Lynx Northern Shifters 3

someone had met him, ostensibly in a friendly way, but as soon as he was in the interior of that car, he recognized he was a prisoner.
He’d been prepared for that. His biggest fear had been that someone would realize he was a lynx, somehow put two and two together since Horton’s death. But whoever that first guard with Horton had been—Trey’d said his name was Leonard—he hadn’t passed on enough information to Kingley to allow him to guess Jonah was Horton’s former prisoner. Probably because Horton had wanted Jonah to be his secret.
Secrets, secrets, and more secrets. That seemed to be what Trey’s work was about. No wonder Trey was not the most forthcoming guy in the world. Years of playing these games, it would affect you, it had affected Trey.
Jonah wondered if Trey had ever been where he was staying, in this large mansion in a gated area. Not great for shapeshifters, no real place to run, no way to easily slip in and out of the community.
Didn’t matter now as he was bundled into yet another bulletproof car—his guard was chattier than Leonard had ever been—and driven towards Trey, towards this Birchwood address.
They stopped for food on the way, the guard with them. Till now, Jonah hadn’t actually spent much time with Kingley, but during the ten-hour drive, Jonah began to realize that Kingley was not exactly Horton. If this was imprisonment, it was on a completely different level than what had happened with Horton. Clearly Kingley was manipulative, but the lynx within was losing its enthusiasm for the stalking and killing. Because Kingley was not trying to bring death to anyone.
Aaron had killed Jonah’s mother and Horton had been slowly killing Jonah himself, had been out for Trey’s blood. But Kingley, while he’d been an asshole on the phone to Trey, might not be evil.
Before he acted, Jonah needed to understand what power Kingley held over Trey and why. And destroy it, one way or the other.

Chapter Twenty-One
    Trey had chosen the Birchwood Street safe house because he knew he could reach it before Kingley. And he didn’t want any surprises. He checked out the place for himself first, to ensure it was empty, grabbing some clothing and a gun while he was at it. Then he hunkered down outside to wait and see who arrived.
    Trey had always been very careful with himself and his killings, always making sure he had good reason before he took another’s life. He didn’t want to kill his old boss. Not that he trusted or liked Kingley, but he’d worked with the man over the years and through that relationship had been allowed to accomplish a lot for his fellow shapeshifters.
    Kingley was making vague threats about the pack, but till now Trey had believed the threat was not real so much as heavy-handed manipulation, made to ensure that Trey “paid back” Kingley’s latest favor— which had involved setting free a shapeshifting cougar. So Trey had obliged for a time, but it simply couldn’t go on.
    Either Kingley had to pull back or Trey had to move forward and act. As he examined the gun again, a sense of dread enveloped him. He was too old for this, too old for games. This had to end, one way or the other.
    He waited through the night, allowing himself the lightest of sleep, always keeping one ear open. The car pulled into the driveway early the next morning, bringing Trey to full alert. Kingley exited the car first but behind him, from the passenger seat, a terribly familiar body emerged from the car and Trey’s heart seized. Jonah .
    He couldn’t think. He heard his throat growling, low, barely audible. Jonah was not supposed to be here. Trey felt as if somehow Kingley had let a cougar go only to go behind his back and bag a lynx, his lynx. This had never been part of the deal.
    It could not be allowed. His growl grew stronger.
Jonah glanced his way though Trey didn’t think he’d been loud enough for even a lynx’s hearing. “What are you looking at?” Kingley asked, and Jonah turned his gaze away from the small clump of
    woods beside the house.
There was one guard, who was instructed to stay outside and keep an eye on the surroundings while
Jonah and Kingley went into the house. Once his heart stopped thundering, Trey managed to observe that
Jonah didn’t appear to feel threatened and Kingley wasn’t acting threatening. This was nothing resembling the Horton bunker and Jonah’s near-starvation, but how had these two gotten together and what the fuck
was happening?
Trey