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She’d forced herself to shake it off, though. She was an optimist by nature. And the fact was, they were much better equipped since they’d been warned. Not knowing the exact moment the enemy would strike was a detriment, for sure, but they knew he was coming soon. And he wouldn’t catch them unprepared.
Jameson said that meant the difference between life and death for them, and she knew it was true. It was like once she’d heard her gift spoken about and expounded on by another, it unlocked what had been hidden to her before. She now sensed everything Jess had felt.
It made her determined to practice with her gift, much like Luke had. She’d always accepted that the things she sensed were the only parts of the threat available to her. But maybe she just needed to work on it. It would help the Enforcers if she could give them more information, so she was going to make it happen.
But something had occurred to Luke—something that held him more frozen than her. She’d been fairly sure it was about more than the threat coming to a head, but when he muttered the stuff about why, she was positive it was.
It was undoubtedly a good thing he seemed to understand what was going on more than he had before. But the way he’d drawn into himself, the way he was so worked up, was worrying her.
Finally moving, she walked into his path. He was so preoccupied that he almost ran right into her before he noticed her and skidded to a stop.
“Luke. Talk to me.”
He brushed a strand of her hair back, his eyes a mix of light blue and gold. “I’m okay. I just started remembering a lot of things about my childhood—stuff I refused to let myself think about before. It threw me a bit, but I promise, I’m okay.”
She searched his eyes, finally nodding as the truth in his voice washed over her. “You can talk to me about that stuff, you know.”
Lips curling, he nodded as he cupped her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. “I know. And one day, I will. But we have more important things to discuss right now.”
Liam finally came into the bar, wiping his hands on a rag. “All right, let’s get on with it. I have a casserole in the oven.”
Noah rolled his eyes at him. “Can you be any more like a chick?”
Damara shoved her shoulder into his side. “I resent that. I think I’m proof there’s a lot more to women than cooking and keeping house.”
“Okay, guys, cut it out,” Blake said with exasperation. “Luke, what’s up?”
Luke glanced at her and nodded, so she figured he wanted her to tell them what Jameson said. As quickly and thoroughly as she could, she explained the phone call and what Jess said about the threat.
Blake whistled low. “She’s even more powerful now than I thought she’d be.”
Damara glanced at him. “Should I call Dmitri home?”
“Yeah. It sounds like we’re going to be outnumbered, so we need all of us here.”
“Jameson insisted on coming and bringing a few of the warriors along, to even the odds. They’ll be here in the morning.”
Tarun’s head whipped toward Luke. “I didn’t realize he was coming.”
Reaching over to grasp her hand, Luke gave it a squeeze before threading their fingers together. “You were pretty out of it for a bit, so I’m not surprised. I protested, but he wants to be here for you. And for the rest of us. Said we’d helped the War Cats and it was their turn to return the favor.”
Blake exhaled, rubbing a hand over his short, dark hair. “Well, that’s something. I’d like to think we can do this on our own, but Jess’s words make it sound too close for comfort.”
“I think I know what this is about now, too,” Luke said quietly. “Tarun was right. It’s personal to me. I just can’t figure out why he’s coming after me now, since it’s been so long.”
Tarun’s fingers tightened reflexively around him. “He? Who is it?”
Luke exhaled, glancing around, his gaze touching on everyone in the room. “When Blake said he questioned the mercenaries but they weren’t physically able to tell him any details, it bothered me. I felt like I knew why—it was on the edge of my mind, but I couldn’t reach it. And then Jameson said this morning that a pride was coming after us. Not shifters—a pride. And it all clicked.”
Luke looked at Noah as he said the last part, and Noah sucked in a breath. “It’s Jerry.”
“Your old pride?” she asked, trying to work it all out in her mind.
Liam spoke up, a scowl on his face. “Who the fuck is Jerry?”
“In lion culture, there is no one alpha. At least, not in most cases. It passes from generation to generation in the same family, but alpha is shared jointly. My dad was the natural born Alpha, but once he mated my mom, she became Alpha, as well. When I was eleven, my dad passed away in a freak accident. My mom did the best she could to carry on, but losing her mate—it crippled her.” Pausing, he glanced over at Tarun, his eyes soft. “I understand that now on a level I didn’t before.
“Less than a year later, she woke me up in the dead of the night. She told me we were under attack, and Noah and I had to leave. He was living with us. I asked for Lara, my sister, and she said the intruder had already killed her. I wanted to stay and fight, but she insisted I leave, and Noah got me out of the house. I looked back as we were leaving, and watched as the intruder stabbed her. She didn’t try to shift or fight. I guess losing her mate and her daughter were too much for her. Noah dragged me away, and we drifted for years, then he joined the Marines. We met up again after he was out, then we met with Blake and joined the Enforcers.”
