Some of them even act out the parts.”
He glanced at a team of Teen Titans posing for a photo. His eyes had a playful sparkle in them that I’d never seen before.
Probably because he’d been bound and gagged during most of our time together.
“So this is like a speakeasy for geeks?”
I raised a brow and felt myself start to smile. “I think you hit the nail on the head.”
Right on cue a couple of Sailor Moons passed by in their tiny micro-mini pleated skirts with tall knee socks. They eyed the wolf, giving him a long look before they flipped their long blond pigtails and walked past us.
We watched them go and I tsked. “If I weren’t here, you might’ve had some company.”
He shook his head. “Not the company I was hoping for.”
My pulse jumped a little before my head reminded me that
“I don’t know where to suggest we talk. This place is a zoo.” I contemplated all of my options. “I do have a room here, though.”
Surprise flashed across his face, but he masked it quickly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t exactly have a trusting relationship, and I didn’t come to this meeting armed.”
I deserved that, but it didn’t make it sting any less. “I told you to stay out of this, and you muscled your way in anyway.”
“So give me your gun.”
“What?” I took a step back. “No way.”
He shrugged. “Then we talk right here in the hall with all the cartoon characters.”
“Fine.” I wished I didn’t have to look up to glare at him, but he stood about eight inches taller than me, so I offered up my best all-business detective stare. “You wanted to talk, wolf. Talk.”
“First off, my name is Aren.”
I already knew that, but it was easier to keep an emotional distance if he didn’t have a name. I tilted my head and waited for him to go on.
“I need to know that we’re on the same team right now. I can’t help you if you’re shooting at me.”
Another zinger that I definitely earned. I wasn’t sure why it got under my skin so much. This would be easier if I could hate him, but so far the only person I was pissed at was myself.
“Do you want me to apologize? Is that what you want?” Raising my chin, I shot him a cold glare. “It wasn’t personal. I had a job to do.”
“A job to do?” He crossed his arms over his sizeable chest. “To send an innocent woman to the same organization that screwed you over? How noble.”
“Don’t judge me. I didn’t ask for any of this to happen to me, all right? I was a good cop and a great detective, but a slick, attractive man stole it from me. So forgive me for not swooning at your offer to help. My only hope for an antidote was to deliver Lana alive. They wanted to study her, so they couldn’t kill her.”
Acid burned in my stomach. I sounded like the criminals I’d questioned over the years, rationalizing away
