“No,” I said. “I don’t think this is what any of us had hoped for—certainly not me.”
“With that said, I believe this is not the time to lament fate,” my father stated firmly. “In order to move forward, we need to arm ourselves with as much information as we can gather. I agree with Devon. This is only a version of the real Prophecy. I want more answers as soon as possible.” He turned to Devon. “When I return, I want a full report, even if you have to travel to the Old Country to obtain the information you need.” We had an ancestral estate in Scotland. It was an old, beautiful castle filled with antiques and a library as big as a football field. “Cross-check with every entry you can find about Y Gwir Lycae. There should be a fair amount of texts to draw from. When you’re done, I want a cohesive outline of what we are looking at here.”
Devon nodded once. “Yes, sir.”
I sighed, rubbing my temples. “I’m not sure what to believe. The reasoning that these old tales were actually about a female is thin. I don’t have to remind you now is not a good time to find out I’m some reincarnate of an all-powerful she-wolf who is supposed to dole out justice to the supernatural world.” Was there a good time to hear something like that? “Among other things, I have an angry police detective tied up in the other room I might actually have to kill.” I slid my fingertips to the bridge of my nose and shook my head. “This is all so insane.”
I was more rattled hearing this news than I cared to admit. During my first few days as the only full-blooded female werewolf in the world I’d been ruthlessly attacked in my own home, turned on by my own kind, bound by a goddess who had stolen my mate—who was a werecat of unknown origin—and taken prisoner by a cranky Vampire Queen—whom I’d sworn an oath to that could get me killed. If this so-called Prophecy was true, it was going to stir up a maelstrom once it spread through the preternatural grapevine—if it hadn’t already. Who knew who already possessed this information? We could’ve been the last to receive it on purpose. It didn’t bode well that the stinky imp this morning had hinted about it. And if that little asshole knew, there was a chance they all knew.
“Jessica,” my father said as he stood. “We will handle this. It’s not ideal, but we will persevere as we always have. We are wolves. And wolves fight. We will win.”
“I’m leaving town in less than five hours.” I glanced at my wrist, even though I hadn’t worn a watch in years. I gazed across the room and met my father’s eyes, my blood jumping with his anxiety, mixed with a hefty dose of my own. “I can’t even begin to process everything this quickly. I’m going to need more time.”
“Well,” Devon interrupted, “there may be an upside to all this after all.” He swiped a bead of sweat off his brow. “It’s much better than finding out the Cain Myth is true. At least with you being the True Lycan, we know you’re not the real Daughter of Cain. I mean, right there, that should calm down some of the wolves, don’t you think?” He raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Right?”
I shot him a dangerous glare. Devon wasn’t a wolf. He was a human Essential to the Pack, brought in for his technical savvy. He was a nice guy and completely loyal to Pack, but I wasn’t interested. “Yes,” I answered. “Because my new job of vanquishing all evil is much easier to swallow. The demons already seem incredibly fond of me, and the Vamp Queen can’t wait to get me back in her clutches. My life is bound to improve now that my righteous hand is cocked and ready to kill anyone up to no good, which pretty much describes just about everyone in the entire supernatural race.”
2
“Devon,” my father ordered. “Leave us now.”
Devon jumped out of his seat, grabbing his computer and knocking over an empty coffee cup in his haste. The clatter mimicked how my brain felt inside. My wolf gave a low growl. I know. This is a lot and we need to get moving. She yipped her agreement.
When the door shut behind him I let out the long sigh I’d been holding where I stood. “When did you suspect I was different?” I asked my father quietly. “Once I changed, you had to have had some idea I was not like the others.”
My father turned and walked around the table to a bank of high windows that ran across the conference room wall. He raked one of his hands through his dark hair, his arm flexing tightly, straining his blue work shirt taut, staring straight ahead. “I didn’t know for sure until the night you fought the rogue. Before then I only suspected.”