Ignoring that, Kathy went on. “The point is, it’s not natural. They’re not just shifters. Their ‘gift’ didn’t appear in wolf shifter lines until a wolf imprinted on a voodoo priestess centuries ago.”

Eli’s brow furrowed. “I thought he imprinted on a white witch.”

“I thought it was a dark witch,” said Bracken.

Caleb shrugged. “I thought a female wolf imprinted on a shaman.”

Shaya exhaled a heavy breath, impatient. “So . . . if no one really knows, it’s safe to say it could be none of those things.”

“Believe what you want.” Kathy shook her head. “But this isn’t the place for her.”

Shaya danced her disappointed gaze around the room. “You’re going to refuse to help Ally just because of a gift she has?”

“Seer thing aside, we should probably consider something else.” Jesse rubbed a hand over his military haircut. “Just because the Beta female’s jealous of Ally doesn’t mean she’s not telling the truth.”

Eli turned to Derren, his analytical brown-eyed gaze narrowed. “Are you sure Ally was falsely accused?”

Everyone’s eyes honed in on Derren. “I believe that Cain thinks she’s innocent.”

“The guy’s a cool liar,” Nick reminded him as he placed a wiggling Willow on the floor, who then crawled over to her mother.

Shaya looked as though she were seriously contemplating hitting her mate. “That doesn’t mean he was lying. And Derren said Cain told him that if he sent people to destroy the Collingwood Pack, she’d never forgive him. That says a lot about her character.”

“But so does the fact that she’s the true mate of an insane wolf.” Kathy crossed one leg over the other. “She could be just like him.”

“Mates are often opposites, they balance each other out,” Shaya pointed out. “Look at me and Nick. And Roni and Marcus.”

Zander began tapping his fingers on the arm of the sofa. “Wouldn’t the Beta male of the pack know through his mating link if his mate was lying?”

Marcus nuzzled Roni’s neck. “Not if the bond’s not fully developed.”

“If the Beta female really does have it out for Ally, she’ll keep on going,” stated Shaya, picking up Willow. “We need to help her. We need to get her away before the Beta female finally succeeds in getting her cast out or worse.”

Nick met his mate’s glare. “I don’t want a Seer in my home.”

She sighed, exasperated. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m looking out for my pack, that’s what I’m doing.”

Shaya sniffed haughtily, planting a kiss on Willow’s cheek. “Fine. If you won’t do it for Ally, you could consider doing it for Derren. Cain isn’t going to like it if Derren doesn’t live up to his word.”

“Yeah,” agreed Zander. “I’ve heard plenty about Cain Holt. Apart from the fact that he joined The Movement, none of it was good.”

“That’s because he’s mentally disturbed,” spat Nick.

Shaya’s brow slowly slid up as she stared at her mate. “Then I’ll bet you and he get along quite well.”

Ignoring Eli’s chuckle, Nick slashed a hand in the air. “I’m not having a Seer in my home.”

“If Cain’s part of The Movement, he must know a lot of people,” mused Jesse. “Dangerous people who could easily deal with this for him.”

“He does,” verified Derren. “But we all know how The Movement ‘deals’ with things.” It involved blood and death. They’d simply go in there, destroy the pack, and then go out for pancakes or something. “Cain doesn’t want them involved. They’d lead the humans right to Ally.”

“How long before Cain’s out?” Zander asked.

“Four months,” replied Derren.

“I tell ya,” began Eli, “I wouldn’t like to be the Beta pair of the Collingwood Pack when Cain gets out.”

“Why?” asked Kent.

Eli arched a brow. “How, exactly, do you think a sociopath will protect and avenge his mate, whether he’s claimed her or not?”

“He’ll go after the people who hurt her,” deduced Bracken.

Shaya nodded. “And how, exactly, do you think said sociopath will react if Derren doesn’t live up to his word and keep the guy’s mate safe—especially if something happens to her in the meantime?”

Bracken looked at Derren. “He’ll go after you. Maybe even punish our entire pack because we all refused to help her.”

Shaya nodded again. “And all because some jealous heifer decided to make life hell for her mate’s ex.” Softening her expression, she sat next to Nick. “If this happened to Willow, and she needed help, wouldn’t you want someone to be there for her?”

Nick growled. “No one will ever lay a fucking finger on her.”

“Yes, we all know that if anyone even thought something offensive about your baby girl, you would disembowel them before they could blink. But what if she didn’t have any of us to protect her, if she was pretty much all alone in the world . . . wouldn’t you like to think that someone else would protect her?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Playing the Willow card is below the belt.”

“Ally would only be staying here for four months. That’s not long. And unless you want Derren and Cain having serious problems, you don’t have much of a choice anyway.”