Maybe. Maybe not. But Makenna doubted she’d be put into a position where she had to decide. She was a loner, which meant he automatically wouldn’t trust her around him or his pack. Once he’d won over Zac, she’d likely never see him again. Although the Phoenix wolves seemed genuinely intent on helping with the Remy situation, there was a distinct possibility that they were simply trying to impress Zac and use it to gain his trust. Time would tell.

In the meantime . . . where was the damn chocolate?

CHAPTER FIVE

Eating dinner at the long oak table in the kitchen of Phoenix Pack territory, Taryn informed the rest of the pack of all that they had heard and seen at the shelter. Only four were absent: Roni and Marcus, who were on Mercury territory, and Gabe and Hope, a mated pair that was guarding the gate.

Taryn’s expression was pained even though her mate was soothingly massaging her nape. “I have to say, I’m seriously ashamed of myself right now. Whenever I thought the term ‘lone shifters,’ I thought ‘hired guns.’ It never occurred to me just how hard it must be for them, or all the different kind of reasons that drive shifters to become loners. It’s not always a choice.”

Jaime stroked the ugly, loudly purring ginger cat on her lap. “And not all of them have had the luck to get a place in a shelter.”

Their resident cook, mother hen, and Rhett’s mate, Grace, spoke as she fed chocolate pudding to her infant daughter in the highchair. “The shifters working there are good people for doing what they do.”

“Think of what it must cost per person to clothe, clean, and feed the residents,” said Jaime. “The animal sanctuary I work at is hard to keep running; it must be way harder to run the shelter.”

“What’s the interior like?” Lydia, Cam’s mate, asked.

Jaime fed some scraps of meat to her cat. “I would have expected a shelter to feel melancholy and hopeless. It didn’t, though. There’s warmth and comfort there. But also a hint of sadness. It was in the eyes of some of the residents. It made me wonder what they’d been through.”

Taryn looked at Grace. “It was absolutely heartbreaking seeing little kids there. Some were just babies—one of them was so little, I think he might have been born there.”

Scooping more dessert onto the spoon, Grace said, “I don’t want to even imagine how hard it would be to have to live in a shelter with my Lilah. Even though the shelter sounds like a good place, it would still be a sad situation for anyone.”

“Not sadder than being on the streets.” Jaime sighed. “It’s horrible to think that Zac was once in that situation. I wonder how he ended up at the shelter.”

Trick, an enforcer, pushed his empty plate aside. “Considering all that’s going on, wouldn’t it be better to bring him here, out of Remy’s reach?”

Taryn shook her head sadly. “I wish I could, but he doesn’t feel safe with us yet. And I think Trey’s right, parting him from Makenna might be hard. I was pretty suspicious of her and her motives at first, but I totally misjudged her. Dawn said she’s been there since she was a kid. I’m guessing that she’s changed her name because she doesn’t want to be found.”

Ryan grunted his agreement.

Dominic, another enforcer, lounged in his chair with his arms crossed behind his head. “I’m looking forward to meeting Zac. Bring him here for a visit.”

“He won’t come,” said Taryn. “Not yet. He knows we’d prefer to have him here for his own safety; he won’t trust us not to force him to stay.”

She was right, which was why . . . “Remy has to be dealt with.”

Dante’s eyes snapped to Ryan. “He will be.” It was a vow.

“I called Shaya and told her everything,” announced Taryn. “Of course, she now thinks Dawn, Makenna, and Madisyn are angels and that Remy needs to jump off a cliff.”

Ryan had every intention of attending the mediation meeting. Makenna might not realize it yet, but he would see this matter through to the end with her—even if Zac was part of his pack before the situation was resolved. Since it had shot to life earlier, he’d been unable to shake off the protectiveness or the feeling that it was his right to look out for her.

Trey turned to Rhett. “What did you find out about Remy?”

Rhett put down his coffee. “His father died when he was seven, so he was raised by his mother.” Most shifters couldn’t survive the breaking of a mating bond, but some managed to hang on. “He has a lot of alliances and friends in high places. He became pack Alpha four years ago. Since then, he’s been challenging the packs around him to expand his own, spreading over California like a virus. And now he seems to want the territory that the shelter sits on.”

Tao, who had Kye sitting on his lap—the kid was playing some kind of game on Tao’s cell phone—frowned. “I can’t work out why Remy wants that territory. It’s a really bad area that’s well known for housing loners.”

“Maybe it’s not the territory he wants,” suggested Trick. “Maybe he wants the shelter.”

Cam frowned. “But why?”

Trick shrugged. “It could be that he’s hoping to shut it down. Being Alpha to Dawn would give him the power to do it.”

“But why would he want to shut it down?” Cam asked him.

“I didn’t say I had the answer. It’s just a theory.”