“They locked us up!They won’t let us leave!”
“They said it was for our protection—we know how much we can rely on that!”
“Are we really to be kept here?”
“There are clan wolves all over this hotel!Itreeks—”
“Lupa, lupa, lupa!You came back for us!”
“I’ll always come for you,” I heard myself say.And then I was Changing, as how could I not?
It felt wonderful, like taking pinched feet out of too small shoes.Like slipping out of a tight bra at the end of a long, hard day.Like a cool shower after the heat of summer burned its memory into tender flesh.
It felt like coming home, and they agreed, with the rest transforming immediately, and it was the strangest thing.I could feel them in my head, not some but all.I knew that those who had held form had done so because they were afraid to ruin their clothes, as the set they stood up in was all they had.I knew that many of them were hurting, wounded in the fight or from the scuffle with Arnou afterward, and no one had helped them.Knew that they were afraid, in this unfamiliar place with the smell of clan everywhere, but none of it home.
Not until now, when I showed up, and my little pack came forward, cautiously at first, almost timidly, but that didn’t last long.Jace was pounced on by two young wolves, and immediately Changed, with the three of them turning into a playful, growling, happy ball of fur as they rolled around the floor in welcome.And the other Fireborn were just as quickly sniffed and snuffled and bowed to and jumped, while I greeted my new pack members, because that was who they were.Some still human part of me was screaming, because this wasn’t possible, this wasinsane, but the wolf didn’t care.
She had been going out of her mind, separated from her clan, not sure what was happening to them or where they were in this great, unfamiliar place.But now that she was with them, she was home, and everything was good again.Everything was perfect and right, allowing her to finally settle down contentedly.
And leave the human to find a way to make this work when…
Yeah.
Yeah.
I met Sienna’s horrified gaze over the heads of my new pack and sighed inwardly.
Absolutely everyone was going to hate the fuck out of this.
Chapter Twelve
No.”Sebastian’s voice was flat and uncompromising.“Absolutely not.”
I don’t recall asking, I thought, but had just enough good sense not to say it.
But I guessed it was on my face anyway, because he scowled.Which was a good trick as he’d already been doing that when I came in.It was more of a glower now, which… fair.
The suite of rooms he’d taken told a tale, and not a happy one.There were suit coats flung everywhere, papers spilling off a desk that hadn’t been there yesterday, and dry-erase boards covered with schedules and names, none of which meant anything to me.But they were probably related to the manhunt for the top people in Rand, who were currently in open rebellion.
There were also enough paper coffee cups to fill three different trash cans and spill over the sides, because I doubted anyone had gotten much sleep lately.If any at all, as a lot of Sebastian’s top people had taken the red eye from Jersey last night.It wasn’t helping my chances of coming out of this with a whole skin.
But the fact that a thousand decisions had to be made hourly at this point, stressing thebardricout, didn’t change anything.I sympathized, but that wasn’t my problem.I wasn’t running the Were world or even the war; I wasn’t running anything.
I was repaying a blood debt, as he knew perfectly well.
So I worked on keeping my face impassive as I was in enough trouble as it was, drawing on my considerable experience of being blessed out by various members of the Corps.Only Sebastian had a better glare than even Hargroves, my current boss, and he’d been the former reigning champion.Good thing I saved his life yesterday, huh, I thought, and wished my brain would just shut the hell up.
“It’s not only the ones in the basement,” Ulmer said heavily.He didn’t look like he’d been to bed, either, but then, he always looked like that.“There are at least forty more who have been found since, hiding in Tartarus, and we may run across others before we’re through.Right now, the men have orders to bring ‘em here, but—”
“And put them where?”Sebastian snapped.
“Chuck ‘em in the basement with the rest, I guess,” Ulmer said, eyeing me without favor.“Unless you plan to take ‘em out to Fireborn’s extensive compound—oh, wait.”
“We’ll figure something out,” I said tightly.
“Sure.As long as it doesn’t involve Arnou.Oh, but itwill, as we were dumb enough to sponsor you!”
He kept talking, but I deliberately didn’t listen.I didn’t want to wake up my possibly insane wolf.She was happily napping after all the excitement, while my human self was dealing with the dump truck full of crap she had left behind.
