Page 94 of Pack Baby for the Silver Foxes

“High praise,” Maeve said from the doorway.

“I didn’t say harmless,” Artem said.

“No one would believe you if you did,” I said.

Lincoln bent slightly toward me, voice low enough for a normal room. Unfortunately, this was Artem’s room. “What the hell have we got involved with?”

I laughed before I could stop myself. “You don’t want to know,” I said.

“They need to know,” Artem said.

Lincoln straightened.

Hudson’s gaze moved from Artem to me. He was reading the room now, every detail. Maeve’s stillness. Artem’s folder. The fact that Gregor hadn’t come in, which meant he was probably outside the door. Or walking Fergus. With Gregor, both felt plausible.

“Not because I’m Bratva,” Artem said. “Because Mary is Callum McCarthy’s daughter.”

Hudson looked blank. Lincoln looked the same, and for one glorious second, I loved them for having absolutely no idea who my father was.

“Should we know that name?” Lincoln asked.

Artem’s mouth flattened. “Yes.”

“We don’t,” Hudson said.

“I mentioned him in passing.” I glanced at the rug.

Maeve’s laugh was small and humorless. “In passing.”

I glared at my sister.

Artem set the folder on the desk. “Callum McCarthy is from the Irish mafia. He tried to broker a deal with me to marry Mary.”

Not one muscle shifted in either of them. Where I wished the floor would open and swallow me whole, but floors were unreliable in moments of need.

“Instead,” Artem said, “I saved her.”

Hudson looked at me, his scent turned toward me. That mattered more than I expected. Lincoln’s hands had curled at his sides.

“Mary,” Hudson said softly.

“It’s true,” I said. My voice sounded too small. “Artem saved me. I was in Boston for my safety.”

“Your father knows you’re in England?” Hudson asked.

“Not exactly.”

Artem answered before I could turn that into something evasive. “He has channels. And I know he is looking for you. You were safe in Boston but here, you’re not.”

“I’m not?” I whispered.

“He isn’t currently a direct threat inside my territory, but he remains a threat if Mary moves without protection.”

“Artem,” Maeve said. “She can’t hide forever.”

“She’s pregnant. She’s more vulnerable than ever,” Artem said.

Lincoln took out his phone and everyone looked at him. He tapped the screen, lifted it to his ear, and turned slightly away, one hand braced on the back of the leather chair. “Tom,” he said when the call connected. “I need a bodyguard for my omega.”