“Kat, is that really you?” Khaki asked, slowing her steps. Dressed in her SWAT-issue dark blue tactical uniform, the werewolf had her dark hair back in her signature bun, like she always did when she was on duty. “The guys told me it was, but I didn’t know if I should believe them.”
Khaki stopped a few feet away, her nose working a mile a minute as expressions of curiosity and confusion slid back and forth across her face. The next thing Kat knew, she was in Khaki’s arms, pulled close for a warm hug she hadn’t realized how much she needed until that moment. Kat damn near broke into tears as she wrapped her arms around the other woman and hugged her back. A second later, Rachel was right there with them, her arms going around both of them. Man, did that feel good.
True, she’d spent most of her time with Connor, going for long drives in his truck, curling up on the couch watching TV with him, even sleeping on a pillow right next to him in his big bed. It had been those little private moments when she’d essentially fallen for him. But sometimes a woman—even when she was a cat—needed to hang out with other women. That’s where Rachel and Khaki came in. The three of them had spent hours and hours sitting around, engaging in girl talk. Kat had cherished those moments, even if she hadn’t been able to join the conversation.
“The guys have already told Gage the basics,” Khaki said after pulling back to gaze at her. “That you’re the same Kat who’d been hanging around the compound since before Christmas and that you’re a witch. But it goes without saying that he’s going to want to hear the whole story from you. Because you have to admit, it’s a bit much to take in.”
Kat could only nod, not trusting herself to speak. Taking a deep breath, she fell into step beside Rachel and Khaki as they headed for the training building. If she could survive getting turned into a cat, she could handle anything. At least, that’s what she told herself.
Kat had walked into the training classroom more times than she could count over the past nine months, but this was her first time doing it on two feet, and it felt drastically different. Even though no one was staring or anything, she felt more exposed now that she was a person than she ever had as a cat.
A therapist would have a field day with her, she was sure.
There were trays of sub sandwiches on a table along one wall, along with bags of chips and a cooler filled with ice, bottles of water, soda, and iced tea. Kat couldn’t help smiling. No matter what was going on, werewolves had to eat—a lot. She grabbed half a turkey and cheese for herself, along with a bottle of water, then took a seat near the front.
Connor strode in a few seconds later. He stopped in front of Kat, locked eyes with her for what felt like forever and yet not nearly long enough, then walked over to get something to eat without a word. She thought he might sit beside her, but instead he took a seat on the far side of the room, as far away from her as he could get. She swallowed hard and tried to tell herself it didn’t mean anything, but damn, it hurt all the same.
Tearing her gaze away from Connor, she looked down at the sandwich on the plate in front of her but couldn’t bring herself to eat regardless of how hungry she was. Instead, she took a long drink of water, nearly downing more than half the bottle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gage walk into the room. Dark-haired, he was as tall and muscular as the rest of the guys and could stop every alpha werewolf in the Pack in his or her tracks simply with a look if he wanted to.
“Before we start, I want to personally say thank you to Kat for everything she did today,” Gage said. “It goes without saying that things in San Antonio would have ended a lot worse than they did if it weren’t for her help.”
Kat blushed as everyone hooted and clapped their hands. Well, everyone except Connor. He simply sat there in his seat, gazing at Gage with that damn unreadable expression on his face. Like he was present and accounted for but nottrulythere.
When the cheering finally stopped, Kat looked up to see Gage smiling at her in a way that did more to relax her than she would have thought. Gage was the alpha of a whole team of alphas. That meant he had to be sort of intense sometimes. Well, most of the time. But the way he was looking at her now, it was like he wanted her to know she was welcome here. She couldn’t put into words how much that meant to her.
“First and foremost, I want everyone to know that Zane and Alyssa are going to be okay. Becker and Mike are still with them, and Zane is already starting to come around,” Gage continued. “STAT got them into a private hospital with some of their own doctors providing care. They’ll both be in recovery for a while but will be out of action for several weeks. And before you ask, the doctors have asked that we wait a few days before we inundate them with visitors.”
Everyone grumbled at that, but Gage silenced them with that patented look of his. “While I’m glad that Zane and Alyssa are doing well, right now I’m concerned about what the hell did this to them and the poor kid who was murdered down there in the first place.” He turned dark eyes on her. “That’s where I’m hoping you come in, Kat.”
She wasn’t surprised that was the topic of conversation he wanted to start with. On the bright side, at least they weren’t talking about her first. She supposed that was the best she could hope for right now.
“I wish I could tell you exactly who did both of those things, but I can’t,” Kat said, looking around the room at everyone. “All I can say for sure is that it was obviously a magic user of some kind. That means we’re dealing with a witch, warlock, mage, or one of a dozen different supernatural creatures that are known to manipulate magic. Though it could be a combination as well. Witches, warlocks, and mages frequently come together in covens; the other supernaturals, not as much.”
Gage frowned at that, but before the Pack’s lead alpha could say anything, Trevor interrupted.
“Wait a second. You saidwarlock.” Trevor regarded her over his bottle of iced tea curiously. “Is that the same thing as a wizard, or are they different?”
Kat snorted. “It means the same to most witches, but guys can be so twitchy about titles. I think the whole Tolkien description of wizards as dudes in robes with long, gray beards sort of made men shy away from using that word. Most male magic users I know prefer to be called warlocks because they think it sounds more badass. Some people prefer a nongendered term, so they use mage. I’ve always been comfortable with witch, so that’s what I use.”
“While I’m sure the proper form of address for a male or female magic user is drastically important to some of you,” Gage said, scowling at Trevor with an expression that clearly indicated he wasn’t one of those people, “I’m more concerned about whether we have to worry about whoever these people are coming after Zane and Alyssa again.”
Everyone looked at Kat expectantly, waiting for her to answer.
Like no pressure or anything.
“I don’t think you have to worry about Zane and Alyssa being targeted again,” she finally said after thinking about it for a bit. “The murder they were down there investigating happened over a month ago, and there’s no indication the people hung around after that.”
Connor frowned. “What about the trap in that basement? Doesn’t that imply they were there watching Zane and Alyssa the whole time?”
“I don’t think so,” Kat answered. “The trap Zane and Alyssa walked into had been set weeks ago, probably at the same time as the murder. The killers simply left a trail of false breadcrumbs for anyone who might come after them as insurance. The trap didn’t require anyone to watch it. It would have been triggered by anyone who walked down there. That way, their unsuspecting victim or victims wouldn’t be able to ever get out and track them down.”
“How did they know it wouldn’t be a bunch of kids who walked in there?” Trevor asked. “Or a maintenance crew?”
She shrugged. “They probably didn’t care one way or the other. As a witch myself, I hate to say this, but trust me when I tell you, there are some witches and warlocks out there who will do anything for power. I think what Zane and Alyssa stumbled across down in San Antonio was a coven of horrible people willing to sacrifice an innocent kid simply to make their ability to use magic stronger. With people like that, is it any wonder they’d leave behind a trap that would kill anyone who walked into it?”
Kat glanced at Connor out of the corner of her eye to see what effect her words had on him, but he was staring down at his sandwich, like it was more interesting than anything she had to say.
In the front of the room, Gage regarded her thoughtfully. “Were you born a witch?”
