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“But it is curious how close she is to her heat without a mate mark…”
This time, growls tore from three throats as Heath and Flint also stalked toward me.
“Ah, so that’s why you’re not up for your normal jobs,” Tony said. “That’s too bad.”
“Tony’s right,” the tall Fae woman agreed. “You’re no good to us with her in tow. Not for the job we had in mind.”
My shoulders slumped, and Flint wrapped an arm around me, pulling me against him.
“I guess we’ll catch up with you another time,” Tony passed us and walked with Cody outside.
The fae woman gave me a curious look as she passed. But she said nothing, trailing the other two. They went down the stairs off to one side, then I caught sight of the three of them walking back toward the center of town.
The tension in the warehouse was so thick I could’ve cut it with my knife, which I resheathed now that they were gone.
“I’m sorry,” I said, tucking my chin. “I feel like such an asshole, ruining things for you again.”
Seeking an ally, I turned to Flint, who assured me, “You didn’t ruin anything, moonbeam. But we want to keep you safe. You shouldn’t have come.”
My spirits fell, but I dared a glance up at Gage. It was almost reassuring to see the stormy expression had replaced his neutral mask.
“Where’s the handgun I gave you?”
I turned and pointed to it in the back of my pants. “Cody got the drop on me outside. I was too slow to aim at him in time.”
“You shouldn’t have followed us,” Gage growled. “Now, more people know about you. And Cody has your scent.”
“They won’t do anything stupid to risk future jobs.” Heath’s eyes darted outside like he wanted to make sure they didn’t come back. “Cody knows better than to mess with what’s ours.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I… wanted to know more about the types of jobs you take. So that maybe I can help somehow.”
“That’s not how this works,” Gage snapped.
“Gage,” Heath reached out a hand toward his pack alpha. “We really couldn’t have taken that job right now, if it’s what I think it was.”
Even though he was defending me, my shoulders slumped. “Because of me.”
Gage paced back and forth. “Because we left behind all our vehicles and weapons and supplies.”
“Because of me. Because I had to lead Ironwood away from the Moonblessed packlands, and you followed me.”
Gage stalked over to me, and I backed up until my shoulder met a shelving unit. His hands came up on either side of my head, pinning me in without touching me. A growl tore from his throat as his eyes burned into mine.
“Because you’re ours and we won’t let you walk into danger alone.”
This version of Gage confused me. His reaction made me feel like I was following an unmarked path, with twists and turns I hadn’t anticipated when I started this way.
So I raised my chin and met Gage’s intense sky-blue gaze. “Did you guys really help out those refugees?”
He blinked. “What?”
“Dawn Chaser?”
Gage exhaled and let his arms drop. “We did, for all the good it did.”
“What do you mean?”
“Denraider conquered their packlands,” Flint explained. “We helped the refugees, but even still, they didn’t have the resources to go far. The pack they agreed to join… said they would take them all in.” His mouth twisted. “But made them little better than slaves, naming them all omegas and killing the few alphas left among them.”
