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Jesse could understand that, but he also understood Nick’s reasoning In the past, people had attacked their pack by distracting the strongestthe pack to conquer it

"You, Eli, and Zander will coht be reluctant to leave your iven that your protective instincts will be hypersensitive right now, but you have to trust that she’ll be safe here"

Jesse was in fact reluctant to leave Harley, especially when she wasn’t fully comfortable with his pack mates, but he was sure that the females would have her back Not that Harley needed their protection; she could take care of herself just fine Scratching the underside of the ay’s chin, he asked, "Have your contacts found out anything about Hector?"

"A little His hue of fifteen--his uncle had been the brother of Hector’s human mother"

"His parents died?"

"No His parents, Adriane and Thad, were the Alpha pair of Hector’s pack Then one day they stepped down Soon after, the three of them left the pack and became loners But then Hector went to live with his aunt and uncle, which was considered unusual because Thad and Adriane weren’t neglectful parents"

Jesse frowned, unsure what to make of all that The cat cli herself around his neck

"I have people working on tracking his parents If there’s anything worth knowing about Hector, they’ll have that inforainst Hector?"

"They will Two allegedly good parents don’t give up their child without reason If they had no proble what they know in exchange for erous, after all"

He was right Being a shifter without a pack meant you had no protection; loners were vulnerable to attacks from extremists and other shifters An offer of protection fro to sniff at

"And if that doesn’t work, we bring the we haven’t done before"

No, it wasn’t And it would no doubt work as well as it had in the past

Nick then walked off, and Jesse turned in the direction of his lodge The cat jumped down and then quickly cliility that made her kind so unique She kept pace with hi from tree to tree like an acrobat When they finally arrived and he opened the door wide, sheinside

"Shift back, baby" Bones snapped and popped, and then he had a naked Harley in front of him As she stretched, he snaked his ar her scent pour into hied "Your cat sure kno to shred a ured Eli was ed to bloody hied "He should know better than to act like an asshole toward you" Or to talk smack about her

Jesse pressed a soft kiss to her mouth "I don’t knohat his problem is, but Nick doesn’t seem to think it’s about you"