My father leaned forward. “I really don’t know, Jessica. I’m not going to pretend to know.”

Thinking about all the various implications of the Prophecy made my head spin. “I don’t feel Alpha inclined,” I said honestly. “I realize I’m strong, but my wolf has made it clear it’s not our job to run Pack. I have to believe that won’t change.”

“I don’t feel a threat from you. If anything, it’s the opposite, which is a blessed relief.”

My wolf yipped at me. We needed to get moving. I slid my chair back to stand. “Are you heading south now?”

“Yes, I’m leaving shortly and I’m taking a dozen wolves with me. We’ll be gone as long as it takes.” He placed both hands on the table in front of him. “Jessica, I want you to know if you encounter a severe emergency while you’re gone, I will find you.” I had no doubt he would. “I will also be in touch with you as often as I can.”

There was one more loose end I had to deal with before I left town.

It came in the form of one very angry police detective.

“What are we going to do about Ray?” I asked as I stood. Raymond Hart had unwittingly uncovered our secret and now presented a threat to our race. He’d been brought over from the Safe House early this morning so I could have a chat with him—meaning kill him if I had to—and was currently being held under guard down the hall.

My father gave me a hard look.

I didn’t want to kill him. “You know, there are other ways we can deal with this,” I said. “Exterminating every human being who finds out about us doesn’t have to be our normal moving forward. Plus, killing him after he’s been so intent on me, has my break-in case open on his desk, and was last seen at my apartment building—his car is still parked there—and with Jeff Arnold, my building super, dead and all the recent calls about noise and various disturbances, it will be easy for them to piece together the coincidences. If they haven’t already. I will be their prime suspect.”

“I cannot, in good conscience, leave a threat to our existence in the form of a police detective running around after what he’s seen. I know our ways are not easy for you, Jessica, but someone like Raymond Hart poses a serious problem. He is not someone who would assimilate as an Essential into our Pack, which is the only option left to him other than death.”

He was right. Ray would never assimilate willingly. But I still didn’t want to kill him. If I killed Ray, which would be relatively easy because he’d been a constant headache of mine for years, each human after him would be less of an issue.

I didn’t want killing to ever be easy.

If I didn’t try to change Ray’s mind, no other headstrong human would ever have a chance of escaping this fate. So why not start with Ray? “What if I can get him to assimilate? You have to admit he would be a great asset to Pack. He’s been a police detective for almost twenty years. We’d have someone on the inside, and as a bonus, he could make all the issues of my case vanish in one day.”

My father arched a critical eye at me. “He doesn’t leave this building unless I’m satisfied.”

Short of a lobotomy, there was no way I could change Ray’s mind that fast. “How about if…” I hemmed. “If I can’t get him to swear in the next half hour”—What in the hell was I going to do with him if he didn’t swear? He was so not going to swear—“I take him… with me?” Not a good plan, Jessica. My wolf growled and snapped her muzzle, telling me exactly what she thought of my ingenious idea.

“With you?” my father echoed.

Ray had a death sentence if I left him behind. “Yep. I’ll take the asshole with me if I have to.”

3

“Hello, Ray.” I smiled pleasantly as I entered the small suite located across the hall from our offices. It didn’t technically belong to Hannon & Michaels, but since it hadn’t been leased in years we’d taken it over, using it mostly for storage. “Looks like you fared okay last night.” I nodded my head, acknowledging the two other guys in the room.

“Good morning.” Danny winked, his cheerful English accent bringing levity to a stressful situation. “Just so you know, your man and I are getting along splendidly. We had a real Hart-to-heart last night. Didn’t we, mate?”

Ray’s eyes narrowed. I was certain his night with Danny had been less than pleasant. For a police officer, very little would suck worse than being held hostage. After all the training, a cop would know the chances were slim to none of making it out alive. “Very funny, Danny,” I said. “No need to harass the prisoner any more than necessary.”

“You know, humor is the hallmark of a brilliant mind.” He tapped the outside of his head and gave me a toothy grin. “Without it, we’d suffer the days away in endless monotony.”

As well as being the resident jokester, Danny was strikingly handsome. He had high cheekbones, a strong chin, and brown locks that fell perfectly into his blue-green eyes, making your fingers itch to brush it out. Accompany that with the body of a pro athlete and it was a wicked combination for any woman.

