Aiden frowned, and she could see him wrestling with a decision. She had to convince him, without being obvious, to get rid of this Skin.
Now, before Perry had the chance to look around and see exactly where he could infiltrate. Every bone in her body cried out for this threat to be gone.
Feeling the heat of the professor’s gaze, she forced herself to look up. Jenny’s fingers tingled with the itch to release the powers humming beneath her skin.
“Balance is good. When there’s trust established. Does Professor Carson trust you? And if he does, why didn’t he accompany you to this meeting? Why not ask him to introduce you?”
Her words made Aiden’s gaze sharpen and Dale smile.
Perry’s smile vanished. If the man had fangs, he’d bare them.
“I don’t know what business it is of yours, little lady.”
She’d been insulted before by experts. Perry wasn’t even close. But Troy stiffened. She put a calming hand on his arm as he went to stand. Probably he wanted to punch Perry straight in his condescending nose.
“Oh, it’s my business. I like it here and I respect Mr. Mitchell. This is his ranch.” Jenny decided to go for the throat. She was a wolf, after all. “I heard a rumor you wish access to this ranch because you believe there are werewolves on this land.”
None of the males with her blinked an eyelash, but she felt the ripple of energy shift to pure disbelief, saw it in their auras.
If auras could speak, they’d all scream What The Hell?!!
Perry didn’t blink, either. He laughed. “Werewolves, Miss… ah.”
“Jenny.”
“You think I want to conduct a scientific investigation on the existence of werewolves?” Perry bent over, laughing. When he straightened, he wiped his eyes. “Pardon me, that has to be the funniest joke I’ve heard in months. I’m a scientist, Miss Jenny. Not a believer in fantasy.”
“Professor Carson attended your lecture and said you were a believer in the supernatural. He said you wished to kill them,” Dale told him.
Perry’s thin mouth flattened. He leaned forward. “My colleague attended a lecture I hosted in part jest. It was to revive student interest in a lost topic – conservation. Had he remained for the second half of the lecture, he would have heard me tell the audience there are no such things as werewolves, but we must do all we can to save the real wolves from becoming extinct.”
Jenny felt the tension flee the air, but internally, she stiffened. Perry’s aura turned pure black. Even had she not seen his aura, she’d have known the man was lying by the way he averted her gaze.
He waved a hand. “Come to one of my lectures and find out for yourself. A little lady like you could learn a lot from me. An education is a good thing, even for a girl.”
It took everything she had not to stand up and punch that condescending smile off the man’s face. Jenny knew his type. He aimed to unsettle her, make her put up defenses by targeting her gender.
Mansplaining was not going to work. She’d been around experts. Perry was just another dirt bag.
“Really?” she asked him.
Pasting a bright smile on her face, she fluttered her lashes. Sometimes her best defense was to play the part of a dumb girl.
Because she didn’t want Perry thinking he had anything on her.
Troy, on the other hand, wasn’t about to put up with the man’s nonsense. He stood and went to Perry, gesturing at the front door.
“We’re done here, Mr. Perry. I’ll see you out.”
Not waiting for either Aiden or Dale to speak, Troy had a firm grip on the professor’s arm and was hustling him out the door like a burly nightclub bouncer tossing out an unruly drunk.
Jenny suppressed a slight laugh. Troy never did tolerate condescending remarks directed her way.
My knight in shining wolf fur.
When Troy returned, he took a deep breath. “If my actions were out of line, I apologize,” he told Aiden. “But you instructed me to deal with threats and Perry is a clear one. The longer he stayed, the more he’d have the opportunity to spy on the ranch.”
Aiden nodded. “You did your job, Troy. I only invited him here to find out what his game’s all about.”
“Now we know.” Dale stretched out his long legs. “But Beth thinks he’s harmless, although eccentric.”
“Do you believe his line about werewolves?” Darius asked Aiden.
“Huge risk for a Skin professor with a reputation to protect to start spouting he believes in the supernatural. We have only Carson’s side of things, and maybe Carson was trying to smear Perry’s rep. Still, let’s take precautions.”
Troy leaned against the wall and folded his arms. “Where would he get the idea of the existence of werewolves?”
“Seems he saw what looked like a human turn into a wolf when he flew his father’s helicopter overhead,” Aiden drawled. “That’s what Professor Carson told Beth.”
Jenny stiffened, hoping they could not hear her rapid heartbeat.
“I don’t know what Lupine is foolish enough to shift in the open and endanger all of us,” Dale added.
Ah, that would be me.
Aiden waved a hand. “That’s not important now. What is important is that Perry wants on this land and on the off chance he wants to see for himself if werewolves do exist, we have to be more careful. He may be legitimate and want to save wolves.”
Jenny wasn’t so sure. There was something else Perry wanted, something that had nothing to do with his disguise as a Skin.
If she shared with the others what she’d seen, they’d think her a freak. Maybe even fear her.
Kick her out.
What about Troy? She’d lose him as well. He fit into this pack like a pair of comfortable boots. Unlike her.
“I don’t think you’re seeing the real danger he presents.”
All the males turned to her. Jenny braced herself.
“What do you see, Jenny?” Troy asked.
She refused to meet his gaze. Instead
