“Jase, Charlie, and Talley are obviously pro-rebellion, but the others don’t know anything about it. After Alex died, I asked Toby to hide me as payback for the unlawful death of my brother. It’s one of those Shifter customs dating back to the dawn of time but nobody ever really remembers or uses. I was a little worried he would refuse, but in the end he agreed.

“To keep my whereabouts secret, we decided to only tell Charlie and Jase. They were both so shattered by what happened they wanted to repay me however they could. At first, we were just going to try to figure out a way to join the rebellion without causing Toby to have to face a dozen different Challenges for Pack Leader, but then you Changed and so did our priorities.”

“You knew they would come after me.”

“You’re a female Shifter. There is no way they would let you live.”

Goosebumps broke out over my arms.

“There is something I don’t get,” I said, mulling over the whole Cole-Hagan relationship. “Why didn’t Toby Challenge you when you first moved into their Territory? That’s how it normally works, right? Did he just meet you and realize there was no way he could take you down?” That didn’t really sound like Toby, whose cocky arrogance might have been more annoying if it hadn't been hard-earned, but since neither he nor Liam was dead, something had to have happened.

“Not exactly.” When he didn’t elaborate I prodded. “Then what exactly was it?”

“I convinced them I was part of the Alpha Pack.”

Here’s the thing, if I didn’t know any better, I would assume Liam was part of the Alpha Pack myself. He’s the sort of person even normal people who have no clue about supernaturals would steer clear because of his animalistic personality. As a Shifter, it was even more pronounced. The amount of power radiating off of him even under the new moon was overpowering. I had been in the same room with the Alpha Male, and I wasn’t sure which - Stefan or Liam - was actually more Dominant. So, I could have just left it alone, assumed that was all there was to the story. But the way he said it, as if he was embarrassed and wanted to let it drop, made certain I wouldn’t do that.

“How?”

“How what?”

Ha! He was hiding something. “How did you convince Toby you were part of the Alpha Pack?”

I thought he was going to ignore me, but then he did something totally unexpected. He unbuttoned his pants.

“Whoa! Wait a minute! Britches stay on. That’s a rule.” It was an unstated rule, but one everyone should know.

“Calm down. I’m not going to offend your virgin eyes.” My face flamed at the v-word, which was probably the only confirmation anyone needed that his assessment was completely accurate. “It’s right here…” He pulled down the edge of his pants to reveal his hip. It was hard to make out due to the lack of light, but I thought I could see a mark on his skin.

“Is that a paw print?”

“Yes.”

“Like a wolf’s paw prin?”

“Yes,” he said with no small amount of annoyance.

“You got a tattoo of a paw print on your hip to make Toby think you’re with the Alphas?”

“All members of the Alpha Pack have one there.”

Kind of a less-than-masculine place to put a tattoo, in my opinion. “So why doesn’t everyone who wants to pass as a member get one?”

Liam quirked a lip at me, which was so reminiscent of his brother my heart clenched. “I’ll give you two guesses, but you’ll only need one.”

Of course. It was the Alpha Pack. What was I thinking?

“Let’s see, could it be…” I paused for dramatic flair. “Death to all who fake a paw print tattoo?”

That earned me a full-on smile. “Exactly.”

“So, why risk it? Aren’t you afraid of being severely punished for your ink?”

The smile disappeared. “I’m a dead man walking as it is. A tattoo isn’t going to change that.”

We were quiet for a long time. There wasn’t really anything to say. As far as the Alpha Pack was concerned, we were both living on borrowed time. I thought of Jase, Talley, Charlie, and the others who were putting their lives on the line as well. Was it worth it? If this had all just been for me, then no. But it wasn’t about me. It never was, even though I had been too self-centered to realize it for far too long. Liam was right. I was just a pawn.

“Your grand plan,” I said. “I’m the bait, aren’t I?”

Liam looked at me, like really looked at me. The kind of “looked at me” which makes you feel like a bug under a microscope. “Not bait,” he said. “You’re the secret weapon.”

Chapter 11

Jase was no longer on the couch when I went back into the house. Instead, he was on the air mattress, his front to Talley's back. His arm was draped over her waist, and his fingers were once again entwined with hers.

Good grief, could they not go five whole seconds without holding hands? I mean, for the love of all things shiny, they were asleep.

“Everything okay?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at Jase’s voice. The heel of my hand pressed my chest to keep my heart from pounding through my ribcage.

“Fine. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah, me either.” He slowly worked his way into a sitting position. The process involved carefully unlacing his fingers from Talley’s and then reclaiming her hand once he was in position.

“Seriously, Jase, I don’t think she’s going to wander off.” His eyebrows knitted together, and I gestured to the hands-which-nothing-can-asunder.

“She’s been having nightmares,” he said as he brushed a piece of hair off her shoulder. It was really sweet, but I still felt like I wandered into some sort of alternate reality. Maybe in this world Sarvarna was a good guy and asparagus tasted better than ice cream. “She doesn’t have as many if she can See me, and this way I can wake her up when they start.”

“Isn’t this a bit much?” I asked. “I mean, weren’t you the guy having a hissy fit over the fear of Talley getting into your head just a month or two ago?”

Jase looked down at a sleeping Talley, a truly goofy smile on his face. “I was a coward.”

“You’re creeping me out.”

When he looked back up, his face was serious. It’s not like I’d never seen him serious before. It’s not his default frame of mind, but it’s happened. It’s just that usually his seriousness came with a large helping of righteous indignation. Not so much this time. This time, he looked more exhausted than angry. “You think I’m going to hurt her.”