“I’ll take him home and keep him in line until the king is ready to see him.”
“Not a chance.” He wrote something down on a black sheet of paper. “Be here if you want to see him again.”
The man turned to me. “Hold out your hands. If you fight this your entire pack will become enemies of The Society.”
We already were, but I kept that to myself. What would happen if they got Mary Anne? I couldn’t let anything else happen to her.
“We’ll take care of this. Stay calm, Gage.” Denny watched as I was led away.
I’d been right. This was the kind of trouble I might never come back from.
Chapter Twenty-two
Hunter
The tension didn’t get any better as we sat in the truck on the way back home. Mary Anne stared out the window, and I didn’t try to get her attention. I needed time to cool down first. My Dire side was angry, and I was biding my time before I could transform.
The vibration of my phone ringing in my pocket came as a relief a few miles from the homestead. I glanced at the screen before putting it to my ear. “Denny?”
“Yeah, it’s me. We have a problem.”
“What kind of problem? Where are you?”
“I’m seven miles out from the homestead. I’m on my way back from the Bayou Bar.”
“Out with it Denny. What the hell is going on?”
“Gage transformed in a bar full of humans, and he’s in Society custody right now.”
“Don’t say another word.” I slowed down and pulled off onto the shoulder. “Find me. I’m a few miles ahead of you.”
“Got it.”
I didn’t need to say anything else. You never could be sure who was listening to your phone conversations.
“What’s going on?” Mary Anne asked after I pocketed my phone. “Is everything okay?”
“No. It’s not.” Normally I wouldn’t have been that short with her, but I was at my wit’s end.
Thankfully Denny pulled up behind us a few minutes later. “Stay here,” I instructed Mary Anne.
“Not a chance.” She jumped out. I could have stopped her, but that would have made her angrier. I was too stressed to deal with the argument so I let her follow me over to where Denny now waited.
I didn’t wait a second more than necessary. “Tell me what happened. I want all the details.”
Mary Anne stood stock still as Denny related the events of the evening. That is until he got to the part about Gage being taken into custody.
“What do you mean The Society has him?” Mary Anne shivered. The night was cool, but I knew her body’s response had nothing to do with the cold. “How is that possible?”
“He messed up.” Denny didn’t mince any words. “Luckily the Pteron who took him thought Gage was a Were.” He held out the black piece of paper I knew was a summons. How could Gage have made such a monumental mistake? Transforming in a room full of humans and nearly killing some? New Dire or not, his behavior was unacceptable and had put the entire pack at risk.
The only saving grace was that they believed he was a Were. “If they think he’s a Were, they’ll let him off with a minor punishment. I guess that’s the good part about The Society arriving so fast. They hopefully had time to let a witch clear the memory from all the witnesses before any police interrogations.”
“You really think it’s going to be minor?” Denny looked between Mary Anne and me. “Isn’t that optimistic?”
“What cover story did you feed them? What excuse?”
“I told them the guys were talking about having sex with his mate. I figured that was the most forgivable reason.”
“And where are we going to find this mate? They’ll require her appearance at the trial.” I already knew which way Denny was going. He’d thought quick and done the right thing, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
Denny nodded toward Mary Anne. “She can pull it off.”
“Fuck.” I let the curse word escape from my lips.
If Mary Anne was surprised by the coarse language she didn’t show it. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to get him out.”
“I’m only doing this so they don’t discover he’s a Dire.” I’d saved Gage once, that didn’t mean I was going to make a pattern of it. Considering he was starring in Mary Anne’s sexual fantasies, I wouldn’t have minded having him out of the picture.
“I don’t care about your reasons. I’m glad you’re doing it.”
“After this you’re becoming my mate. I’m done waiting.” I knew what I sounded like, but I didn’t care. She hadn’t said a word to me since dinner, and the only thing she seemed to care about was helping Gage. Meeting Mary Anne was supposed to help me end the hunt—not get us caught before we had a plan.