Gunshots echoed through the docks. Everyone ducked, and Billy started swearing as his claws came out. My ears rang, despite the silencer. “Fuck, Savannah!” I growled.
“She’s a fucking lunatic, just like her cousin!” Billy shouted, his eyes burning bright like golden flames.
“I’m tired of your pack giving me grief. I’m not a liability. I can shoot, I can run, and I can scry, so screw anyone who has a problem with that.” She gestured to a sign hanging at the edge of the water.
There were now three holes in the O in Dockside.
A siren sounded in the distance.
Gods damn it.
“Regina, call off the cops. Savannah, put the safety on and don’t shoot Billy. Everybody else, get in line.”
Billy stalked off to get control of his wolf. He was more enraged than I’d seen him in years. When he looked back, his voice was low and harsh. “You’re on your own for this one, Jax. I’m not running with a LaSalle. Not one who’s armed with wolf-killing bullets.”
My neck hair bristled, and my claws slowly inched out. I’d deal with him later, but for now, his absence was probably for the best. “Fine. Stay. As you say, someone needs to watch the docks.” I glared at the others assembled. “Anyone else have a problem?”
No one met my gaze.
33
Savannah
Jaxson’s truck roared along highway 42.
It’d been nearly five hours since we’d left Chicago. I’d packed my backpack with an extra set of clothes and a toothbrush—that, and a Glock.
Shit was getting serious.
Five days ago, I was worried about how I was going to pay for car repairs. Now I was worried about getting gutted by werewolves while I shot demons in the face.
Casey was out, so I’d told Aunt Laurel that I was taking a bus to Belmont to help Alma with some urgent house repairs. I wasn’t sure if she’d bought it, but she hadn’t prodded.
In all likelihood, I should have stayed with the LaSalles while Jaxson did the dirty work. But he’d been pretty insistent on having me at his side, and I sure as hell didn’t want to get left behind. Not when there was a chance for me to beat some answers out of the bitch from Belmont and her werewolf gang.
So now I was about to follow a bunch of unfamiliar shifters into a patch of woods that was going to be inevitably haunted by werewolves, demons, and a psycho sorcerer.
My life had changed a bit over the last week.
We’d passed a long, awkwardly quiet drive after everything that had gone down at the docks. Sam was in the front next to Jaxson. They were probably having weird wolf-scent-only conversations, because they sure hadn’t been chatty with me. In Sam’s defense, she’d offered me the front, but at the time, I’d figured that Jaxson and I could use all the space we could get.
Not that being a foot behind him was any different than being a foot beside him, but it somehow felt less close. I hadn’t counted on him being able to watch me in the rearview mirror, though. He just couldn’t seem to take his eyes off me—though I wasn’t behaving any better in that department. It was frankly embarrassing to keep looking up and catching his eyes.
Thankfully, I’d passed out for two hours, missing the most boring part of the trip out of the city and suburbs. I was once again grateful for my mom’s sleep-anywhere-anytime genes.
Adjusting my position in the back seat, I glanced at Jaxson in the rearview mirror. “What’s the plan?”
“We’ll meet with a few of our other pack members shortly, then head north to the cabin,” he said.
“You have pack members living in Wisconsin? Does your territory extend all the way up here?”
Sam turned and shot me a suspicious look before staring at Jaxson. Could they speak telepathically? It sure seemed like they were exchanging thoughts. Creepy scent-speak, for sure.
“There are a number of other packs up here, but we have an inholding near their territory. Our pack is the largest in the Midwest, and Magic Side doesn’t have nearly enough land for us, so some of our people come up here to run and get away,” Jaxson explained.
“Is that why you were in Belmont when I was attacked? Wait a sec.” I leaned forward and looked between them. “Is Belmont pack territory?”
“No,” he said flatly.