Becoming bored, the cat tapped her tail on the tree trunk.

The Beta male spoke to the wolves. “Take her to the toolshed.”

The wolves shifted into their human form. The bird tensed but went without a fight. Still distrustful, the cat heaved herself back up to the branch and, leaping from tree to tree, kept pace with the three shifters as they walked.

One of the wolves—Bracken, the cat sensed—put the bird inside and locked the door. The cat leapt onto the roof, and he smiled at her. “Don’t worry, little cat, there’s no way she can get out. Not even in her bird form. Zander will be standing guard anyway. Come on, let’s head back to the lodge.”

The pack was just finishing dinner when Jesse and the others finally returned. He went straight to where Harley was sat at the long table and kissed her smack on the mouth, luxuriating in her taste and scent. He’d spent most of his day on a jet, and all he’d thought about was her. “Hey, baby.”

She nipped his lip. “Hey.”

Lifting her, he sat in her chair and set her on his lap. “That’s better.”

“I saved you all some food,” Kathy told them. As the pups chatted animatedly to Shaya about their day, Kathy slid plates heaped with food in front of Jesse, Nick, Shaya, Roni, and Marcus.

“What did Hector’s parents say?” Ally asked Nick.

Everyone went quiet, eager to hear the answer.

“Wait a sec,” said Shaya. She then guided the pups into the living area. Once she returned to the kitchen, she said, “They’re preoccupied with the TV.”

Satisfied, Nick then spoke. “Hector’s father wasn’t home at first, so we mostly talked with the mother.” He relayed everything the human told them followed by their brief conversation with Thad. “In sum, we still have no blackmail material. Nothing to help us get Hector off our back for good.”

“I think our best bet is to arrange a meeting with him and then claim we have the photos,” said Eli. “We have nothing to lose. But if we do nothing, we risk losing our home.”

Jesse nodded, only then noticing that Nick was staring at his brother, eyes narrowed and suspicious. Eli paid him no attention, but there was no doubt in Jesse’s mind that he knew he was being watched closely.

“Okay, what did we miss?” asked Nick, running his gaze along everyone.

Ally sighed. “I told you they’d sense that something happened.” She turned to Nick. “We were going to tell you after you’d eaten.”

Jesse’s hand clenched on his mate’s thigh. “What? What happened?” His wolf shot to alertness.

Shaya rubbed her arms. “Tell me the extremists didn’t turn up.”

“The extremists didn’t come here.” Derren put down his fork. “We had an intruder while you were gone. Not anyone dangerous, just a juvenile bird shifter; she was sent by Hector to spy on us.”

“What?” demanded Nick.

“It’s fine,” said Bracken. “Harley’s cat caught her and then shoved her to the ground.”

“What?” demanded Jesse. His fury rose hot and fast.

Harley patted his hand. “No need to panic. Really. No one other than the bird got hurt. Bracken and Zander locked her in the toolshed.”

“Toolshed?” repeated Nick, pushing out of his chair. “I’ll deal with this.”

Ally jumped to her feet and planted herself in front of him. “We can’t kill her.”

The Alpha snorted. “Oh yes we can. If you and the other females want to deal with this one, I’ll show you where I hid the shears.”

Harley looked at Jesse. “Shears?”

“I’ll explain later,” he told her, enraged with himself for not being there to protect her from an intruder and enraged with her for involving herself in the situation.

“You’re pissed, Nick,” said Ally. “Understandable. But she’s sixteen, if that.”

“Sixteen?” echoed Shaya, face softening.

“And all alone,” added Ally. “She’s just trying to survive.”

“Yeah, and that can’t be a nice situation,” clipped Nick. “But think of what damage she could have done if you hadn’t known she was there. She would have heard us telling you about our conversation with Hector’s parents, and she would have given him that information—”

“But she didn’t, because I had the vision and Harley’s cat caught her. Think, Nick. We can use the girl. Like I said, she’s just trying to survive. I sensed shame in her. She doesn’t like what she’s doing. For the right amount of money, she’ll tell Hector only what we want him to be told.”

Derren nodded. “We can have him think that we’re making arrangements and starting to pack our shit.”

“And if we kill her, he’ll just send someone else,” Eli pointed out.

Shaya inclined her head. “That’s true.”

“Just talk to the girl before you do anything rash,” urged Ally. “She’s scared and ashamed.”

Shaya took Nick’s hand. “Come on, we’ll talk to her.” The Beta pair followed them out of the lodge.

That was when Jesse turned to his mate. “Protocol is for the nonwarriors of the pack to take cover in the basement. Why weren’t you in the basement?”

She frowned. “When will I ever be someone who hides out in a basement?”