“She still doesn’t look that great.” Sloane scratched under Jess’s chin. “Oh. Hey. I have an idea.”
“Hmm?”
“You know those hard plastic kiddie pools we put out for Petpalooza in the summer? We always fill them with ice and water for dogs to drink and splash in? What if we fill one for Jess?”
“You’re asking the wrong person.” I gestured to the panting bear. “What do you think?”
With a low groan bordering on a plea, Jess nodded her giant head, begging for relief.
“Sloane, walk her to GSG.” I checked the time. “I’ll run ahead and get a couple of pools prepped for her.”
“I can do one better.” Her eyes brightened. “Seamus has the biggest, most ridiculous pickup truck I’ve ever seen. It’s been magically reinforced to handle shifters in their animal forms. He can swing by and give us a lift.” She chewed her bottom lip. “Can you get word to him? I don’t want to leave Jess alone.”
“No problem.” I dusted off the seat of my pants. “Take the cooler with you, if you don’t mind.”
The ballpark was on the edge of town, so I had a ways to go to reach GSG. I wasn’t sure where Liam had gone, but he tended to walk everywhere he went. He didn’t have much of a head start, just ten minutes, so I filled my lungs with air and let my senses off leash.
The smell of him was familiar, carrying hints of Rían in his scent, and I followed that trail to a building in a strip mall that might have once been a hardware store. I couldn’t recall for certain, it had sat empty for too long, and its sign had been removed, leaving only a sun-bleached hint of what the words once read.
As I drew closer, the men and women standing on the sidewalk, dressed in black tactical outfits, sneaked glances at me from the corners of their eyes. Sensations prickled over my skin, reminding me of how the pack had judged me without breathing a word in my direction. The more vocal observers commentedon everything from my appearance to my lack of abilities to Carmichael’s plans for a successor since I was a dud.
Had they forgotten I could hear as well as them? That I had shifter traits even without an animal spirit? Or had they simply not cared how deep their sharp words cut me? Something told me it was the latter, not the former.
These stares weren’t hostile or pitying, I didn’t think. I couldn’t work up the nerve to check. I was too afraid of what I might find when I was already rallying my courage to wade through them to the door.
Stuck to the window was a paper that read:
ENFORCER HQ.
Kitchens and More moved across town.
Enter at your own whisk.
“Are you Ana Sartori?”
The question, asked in a soft voice, yanked me out of my spiral. “Yes.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I found a young woman standing at the head of a small group of enforcers. A bright-pink curl hung over one shoulder, having come loose from her bun. She smoothed her hair back, a nervous tremor in her hand, and fixed a smile in place.
That was as far as she got before the guy next to her elbowed her in the ribs.
“Oh.” She flushed a shade pinker than her hair. “I’m Becca.” She stuck out her arm. “Becca Spears.”
Uncertainty crawled along my spine, but I shook hands with her. “Nice to meet you, Becca.”
“We work with Sloane,” the guy, who looked fresh out of high school, explained. “She’s badass.”
Warmth ignited in my chest, and a smile burned on my lips. “She is, isn’t she?”
“We’ve wanted to meet you forever,” Becca rambled, “but we kept our distance until you got to know the magnus better. Then Sloane joined up, and she talks about you so much. I can’t believe she’s your best friend. An enforcer! Like us. That’s so cool. Not to say that our magnus is snooty, he’s not, but he’s our magnus, you know? And I thought with you being an alpha’s daughter—and the magnus’s mate?—”
A jolt zinged through me at the reminder that, of course, his clan knew he and I were mates. Not just the betrothal but the whole shebang. Which, now that I reflected on what I had learned, explained why they had shown him such grace after his breakdown. They had known Rían’s pain wasn’t superficial, that he believed his mate had been killed and sold for parts.
“Forgive Becca.” Her friend set his hands on her shoulders. “She gets excited.” His expression pinched as he cleared his throat. “I’m Rand Sturges, by the way. I should have led with that.”
“No worries.” I waved away his concern. “We’ve all got a lot on our minds today.”
“Sturges, Spears,” a familiar voice snapped out. “Get back to your posts.” Relief swamped me as Liam strolled toward me, checking me over before nodding to himself. “You’ll have to excuse the newbies.”
