Page 59 of The Enforcers: KANE

Jesse glanced at her plate. “Eat,” he said quietly. “We were all up most of the night, and we need energy or we’ll never make it through the day.”

She tried, but it was hard to swallow. Kane was still angry with her for keeping so much from him—the Agency, Selina, the fact that she was an operative working on the same case he was.

He was also angry he’d had to meet with the Council and not tell them everything he knew. He’d settled for telling them he recognized Selina from his days living on the streets in Seattle, and enough about her powers to make them understand how dangerous she was.

But Rachelle had asked him to compromise the integrity he’d fought so hard to build, and she didn’t know if he would ever forgive her for that.

This meeting was just Jace, Rafe, Jesse and Israel; Kane hadn’t wanted to involve anyone else unless it was absolutely necessary. They were already risking their Enforcement contracts with the Council, which were a large source of income for the pack, and the foundation for their reputation in the shifter world. The fewer people who knew what was going on, the better.

The rest of them got food and coffee, and spread themselves around the living area of the suite. Jace waited until they were all settled, gave Rachelle a long, appraising look, and said to Kane, “I take it this is the real briefing?”

Kane nodded, continuing to stand. Rachelle could see him struggling with himself. He’d never told the pack everything he’d done while they were scattered, and she knew that baring his soul to them now—when he was so emotionally shattered by everything he’d just learned—was going to be incredibly hard.

She wished she could stand up there and support him, but she had the feeling she’d only make it harder.

Israel glanced over at her, and then got up and leaned quietly against the wall behind Kane—a silent support. She gave him a grateful smile, which he didn’t return.

Apparently he was mad at her too.

Jace gave a brief nod and sat back. “Go ahead,” he said to Kane.

Kane paced back and forth, running his hands through his short, already mussed hair. He looked so gorgeous, and so vulnerable, Rachelle’s heart nearly broke.

“What I told the Council was true as far as it went. What I didn’t tell them was that Selina and her crew weren’t just people I encountered on the streets. I was part of the gang, and Selina was…” He broke off and took a deep breath. “Selina was my…I guess you’d call her my mate.”

Dead silence.

“Holy fuck,” Rafe said.

Jace cut his eyes in that direction, and Rafe made a zipper over his lips.

“Me and about a dozen other guys,” Kane added.

All the men except Israel winced, and Rachelle knew they were imagining trying to share their mates with a dozen other guys. Rachelle heard a low hum of growls as all their wolves objected at once.

Kane, ignoring their reaction, went on to give a more thorough background on Selina, as well as some of the things he’d done at her orders. He spoke slowly with many pauses, like each word was tearing a piece of his soul out, and Rachelle wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and drown him and Wolf in love.

But it wasn’t her place. Not now.

Kane glanced at Rachelle. “I’ve recently learned that Selina is working for the remnants of Gen-X, a clandestine government group that did illegal genetic experiments on shifters in the hopes of creating some kind of supersoldiers,” he said. “It appears they’ve made some breakthroughs in shifter enhancement, partly thanks to an infusion of cash from the casino robberies. They’re now ready to sell their work on the open market. We have to stop them.”

“Agreed,” Jace said. “But it seems to me the Council would be better equipped.”

“You’d think,” Kane said. “But Rachelle asked me to hold off. I wanted to hear what she has to say—and I wanted you to hear it—before making a decision.”

They all turned their heads and looked at her. It was intimidating, even to someone who wasn’t vulnerable to alpha dominance. She could still feel the energy, and any one of them was alpha enough to have his own pack. Jesse’s mind was diamond-bright and sharp enough to slice you to ribbons.

Her respect for Jace went up. He must be an extraordinary alpha to command their loyalty.

His face had gone very still. “Explain, please,” he said to Rachelle.

His alpha energy crackled through the room.

“First,” she said, “the Council may be compromised.” She outlined what she knew about Gen-X and the Agency. “There have recently been some issues that make the Agency believe that someone in the Council may be assisting Gen-X.”

They all looked shocked at that.

“Also,” she said, “there were more personal reasons.” She braced herself for the reactions she would get. “Selina controls the members of her gang—primarily men—by using her mental powers similar to the way an alpha compels obedience. But in her case, she rewires their neural pathways to make the effect ongoing and permanent.”