Pack Security (Were Chronicles) by Crissy Smith Page B

from Alex, and her brother stepped away to join the other men. “I’m okay. I just don’t want anyone else sneaking up on me.”
    “Well, we have the two Council representatives bringing the men from the gallery over. We should probably go meet them at the main house so they don’t have to look for us.”
    She bobbed her head in agreement. “Alcohol. There will be alcohol in the main house.”
    Max intertwined his fingers through hers and lifted her hand. He kissed her knuckles, smiling. “I’ll get you whatever you want.”
    “Okay,” she agreed. She sure could get behind that idea. “I can’t believe I was wrong about James.”
    “I understand. And I really do think he believes he is helping you.”
    “He was going to burn down my place!”
    Max stopped them and waved for the others to continue on. Once the group was far enough away to not overhear, Cassie found herself held tightly as Max dropped his mouth to hers.
    She opened to him and grasped at the back of his T-shirt to keep him close. The scent and flavor of him calmed her wolf and even managed to make her forget about everything for a few minutes. He pulled away and she was surprised by the stress lines on his forehead.
    “I was so scared. Kurt and Clint called and said that they’d caught a couple of guys trying to break into the gallery and knew for sure James was involved, I just about lost it. Thank God for your brother. He managed to calm me down enough so I didn’t barge into the studio and wait until the two of you came out.”
    Cassie cupped his face. “I was trying to figure out what to do.”
    “I know. And I knew that you’d be upset that James had turned on you.”
    “I am,” she admitted. “But I also know that he doesn’t understand. He’s been surrounded by hatred. I wish he could see how much being a shifter is a gift.”
    “Maybe someday he will. Let’s head up to the house. Kurt and Clint will help clean up this mess. They’ll deal with the church so we can go on remaining hidden.”
    “I’m glad we weren’t exposed. But I have to wonder how long it will last.”
    Max sighed. “Me too. But we’ll figure it out. Shawn won’t let anything bad happen to the Pack. I bet he is already working on whatever needs to be done.”
    “I know Shawn will do what he can. What if it’s not enough, though?” She didn’t say anything about her talk with their Alpha. She believed that Max was going to make a great Alpha one day. If Shawn did get his way and Max accepted the role of next Alpha in line, he would have to deal with more instances like this. She honestly believed that Max would thrive as an Alpha. He was both smart and kind. Hopefully Max would take Shawn up on his offer once the Alpha spoke to Max about training him. “And I’m glad this is over.”
    Max hugged her. “Yeah.”
    They walked quietly to the main house, entering though the back door. The low sound of voices reached her as they strolled closer to the den. Cassie paused in the doorway and watched as Alpha Shawn spoke with James and several other men. The two strangers that she suspected were from the Council stood glaring at the other group. Apparently not everything was going well.
    Alex spotted them and tilted his head forward. Max pulled her out of sight until Alex joined them in the hall.
    “James and a couple of the others want us to talk to his uncle. They seem determined to make us see the light about accepting the shifters. The other group won’t say a word. Kurt has a call in to the Council to see what exactly they want them to do next. Clint thinks they should go to the church.”
    “But they can’t!” Cassie exclaimed.
    Alex shook his head. “We’re pretty sure that someone from the church would recognize them, so I agree. But they’re right too. We need to know more about this chapter. From what James is saying, his uncle is good friends with the senator who is trying to pass a law to make all shifters register.”
    “I still don’t