Jesse went toe to toe with him. “Are you trying to pick a real fight with me? Is that what this is?” Eli didn’t say a word. “If I want to have lunch with my mate, I will. I don’t need to explain it. I don’t need to justify it. I don’t need to defend it. And I definitely don’t need your fucking approval.”
Bracken shook his head at Eli, lips flat. “I don’t think you have a problem with where Jesse eats. I think you have a problem with Harley, and you’re taking it out on him. You know, if you gave her a chance, you’d like her.”
“Jesse, let me heal you before you go,” said Ally. “We need to get rid of those wounds so your mate doesn’t hunt down Eli.”
Knowing she was right, Jesse moved to Ally and lifted his shirt so that she could heal him. The gift was part of the Seer package.
Eli snorted. “I’m supposed to be scared of a little cat tracking me?”
Done healing Jesse, Ally turned to Eli. “A domestic cat? No. A margay shifter? Oh yeah.” He made another dismissive sound. “You don’t know much about margay shifters, do you?” asked Ally with an impish smile. “They’re cunning creatures. Excellent hunters. Vicious when they want to be. And they can get close without a person sensing them—not until it’s too late, anyway.”
The Head Enforcer didn’t look at all impressed. “Whatever.”
And then a cat landed on his back from above, bit into his shoulder with a hiss, and then dragged her claws down his back as she slid down his body, tearing through cloth and skin. Eli roared with both shock and pain as he spun to face his attacker. The little cat didn’t run. Nor did she coil, ready to strike. She sat back on her hind paws, casually licking the blood from her paw.
Jesse smiled, remembering how—for lack of a better word—catty this little margay could be. One look could communicate pure and utter disdain . . . and that was exactly the look she shot Eli, who then tensed as if to spring.
Jesse rushed forward, planting himself between the two of them. “Don’t even fucking think about it, Eli,” he rumbled, eyes flashing wolf.
The others gathered, ready to intervene if need be.
“She just attacked me!”
“What else would you expect?” Jesse said. “The cat can see and scent my blood, which is enough to piss her off. Though she can’t understand your words, Harley can and she no doubt communicated to her cat that she needed to issue a warning. That was exactly what she did.”
Ally sighed at the cat, but she was smiling. “I had a feeling Harley wouldn’t stay behind when I told her Derren was angry about something.”
Feeling the margay rub her flank against his leg, Jesse picked her up and held her close. “Hey there, little cat,” he whispered. She purred in his arms as he petted her soft fur.
Ever curious, Bracken said, “I’ve never seen a margay up close before. They’re kind of cute.” He reached out to touch her. She hissed and spat at him like he was leading an invading army or something. Bracken jerked back.
Jesse stifled a smile. “Margay shifters aren’t particularly tactile.”
Chuckling, Ally said, “Yep. Only ‘the chosen’ are permitted to touch them. She clearly doesn’t trust you yet.”
At that moment, Nick appeared out of the trees. Thanks to his shifter-enhanced hearing, he’d no doubt heard Eli’s roar. “What happened? I heard a little of your conversation as I got close, but not enough.” Moving to his brother, who was glancing over his shoulder to check out the wounds on his back, Nick looked at them and winced. “They’re pretty deep.”
Eli jabbed a finger in the cat’s direction. “That thing is fucking feral.”
“Thing?” echoed Jesse with a growl. Zander moved closer, ready to hold him back.
“You asked for it, Eli,” said Derren. He gave Nick a bullet-point account of what had happened. “Anyone would have taken his words as a challenge, but I think she was mostly defending her mate against someone baiting him.”
After a long moment of heavy silence, Nick exhaled heavily. “I can’t punish someone for defending their mate. I wouldn’t tolerate anyone confronting Shaya, and it’s only natural that Harley and her cat would warn you to back off.”
Eli gaped. “You’re siding with her?”
“There are no sides, Eli,” said Nick impatiently. “We’re a pack; we’re one. And there are bigger issues going on right now. The last thing we need is tension in the pack at a time when we have to be strong as a unit. The enemy is Hector. Not Jesse. Not Harley. And it’s not her fault that she reminds you of someone.”
That cryptic comment made Eli’s eyes flash wolf. With a curse, the Head Enforcer strode away, heading in the direction of the main lodge.
Nick swept his eyes along Derren, Ally, Zander, and Bracken. “Follow him, but give him space.”
They all nodded, said their good-byes to Jesse and the cat, and then disappeared.
Sighing, Nick turned to Jesse. “He was out of line, but it’s not really about Harley.”
That didn’t excuse his actions, in Jesse’s opinion. Harley deserved the same respect that the other females of the pack were afforded. Just because Eli was working through some personal shit didn’t give him the right to take it out on Jesse or Harley.
“I want to talk to you about something. I’m meeting with the Alpha of Hector’s old pack on Sunday. I’m hoping that he or members of the pack might know something we could use against Hector. Ally and Derren want to come along, but I need them here guarding the others; they’re not happy about staying behind.”