No one seemed to want to take him up on it, not even Xander.
“Mackenzie said she’d give us twenty-four hours before she ran the story, but I want you all out of here before noon tomorrow,” he continued.
“Wait a minute. What about you?” Becker asked. “You’re making it sound like you aren’t coming with us.”
“I’m not. At least not right away,” Gage added. “I can’t leave until I make sure Hardy is no longer a threat to Mackenzie.”
Xander cursed. “I can’t believe you can even give a damn about her after what she did to us.”
“He gives a damn about her because she’sTheOnefor him,” Cooper said.
“That’s bullshit! There’s no one perfect mate for any of us.” Xander gave Gage a disgusted look. “And if you think there is, you’re a damn fool.” He shook his head. “I’m going to get some air.”
Gage watched him go. He was tempted to follow just to make sure Xander didn’t do something stupid, like go after Mackenzie. Because he’d meant what he said. He’d fight his entire pack before he’d let them hurt her.
***
Instead of running up to her apartment the minute the police officer dropped her off so she could start her story, Mac jumped in her car and drove straight to Zak’s apartment. She needed someone to tell her she was doing the right thing—or the wrong thing. Because she was so confused right then she didn’t know what to think.
As she knocked on his door a half hour later, she realized she probably should have called first. It was after midnight.
But Zak jerked open the door before she’d even finished knocking. He was wearing jeans and a Texas A&M T-shirt. The way his hair was sticking up all over the place made her think she’d woken him up.
“Mac, thank God! I’ve been worried as hell about you.”
Mac brushed past him. “I think I really screwed up.”
Zak shut the door. “I’ve been calling you for the past two hours. You’re all over the news. Something about machine guns and a barn catching fire. What happened?”
“Hardy sent a bunch of hired guns to kill Gage and me,” she told him. “But that’s not important.”
His eyes went wide behind his glasses. “You almost get killed and it’s not important?”
She waved her hand. “No. I found out what SWAT’s been hiding. And it’s huge.”
“O-kay.” When she didn’t elaborate, he frowned. “So, what is it?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. “Maybe you should sit down first.”
Zak gave her a curious look, but did as she suggested, parking himself in the overstuffed chair he’d had since his college days. Mac sat on the adjacent matching couch.
“Well?” he prompted.
Mac felt as if he was looking right through her. But he could always do that. The difference now was that she had something to feel guilty about.
“Gage is…”
Awerewolf.
It sounded crazy. She’d seen Gage turn into one and she could hardly believe it herself.
“Gage is…what?” Zak asked.
“He’s…” She tried again. And failed miserably. “Maybe I should just show you.”
She took out her camera and turned it on. Her finger hovered over the video playback button, but she didn’t click on it.
“Mac, I thought you dropped the whole idea of doing a story on SWAT.”
