Page 8 of War Games

“Plus, someone needs to take his laundry home when it’s done,” I added, swallowing at my fiancé’s anger. Heath’s eyes fell on me. “Or he can pick them up tomorrow when he comes for training,” I quickly said, shrugging.

“Either works for me,” Heath said simply, and the tension released everyone in the room. He leaned back on the couch and seemed to get comfortable. I didn’t lean back on him, but I relaxed, trying to recover from the hurt Landon just gave me and the aftermath of it.

“Let’s move on,” Niko said softly. “I was asking Jacky earlier about your plans in the future for you and your pack and the fight we’re getting into with the witches.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Heath stretched his legs out this time. “Let’s get one thing settled before we get into that. Dirk, you have to know when to speak up with Landon. I know you’re capable of it. You share a mate bond with him, so you can feel certain things through that. You have a much better chance to bring him down from the ledge of being stupid than anyone else, even better than I do now as his father and Alpha.”

“It just happened so fast, Heath.” Dirk rubbed his chest like he was trying to force his muscles into relaxing. “I didn’t think he’d get like that from training with my father. Now that I know, I’ll talk to him tonight when I get home. I didn’t appreciate it any more than anyone else here. I’m a grown man who can decide things for myself.”

“Good. The werewolf side of things also complicated things, I’m sure,” Heath said gently. “He’s the second most dominant wolf in the pack, and no one challenges him, not even me most days. We’ll talk more about it after dinner before I send you home.”

“Of course, sir,” Dirk said with a nod, looking at Heath with an immeasurable amount of respect.

“Now, we can get to what you want to hear, Niko.” Heath crossed his legs, an ankle on his knee, the picture of relaxation and ownership over the space. I wasn’t sure I was still needed for this next conversation, so I waved Dirk to come with me as I stood.

“Can you stay?” Heath asked me before I got farther. “He might want your input on how you feel about this.”

“I think I’m going to make a few sandwiches and potato salad for lunch. I can hear you from the kitchen.” I smiled. “Unless you don’t want lunch. Because I don’t have to make you lunch. I can just make my own.”

“Trust a werecat to remind me that I’m not fully in charge,” he said with a chuckle.

“Exactly.” I leaned to kiss him before I went to the kitchen, Dirk following me. I put him to work to get his hands busy and his mind in the present, so he could fret and worry about Landon later. I wasn’t a werewolf, but I was getting very good at handling them at certain moments. Werecats were toxically independent, so there had been months and months of adjustment, but I found simple ways to show them acceptance and love. Giving them something to do to help me was an easy one.

“I plan on the pack being the permanent guard of Jacky’s territory,” Heath started. “Before you question the need for that, I’ll give you some history behind my choice.”

“I look forward to hearing this, because a lot of werecats will see it as a sign of weakness for Jacky. So long as she handled her own problems, they were able to ignore the werewolves.”

I knew Niko would think that much like anyone else in his position would, which meant pretty much my entire family. It was something Heath and I had discussed at length. When he and I were finally ready to act on it, Heath made sure everyone in the pack was okay with it.

He didn’t have to press the pack at all about it. Considering how they became the werewolf pack they were, it was only natural for them to help now like this.

“Jacky and I were the ones who were driven into action against the Dallas werewolf pack and the witches who tried to take control. Those witches discovered the potion or whatever it is to hide the scent of magic from our noses.”

“Subira and Zuri have been working on that again, not that we have a recipe. I think we’ll get an update on it tomorrow,” Niko said softly. “Sorry, continue.”

“Even before that, it was Jacky and I who ruined their first plans with the coup in Dallas as I was trying to step down. We’re the ones who took it to the Tribunal, which put it on the map for everyone. Then in Alaska, Jacky gets the attention of a powerful witch, or warlock since it was a man. I think she’s going to be an easy target for any witches who want to retaliate against our new movement to shut down their attempts to control us. She’s the youngest of your family. She’s vulnerable due to her activities in the supernatural world, making her a known figure that can cause some trouble.” Heath took a deep breath.

“And then there’s the fact that some werecats who dislike your family taking the current turmoil as a chance to lash out and try to send a message about the ruling family they might despise. We’ve seen it happen once before, and current events could give another the idea that they can try.”

There was silence as I finished pulling out everything from the fridge. Dirk was the one making the potato salad because I knew he didn’t know how. It required him to read the recipe and pay attention, making it even harder for him to think about Landon and what happened in my living room.

“I agreed with him, Niko,” I called out softly for both of them to hear in the living room. “It might do something to my reputation, but it’s better than getting killed or taken bysomeone finding me without a guard. The pack was already guarding the house and territory for other types of threats… other werewolves, fae, and the like. They’re just taking it over entirely. If a werecat comes to challenge me for the territory, I’ll still fight, but if I go down, the werewolves will protect their home as well. This place can’t be taken from all of us.” I chuckled. “And if they cheat by bringing friends like the last time, then I get to have my friends, too.”

“Fair enough.” Niko kept his tone conversational. “I feel it’s not the only reason for you, though.”

Not Heath, I realized. Me.

“Unity. We’re dealing with people who want to capture and control Moon Cursed. Werewolves and werecats have to work together because we’re more vulnerable without the skills and magic of both species. Heath and I can prove how we can do that,” I explained. “Witches may be less likely to try more attacks like what happened in Dallas if we show them that our people are working in tandem. The Tribunal is one example. Heath and I will be another.”

“Enough said, then. I need to think about this. I’m living close by, so whatever comes from this decision you two made will also splash onto me. I might have some ways to mitigate and lessen the problem with enough time to think about it.”

“We’ll consider your suggestions when you have any. I’m telling the rest of our family tomorrow.” I kept working on the sandwiches, not worried about this. It wasn’t like any of them could stop me. We had enough on our plates without in-fighting over what my werewolves were going to be doing. “You could just support it. Plus, your son is a werewolf in Heath’s pack, so it’s not like you can outright avoid this. Everyone knows they can’t ask you to disown Dirk, and he’s a werewolf.”

“I never said I didn’t support it,” Niko said quickly.

“Why don’t we have lunch and let Niko have the time he needs to think?” Heath said, ending the conversation effectively with a subtle jab at Niko that made Niko chuckle.

I brought the lunch, engaging in the mild conversation while tracking a wolf who was running like his life depended on it in the back of my mind.

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