Page 74 of Bitter Discord

“When someone does something outside of convention, it’s good to learn the person inside and out. Understanding someone’s history helps reveal their motives. That bit stood out to me.” Marnar looked at Landon and started to say something.

“I never met her,” Landon said quickly. “I was born in ’63, and she died when I was very young.”

“If you would like to know our motivations right now, all you need to do is ask.” Heath smoothly took over the conversation as Landon stepped back. “We don’t have any ulterior ones. We’re hoping to get back our pack mate and prove his innocence to everyone here, so he’ll live to see his eighteenth birthday. We would also like to see the killer captured, both for the murder and for kidnapping one of our werewolves. Any reason you found the Civil War part of my life interesting? Many werewolves fought for the Union since packs participated in the practice, something we wanted to stomp out.”

“I also fought in the Civil War. Secretively, of course.” She started walking away. “We were on the same side without knowing it. I was only curious, though. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. It was a long time ago. Did you lose anyone?” Heath asked, and I heard that politeness he turned on when he was on a work call.

“No. I had no one to lose.”

The conversation was over as abruptly as it had begun. We waited for the remaining few, Lonan dragging in his ass last. He snarled at Heath and Landon, but neither of my werewolves reacted to it.

“Now that everyone is here…” Zuri looked at me.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself, then presented the plan.

“We have the agreement of the Everson werewolf pack and the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs to set a trap for the killer. With the help of both these parties, we have a reasonable belief we can capture the killer, be it our teenage werewolf or not, the next time they try to strike. However, we also need your help.”

“I don’t like when the ruling family says they need my help,” Roland said, getting a few of the other werecats to laugh. Marcia was rubbing her temples, while Chao leaned in, his sharp gaze making me believe he was intrigued by what I had to say. Others were mostly curious, like Everett. Coyotl had no change in expression. He was one of two who I saw no change in, the other being the very relaxed Andon.

“You’ll be the bait,” I continued. “Ifyou make the choice to help us. We will not force anyone here to take part. However, if you decide it’s not for you, we will require you to remain in the mansion until this is over. Those who agree, there are some things you should know. You’ll be monitored from a distance by the BSA. They will know who you are and what you are. The monitoring will be done electronically through wires, mics, and potentially, video feed. They’ll track you no matter where you go as long as this investigation is active, and I can’t promise they won’t reach out after getting to know you better. If you agree and they cause you problems later, call me. I’ll cause them some and see if a new agreement can be reached.”

“What kind of problems can one werecat give them?”

“Jacky is adept at giving them enough grief to keep their mouths shut,” Heath said from behind me. “They tend to give her whatever she wants because she plays hardball with them.”

“Remember the time she threatened to send back their bloody badges?” Landon asked his father.

“You weren’t in the room for that,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the pair.

“I was sitting silently beside my mate… I heard all of it. It was great.” Landon grinned.

“I remember.” Heath smiled, looking at me, not Landon.

“Yeah, they’re lucky she likes Agent Kirk.” Landon’s grin was predatory. “Don’t any of you worry. I’ve been watching werewolves try to do the things Jacky can with the BSA for decades, and no one has ever played ball as hard as she has.”

I shook my head, not able to keep a small smile off my face when I turned back to the room.

“I do what I have to,” was all I could say.

“You do what the family needs,” Zuri corrected. “Now, back on topic.”

“Yeah. So, if you’re willing to play bait, knowing the risks, please stand up. We don’t have time to deliberate, though. If this lasts multiple days, you can join or drop out at any time.”

“Why lock us up if we don’t join?”

“So you’re out of the way,” Andon answered Hannah for me. “It’s pretty obvious.”

“That’s… one way to put it,” I said, nodding to Andon, a silent thank you. “We don’t want potential victims running around who might get hurt without backup. Now, you could still get hurt with the BSA’s monitoring. That’s a risk, but without their monitoring, you could be killed. We would have learned nothing, and it would be a needless loss of life.”

“We’ll give you some time to consider it,” Zuri added. “You can ask us more questions and even talk to Alpha Everson about the pack’s role in this.”

“Whatisthe pack’s role in this?” Chao asked curiously.

“If one of you is attacked, the BSA will tell two werewolves who are on standby with them. They’ll also contact us… me, Zuri, Heath, and Landon. We’ll have the rest of the pack on standby. We’ll be the assault force that helps you.”

“What if the killer never attacks again?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “What if they got one kill, and that’s it?”

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