It was a good thing I’d always preferred my men rough around the edges.

Extremely rough.

Rourke roared into my mind with his hard, taut body, jet-black tattoos, honey-colored hair, and a perfect layer of stubble running along his strong jawline. My wolf growled. I know. I know. But we have to be careful or Danny will think those smells are for him, so keep a lid on it.

I glanced at the other wolf in the room, pulling myself together with effort.

I’d never met him before. He stood on the other side of Ray, who was currently tied to a folding chair. Ray had thankfully lost my pantyhose gag from the night before, but had what appeared to be a white dish towel tied around his mouth. It might be time to invest in some quality interrogation supplies; the ordinary household supplies were looking a little ragtag. “Hi, I’m Jessica.” I reached my hand out to the unknown wolf.

Hesitation lit in his eyes for a few beats before he extended his hand back to me. Selling myself as friendly to these guys was going to be a huge battle after so many years of fear.

“Tom Bailey,” he replied, dropping my hand.

“Good to meet you, Tom. If you could, I’d like you to wait outside.”

He glanced at Danny, who gave him a curt nod, and then left without looking back.

“One of your guys?” I asked as the door clicked shut behind him.

“Yes. He’s one of the best, and can be trusted.”

“He stared at me like I was a space alien.”

“He was likely just admiring your beauty. You do look splendid, as usual.” Danny swept a careless gaze over me, eyeing me from top to bottom like we were having a spot of tea instead of being the possible harbingers of death to a human. “You were made for skinny jeans. They absolutely adore you.”

I stifled a smile, and instead turned my attention to my immediate concern, Raymond Hart. “Okay, Ray. It’s time for us to settle this.” I lifted a folding chair and set it squarely in front of him, straddling it. “It seems you’ve finally uncovered what you’ve been dying to find out for years. Why I could track criminals so quickly, why I was so fast on my feet, why I had the best instincts on the force. But, as you can plainly see, I’m not a crackhead.” I spread my arms wide in front of me and leaned forward—part intimidation, partly because I could. “The truth is, I was born into a family of wolves. Yes, real-life wolves. And recently I’ve become one. But, honestly, if we’re playing fair, none of this was any of your business to find out. You should’ve left well enough alone. But you didn’t. And now you’re in so deep you have one choice left. If you choose not to take it, your life ends here.” I swept my finger down toward the floor. Interrogation took mad dramatic skills. None of which Ray was buying into. He was completely unimpressed.

His eyes narrowed and his scent changed, going from steady fear to an acidic flare of anger in the space of a heartbeat.

The man had gigantic balls.

His normal steel-colored flattop had drooped and there were dark bags under his eyes. It was doubtful he’d slept a wink last night. No surprises there. You’d think after all he’d seen and gone through in the last forty-eight hours, he’d be ready to acquiesce. Anything to try and get out of this mess. Instead he was ready for a fight.

And I was just the gal to give him one.

I leaned into his space to accentuate my control. I had to make him believe he had only one option left, and not to take it meant his death. “The solitary choice you have remaining, after everything you’ve seen, is to join us,” I stated calmly. “Do you understand what I’m saying? There’s a place in my world for humans. But you have to be willing to come on your own. There’s no in-between.”

Ray spat something from between his gag. It was muddled, but I heard it clear enough.

“It doesn’t matter if you think I’m a bitch, Ray. We’re way beyond that. What we’re here to discuss is you keeping your life. My awesome personality traits are not on the table.”

Danny slid his chair a little closer to the action, scraping it along the worn linoleum, grinning like he’d just won front-row tickets to a WWE match. He perched on the edge of his seat, elbows resting comfortably on his knees. After a moment he said, “This is a nice twist, isn’t it? And here, Mr. Hart, I didn’t think you had a chance of seeing another sunrise. Listen to the nice lady, because she’s not making this bit up. Even though we enjoyed our chat last night, I won’t hesitate to kill you today. That’s how it works. It’s nothing personal, you understand. It’s purely business.”

Ray thrashed for a moment in his seat.

I wasn’t interested in watching his struggle, so I reached over and yanked the towel off his mouth in one motion. “Hannon,” he gasped immediately, taking in a big breath. “You’re never going to get away with this!” He’d only ever known me as Molly Hannon, my alias for the past seven years. “You can’t kill me. Everyone on the force will know—”