“They got us in our own home,” he announced. His voice was deeper than I’d ever heard it, like he could infuse a growl into his very essence to encourage our enemies to back the fuck off. “Twice now.”
I nodded. “We’ll have to be more careful.”
This time, they’d come for me. Frankly, I’d rather let them do that than come for any of my pack.
“Between this shit and what happened to Cash, we can’t let our guard down until the challenge is over. I want two-person security patrols at home and at the Crescent Building, in addition to our regular security protocols.” Seth’s voice was clipped, but his anger wasn’t directed at our pack. Well, maybe at himself, a little, but we’d address that once he felt more secure.
None of this was anyone’s fault, except the person who’d done it, and no Crescent wolf would resort to this kind of underhanded duplicity. These tricks were the behavior of a man who’d burn a house to the ground rather than fight—I just didn’t know how Grant had managed it.
It wasn’t like Seth or any of his people would’ve let just anyone walk into our building.
“And I want everybody in the pack who’s not sharing their location to fix that, now.” Seth stuck his chin out. While I didn’t think he could track everyone’s locations at once, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.
I glanced at Jillian. She’d bitten her lip. We weren’t the kind of pack to demand that degree of compliance, normally, and it’d always raise our hackles to consider that kind of push.
Considering whether sacrificing freedom for safety was worth it would always be a good thing, though. Whatever choice we made, we’d weigh it to make sure it was the right one.
When Jillian inclined her chin, just a subtle gesture but more than enough for me, it was decided.
“Okay, spread the word then. Make sure everyone knows what happened, what to look out for, and that this is a safety protocol. Once we’re sure the danger’s passed, they can do whatever they like, but let’s strongly encourage everyone to get on the same page.”
“It won’t be an issue,” Jillian said. “People are on edge. I’m sure they’ll appreciate that we’re taking charge of the situation.”
I nodded.
“Anything else you need from me?” I asked.
Seth’s jaw flexed. “No, just—” He grimaced. “I’m glad you’re back.”
Against my shoulder, I felt Dakota’s little nod.
“Me too,” I agreed. “Prudence?”
Her head popped up, and she looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep. No wonder she’d been so uncharacteristically quiet.
“We’re putting you on retainer, if you have the time to discuss with Seth any magical steps we can take to defend our territory. Clearly, we need to be prepared for threats of all kinds, and you know more about magic than...”
I scowled. It was a given that she knew more than anyone in our pack, but I didn’t know how far that stretched.
She scoffed. “Anyone on this coast, certainly. I’d be happy to work with you,” she told Seth.
He nodded, and they left together, leaving just Jill, Dakota, and me.
“Glad you’re safe,” my sister said quietly, sparing another quick, grateful look at Dakota before she squeezed my arm and left too.
Dakota snuggled closer to me, and I held him tight.
We stayed like that for a long time. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I was afraid to let myself drift off again. Given that I felt kind of shitty, it wouldn’t have been that easy anyway.
As a distraction from the achy, unpleasant feeling that reminded me of wolfsbane working through my system, I let my fingertips drift under Dakota’s shirt. The warmth of his skin was a balm to my every ache and pain.
“When I was asleep . . . ”
“Yeah?” he asked when I drifted off, lost in the smoothness beneath my touch.
“When I was asleep, you were talking to someone. Was it Prudence?” She was the only person I could think of who didn’t know the full story of how Dakota had come to be part of our pack.
Or maybe she did, and Dakota had already told her, but I couldn’t think of anyone else he would need to lay out the whole story for.
