Pack Security (Were Chronicles) by Crissy Smith Page A

grass was cool and moist under her feet. She stopped and turned to James. “He’s wrong. Shifters are not monsters. They are not evil.”
    “I know you believe that.”
    “Listen to me!” she said desperately. “The church—”
    “Stop!” James snapped. “Just get to the car.”
    Cassie dropped her hands and turned back around. She almost wept in relief as she saw Alex step into view.
    “Shit,” James muttered. “Just act natural. I’ll take him with us if I have to, but my uncle will not be pleased.”
    The gun was jammed harder into her and she hissed.
    “Hey, sis. Hey, James,” Alex called out.
    Cassie figured her brother couldn’t see the weapon as he walked toward them. She knew as soon as he was close enough, he would pick up on her fear.
    “Hey, Alex!” James waved with his free hand. “We’re just going to run into town real quick.”
    Come closer , Cassie mentally begged her brother.
    “Cool!” Alex hollered back. “Can you stop at the gallery and pick up a box I need?”
    “Uh, sure,” James replied.
    “Good.” Alex started to jog over.
    She felt James stiffen.
    Cassie braced herself for whatever would happen next. Alex wasn’t giving any kind of message that he knew something was wrong. But he had to know. There was no way that her leaving with James, barefoot and in pants and a tank top, would be normal.
    “Drop the gun.”
    Both Cassie and James jumped when Max’s deep voice sounded behind them. Cassie whirled and saw Max had clamped his hand around James’s wrist. She backed up from the two men and almost squealed when she ran into another solid form.
    “It’s okay.” Alex wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
    “Oh, God!” She whimpered and relaxed into his hold.
    “I won’t repeat myself again. Drop the gun.”
    James yelled and released his hold on the weapon, causing it to fall to the ground.
    “You okay?” Max asked, his gaze raking her up and down.
    She nodded.
    “Now…” Max gave his attention back to James. “You and I are going to have a little talk.”
    “Let me go! I wasn’t doing anything!”
    Max gripped James’ shoulder with his free hand. “We have your buddies from the gallery.”
    James paled, but Cassie didn’t have any sympathy for him. There was no telling what would have happened to her if James had delivered her to the church. James might not believe she was a shifter, but if anyone else had suspected, she could have been in real trouble.
    “I just wanted to help her. To help all of you! You don’t know what kind of monsters you’re dealing with!”
    “Monsters?” Max growled.
    “James thinks that the reason my art is so popular is because shifters keep buying my work. That is why the church wanted to stop the show. They don’t want shifters in town,” Cassie told him. She prayed that Max understood the unspoken part of that sentence. If James didn’t think her family were shifters then hopefully they could get by without having to reveal themselves.
    “I see,” Max said. “I think holding an innocent woman at gun point makes someone a monster. Not if someone has the gift to turn into an animal.”
    “You’re wrong! Let me take you to my uncle. He’ll show you how evil they are.”
    “I would love to meet this uncle,” Alex spoke up.
    Cassie would be happy to stay away from the man. She was relieved to hear that the men from the Church who were at the gallery had been caught, but what exactly where they going to do with them?
    “Damn!” she yelled. “There are more men coming! They were going to burn my house down.”
    “We’ve got them, plus the ones watching Jacob’s place.”
    Cassie spun and saw Jacob, Chase and Shawn joining them with three other men. She placed her palm over her racing heart. “Please, no more surprises. I can’t handle anything more.”
    Max frowned and motioned his brother closer. After he pushed James toward Chase, he marched up to her side. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
    She moved