Diego nodded. They both knew they were referring to the last incident between a human and a feral wolf not long after the Diablo opened. It had resulted in three human bodies and an overzealous sheriff hell bent on running them off.
“We’re still going to lay low on this. We’ve got to keep the peace with the local law enforcement. The last thing we need are feds crawling up our ass.”
“Why would the feds be interested in this? As far as they’re concerned this is a sleepy, quiet island. Nothing ever happens out here.”
Diego nodded his agreement. “Nothing happens until it does and then it blows up in our faces. Literally. What happens next depends on two things. How we respond and how the hunters react. Brody killed one of their men and they killed two of ours. Is this now to become a sick game of one upmanship? How many rounds of that before our quiet existence becomes something else?”
Creed kicked his boot into a half burned beam, sending ash flying into the air. “We can’t do nothing. We’re just lucky more people weren’t killed.”
“How is she by the way?”
“Pissed off at me as usual.”
Diego chuckled. “Pissed off is better than silence. Anger is passion. You just need to channel it into something more productive.”
Creed scoffed, shoving his hands into his jeans. “Right. Cause that’ll be a piece of cake. She wants to go home to a crap apartment in a shitty part of town.”
“I assume that’s not happening. It’s not safe for her.”
“Damn right it’s not happening. Woman is just going to have to deal with my protection. The child she is carrying is far more important than her ‘feelings’.”
Diego clapped Creed on the back. “Trying to force her to do what you want is rarely the best option. If I know Dani, she’ll find a way to get around you. Better to explain it all to her. She’s smart and I think her mother’s instinct to protect will prevail.”
Creed nodded while gritting his teeth. He shouldn’t have to rehash why she’d be safer with him ad nauseum. They both knew. She simply chose to ignore it over and over and over.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” he questioned. “You had to know.”
“Yes, but we tried to respect her privacy and yours. She kept it a secret from all of us and we chose to pretend we didn’t know. For the time being anyway. Mating with a human is a tricky thing. Hell, mating period is complicated. We figured the two of you needed your chance to find your own way. The pack may be nosy as hell, but we'd rather not interfere if we don't have to."
Creed wasn't sure how he felt about that. The pack didn't need to be involved in everyone's business, but withholding Dani's pregnancy didn't feel right. "Sawyer know too?" he asked already knowing the answer before Diego nodded.
Sawyer did not avoid coming to the Diablo and it would have taken him seconds to scent the baby. He shuddered. Not that he wanted Sawyer or any other man sniffing his woman. He had a hard enough time picturing her on stage being watched by others. Fortunately his pack mates knew who she belonged to and it was only the human men who wandered in here who paid her much attention.
"We've got your back, brother. Don't worry about that. You just gotta get straight with Dani now. Whatever's got her running scared needs to be dealt with. I don't like thinking that one of our best employees has a real issue with us because we're different."
"Ex-employee. Club or no club, Dani's done stripping."
Diego nodded. "We all figured that. Knew once you found out about the kid you'd do right by her."
Something about the way Diego said all that stuck in his craw. He didn't like the tone.
"It wasn't me who pushed her away. She said the shifter thing freaked her out and I backed off to see if she'd come around. Instead she wanted nothing to do with me. It was her choice to shut me out and her choice to spend all her time stripping instead of telling me the truth."
Diego didn't respond and Creed knew why. Because what he said was the truth. Despite the fated mate aspect of their procreation cycles, they were still very human. And humans had a choice. They were able to say yes or no and the ones around them had to respect that. No matter how much it hurt.
"I think you and Dani have a second chance here," Diego replied. "She kept a pretty important secret, but she did it because she needed time. We all knew the truth was on its way out. She just needed some time."
Creed's jaw got hard at Diego's repetition. He should have known from the start. "Time's up now. Little Dani is going to have to deal with me whether she likes it or not."
"I know you've got to be angry. It's natural. If Allison kept a secret like that from me I'd want to tan her hide and then some. But there's a time for being pissed and a time for understanding. I think you've got to make a choice which one you want to be."