Page 45 of Scout’s Honor

Dallas shook his head. “You’re gonna owe her a big fat apology when she gets switched on.”

Jameson stepped forward and got in his face. “You owe me an apology now.”

Dallas growled, his jaguar flicking to the surface.

Jameson glowered at him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Dallas gestured to Bonhi. “She already saw you shift out at Cove Springs. Guess you ain’t so fucking stealthy or smart, are you?” His jaguar danced inside him, begging to be let out to put this rigid control freak in his place.

Jameson growled, a real wolf growl and Dallas fucking lost it. His jaguar took over in a way it never had before, not even any of the times he’d been shot. He shifted and launched himself at Jameson, catching him around the shoulders with his claws, but Jameson was already shifting into his wolf, and he was so big! Instead of them being evenly sized, Jameson was a wolf the size of a horse.

Dallas rode the wolf’s back anyway, chewing through his white fur, scraping his teeth to the skin. Jameson jumped to the left and flipped Dallas away. Dallas somersaulted in the air and came down on all four feet, facing Jameson.

A bird SKREE-ed from the air. It dive-bombed them all, practically crash-landing between them, then shifting to a man.

“The fuck?” Aven shouted, facing Dallas down, then whirling to face Jameson. “What in the hell’s going on here?”

Dallas shifted and took several steps backward. His shoelaces were out of the boots and laying on the ground. He snatched them up and retreated. Jameson shifted into his Dudley Do-Right outfit and stood his ground.

A small brown something fell from the sky near Dallas and hit the ground. He picked it up. It was the chalkboard from the kitchen of the magical house, and it read, “Bring Aila home.” He tossed it to Aven.

Aven showed it to Jameson. “Who’s Aila?”

Jameson shook his head. “Never heard of her.” He threw one last look at Dallas and stalked to his vehicle, then drove off.

“Shit,” Aven said. “That could have gone better.”

“Why’s he so fucking big?” Dallas asked.

“Because he’s ‘The Keeper’ that’s why,” Aven almost yelled. “His role in ‘The Cause’ gives him extra size, and the heartbound kiss with his switch made him even bigger than that.”

Dallas didn’t know what a heartbound kiss was, but he was glad he hadn’t got his ass kicked by the Massive Wolf of Nantahala.

He put an arm around Bonhi. “I didn’t think it would be like this.”

She looked at him, her eyes sad, her expression worried. “His role in the what?”

Dallas pulled Bonhi into his arms. “He’s in charge of the organization of shifters and switches who fight vampires.”

Dakota came close, asking, “What’s up with Jameson? He was on a hair trigger.” She looked at Dallas. “I don’t think he can throw me out, but you better take it easy. I’m pretty sure he decides if you stay or go.”

Dallas shook his head. “The house decides.”

Dakota stepped back and looked over the dirt field with the rock backdrop. “But the house is gone.”

“Shit,” Dallas said. “Where are we going to sleep?”

“Aven’s got a cabin in the backcountry,” Dakota said, “But it’s not big enough for three.” She looked pointedly at Bonhi. “Or four.”

Bonhi was staring at them with wide eyes like she was taking everything in. She didn’t say a word. Dallas tried to think of something to say to convince her that she was a switch, after that disastrous display by Jameson.

A SKREE sounded overhead and they all looked up. It was a red-tailed hawk: Maze.

He landed and pranced around as a tiny bird for a moment, then grew at an astonishing rate into a man. Bonhi startled and pulled Dallas closer.

“Hey,” Maze said, lifting his chin, meeting first Aven’s eyes, then Dallas’. He ignored Bonhi and Dakota altogether. “Jameson’s pissed that Thorn took off and left town this morning. Plus Cora is having bad morning sickness. He’s having a shitty week, but you should know he’s thinking of sending someone to New Orleans to check out that woman who gave Thorn the everweft.”

A lightning bolt went off in Dallas’ mind.