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“How’s Anna?” I asked.
“In rough shape and refusing to talk. I figure your presence in her home might loosen her lips.” He pulled open the door, widening the gap. “Come on in.”
I felt a twinge of guilt as I crossed the threshold, knowing Anna would be furious. But something wasn’t adding up and it seemed important to get to the bottom of it before anyone else landed in jail, or worse.
I noticed a Bigfoot clock on the kitchen wall as I passed by on the way to the bedroom.
Anna lay sprawled across the bed on her stomach. Her appearance matched Vaughn’s description. Her face sported a gash on her cheek and a nasty bruise under her eye. Considering it was more than eight hours later and she hadn’t fully healed, her injuries must’ve been extensive. Yet Anna had chosen to suffer alone and in silence.
“Hi, Anna,” I said. “Can you tell us what happened last night at Monk’s?”
She sneered. “What’s the matter? Afraid you’ll have to find a new dive bar to frequent?”
Kane glanced at me. “How often do you go to Monk’s?”
I shrugged. “Your club is nice, but I’m not always in the mood for nice.”
His lip curved slightly at the ends. “I see. I’ll tuck that information away for future reference.”
“I don’t get why these two give a shit what happened to me,” Anna said. Despite her harsh tone, her voice was surprisingly weak.
“Tell us what happened,” West insisted, although I noticed his expression soften at the request. He knew she was hurting, and he didn’t want to make it worse.
Anna made a point of swinging her legs off the side of the bed and switching to a seated position. Her pained grimace didn’t escape my notice.
“I got into a fight. Nothing new there.”
“This was no ordinary bar brawl,” Kane pointed out. “You were attacked by two werewolves. And how bad must it have been that your wounds haven’t healed?”
West’s head snapped to attention. “You didn’t tell me they were wolves. Which ones?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Anna muttered. “What’s done is done. I’ll heal eventually.”
West stared at her intently. “Why are you protecting them?”
Her face radiated anger. “I’m not protecting anybody. This isn’t a cause for concern. It was a heated moment and now it’s over.”
“One of my assassins ended up in jail trying to protect you,” Kane said.
“That’s on him,” Anna shot back. “I didn’t ask for help.” A low growl escaped her. “I’d never ask for help from the guild.”
Forget the Assassins Guild. She’d never ask for help from anyone outside the pack. Anna was more insular and stubborn than West when it came to pack politics.
I nudged Kane’s arm. “We should go. Vaughn is fine, and Anna clearly doesn’t want to involve us.”
“I appreciate your concern,” West said, in an effort to diffuse the tension. “Thanks for coming.”
“No problem.” I walked to the door and Kane reluctantly followed.
“She was hiding something,” Kane said, once we were out of earshot.
“I’m sure she was, but there was no chance of her confiding in us. Her vault was locked up tight.” Which I appreciated, given that she’d been served a taste of what I was capable of. My first night at Monk’s, Anna had caused trouble. Sometimes weaker wolves cowered in my presence for reasons they didn’t understand. Anna wasn’t one of them. I’d slipped into her mind and triggered her worst nightmare in order to subdue her.
“Vaughn could’ve been killed by those wolves. He was lucky the cop scared them off.”
“Anna probably doesn’t want to get her friends in trouble with the alpha. Maybe they were drunk,” I speculated.
Kane unlocked the car. “Werewolves or not, anyone who would pummel her like that isn’t her friend.”
