Page 69 of License to Kill

The bruises, which mottled me far too much for my comfort, had already started to ache and turned black and blue. When Jake returned with clothes, I refused to unwrap from the biggest towel we owned.

“It’s not that bad, Karma.”

“I’m black and blue,” I wailed.

“And tomorrow you’ll be green and yellow, and they’ll be gone by Wednesday at the absolute latest. You may not heal Fenerec fast, but you’ll be back to a perfect porcelain doll within a week. Normal humans wouldn’t show most of their bruises until tomorrow. We’ll tell everyone we had an accident, and to make sure we match, I’ll get the pack to beat me black and blue, too. You can help.”

I frowned. “I’m pretty sure I don’t want to beat you black and blue.”

“That’s promising.” Jake set my clothes on the vanity and peeled me out of the towel while I attempted to keep my hold on it. “You’re going to eat dinner, and then you’re going to bed. There’s no way I should have been able to take that from you that easily.”

“Don’t be an asshole,” I whispered, biting my lip.

He kissed my forehead. “I just don’t want you to get sick again. Let me take care of you for a while. I’ll bring in the pack’s doctor tomorrow, she’ll have a look over you, and we’ll figure out how best to approach your work for the near future, okay? No one here is going to hurt you. They just want to say hello.”

It took me several long minutes to swallow down the lump in my throat, and even then, I nodded my agreement, unwilling to trust my voice.

Our house was too small for thirty-five people, most of whom were involved in law enforcement in some capacity. Our driveway looked like a cop car convention with several FBI SUVs parked on the grass. Jake didn’t even need to ask for a beating; the visiting Fenerec took one look at me and my mottling of bruises and swarmed him.

Mason doubled over and howled his laughter while I retreated to the kitchen.

“It’s okay, Karma. You don’t have to hide in there. They’re only going to beat him a little bit,” the submissive wolf murmured, following me as far as the threshold separating the kitchen from the dining room. “We sent a spy upstairs to listen in, and we heard Jake’s idea. As we agreed with it, we’re helping.”

Jake yelped in the other room.

“Violently helping,” Mason added with a smile.

“Is there a reason you’re violently helping?”

“You’re joking, right? This is the one time we’ll ever get to beat the little snot without consequence. I’m sure our Alphas will thank us when we’re finished.”

“Little?” I peeked in the pantry, discovered it was devoid of anything edible, which left plenty of room on the lowest shelf for me to squeeze into. “Do me a favor?”

“What?”

“I’m not here.” I crawled inside the pantry and eased the door closed so the sound wouldn’t betray my presence.

“I read that foxes liked to den in enclosed spaces, but that’s ridiculous. They’re not actually beating your mate. They’re romping. Playing. Adding someone new to the pack is a bit like a good caffeine buzz; it makes us all a bit energetic and playful. Normally, we’d go on a pack hunt, but you look scrawny enough you’d last maybe ten minutes, and you’re not small enough to carry around by the nape of your neck anymore.”

Some of the Fenerec had done just that after I had returned to the United States. “If they kill him, there’s a good spot out back for hiding the body. I can show it to you.”

“Still mad at him, huh?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s a lot better than I expected, truth be told. Don’t be too hard on him. Our species can be unforgivable idiots of the worst sort, and we really should have known better. We have a puppy phase, too, and it’s often a hormonal battlefield. We treated you like we would a stabilized adult of our species, according to our customs and our instincts, not realizing you were just a puppy. We even knew it had been your first shift, so we should have known better. I’m sorry—everyone is. We’re not just idiots, we’re ignorant asses. Being frank, what we did to you was inexcusable. We never would have done it to a Fenerec puppy. We never should have done it to you.”

If I had been a better, more polite person, I would have brushed it off. Tears burned my eyes. “I just don’t understand why.”

Mason cracked open the pantry door and sat on the floor. “We were stupid. I wish we had some mind-blowing and good excuse, but we don’t. Not only did we hurt you, we hurt Jake, too. You’ll find out soon enough, but when a member of the pack is truly distressed, it affects us all. You two fighting was bad enough, but when you were gone? It was so much worse. We made a lot of mistakes. We can’t change what happened, but we can change. It won’t happen again. Our Alphas might end up cranky at Jake for going behind their backs, but it’s a problem he’s relieved to have.”

“How do you know?”

Mason tapped his temple. “The pack bonds. When he’s not pretending he’s bulletproof, Jake’s actually pretty sensitive. He’s been stressed enough he hasn’t been buffering the rest of us from his emotions. I don’t think he realizes it, since all of his attention has been focused on you. Usually, the Alphas buffer us from him when he forgets, but since intense relief doesn’t actually hurt anyone, I think they’re leaving it be. I expect they’ll remind him to pay closer attention once he’s had a chance to settle down.”

Not sure of what to think about that, I closed the pantry door again. “I’m not here,” I hissed.

“I’ll bring you a plate of food before the scavengers eat it all—or remember you’re here. It’d be more comfortable if you came out of there, though.”