Page 21 of Bitter Discord

“Ranger is the one from the Tribunal meeting. The one who lost a leg,” Zuri said thoughtfully. As if she could read my mind, she quickly continued. “Father told us about everything that happened in that meeting, obviously, including the werewolves you were with and the names they used.”

“Yeah, that one. Ranger, Shamus, and Teagan are under direct orders from Heath to keep the information secure and to themselves. They can’t do anything to expose it. So, that’s part one of who knows what. Part two… Dirk is in a relationship that could bother people. The entire pack knows.”

“You can skip telling me more about his private life. He has bigger problems just being a werewolf and Niko’s son. You and Heath seemed to have handled it well, though. You and I are the only two who know in the family. Four werewolves know he’s Niko’s son…” Zuri trailed off.

“And Carey and Oliver.”

“Loyal to you,” Zuri reminded me. “Not a security risk unless they’re coerced, but if that happens, we have larger problems. Such as who potentially kidnapped Carey or Oliver.”

“Good point.”

“I make those more often than not,” Zuri said, injecting a much-needed light-heartedness into the conversation. “Tell me something, could Heath put the whole pack under an order to not spy or reveal information to outsiders? I know the order is possible. He’s clearly already done it to some werewolves, but an Alpha’s limits aren’t something I’ve the chance to deeply study… for obvious reasons.”

“I don’t know. We’d have to ask.”

“Then we will. Will Dirk be there when we arrive?”

“No, but he can be,” I answered, realizing what she intended. “You can’t out him to the entire pack as Niko’s son.”

“Why?” Zuri demanded. “Knowing he’s our nephew, knowing that some of the family would kill for him, our nephew, will keep him safer from the violent life of werewolves.”

“Because we have a werewolf named Fenris, and he’s mad. Not angry, but batshit insane,” I explained. If she knew about the werewolves who appeared in the Tribunal meeting, she would know of Fenris. “Scar on his face, incredibly dangerous, around the same age as Niko and Davor. That means nothing to you, but he can kick my ass across the state if he wanted to. He hasn’t because I’ve earned his trust. I’m the first werecat he doesn’t attack on sight. Heath and Landon can handle him, but no one else in the pack can. Zuri, there are only three Alphas dominant enough to order Fenris around, as far as I understand, Heath, Callahan, and Corissa. The scar on his face? From the war, done by one of our siblings. He has severe PTSD. We just don’t know if he’s safe for Dirk yet.”

“Oh, that’s…” Zuri sighed, clearly annoyed with this development.

“We call him the mad wolf when we don’t feel like saying his name. It’s only fair. He’s coined my title.”

“No…” Zuri gasped.

“Yeah, he’s the one who started calling me the Rebel.”

Zuri snorted. “Fantastic.”

“Yeah, it got out of the pack and continued because we had to transfer out the old Dallas members. They heard him using it even though he was officially in Heath’s rogue pack at that point. It traveled.”

“Yes, it did,” Zuri confirmed. “Here I thought they would just stop doing that.” Humming, she stared out the window. “So, this is where we stand on the day I arrive. We have a father who wants you to fail, and make no mistake, hedoes.” That hurt. “We can’t trust him. Niko’s son is now a werewolf in a pack of refugees you took in, including one who might be detrimental to his health and yours.”

“Look, if I can make Fenris move on from the war, it’s possible for anyone,” I said, shrugging. “So, I’m trying.”

“There’s more to it than that. You’re not fooling me. Something made you sympathize with him.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Back to the problems. We all know there’s a mole in the human organization we’re meeting tonight who was a member of the witch family from April. We’ll have to be on high alert for that. We might have lost the ability to smell the magic through whatever means they’re using, but there’s a chance I’ll still feel it as a witch. I’ll be watching out for us.”

“Thanks.”

“Security is of the utmost importance. With the werecats coming, we have to be very careful.”

“Which is why planning has felt like it would never end,” I said, sighing. “Tell me this was a bad idea, Zuri, and convince me to call it off.”

“It’s not a bad idea. It’s something we should have done when werecats went public to humanity. Sure, you might be the only one they know about, at least here in the United States, but we should have talked. Our family has been… off its game, as people say these days. He’s right, you know. There are a lot of things about our father I don’t like right now, but he is right about one thing. If you don’t start talking to the other werecats, they’re never going to trust you. They don’t know what you’re doing or planning. You just do things, and everyone is left picking up the pieces. How are they supposed to know what’s going on or that you’re helping them?”

“They could have always called and asked,” I countered.

“Could they?” Zuri snapped as if my statement was offensive. “You had a werewolf Alpha in your territory. Now you have an Alpha and apack. They don’t know you. They certainly don’t know Heath.Youare opening up to the werewolves. Everyone else is reasonably cautious.”

“I’ve been Hasan’s regional… rep or whatever for years, Zuri. If they needed anything, they could have called,” I said, but it fell flat to my own ears. I knew what I had done. I had taken the role in name but never did anything with it for the werecats. I never went to meet them, didn’t try to join the werecat gossip circle. I had built my defensive walls to protect my relationship with Heath. When the humans exposed us, I made the deals, told the family, killed Price… then left the rest to my family, making sure werecats around the world understood that only I was exposed, and I would be the first of the official faces for werecats to the human public.

“I see those gears turning,” Zuri said.

“I was thinking about how I left all of you to talk to the werecats after the BSA discovered me.”

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