“That’s enough,” I cut in. “Only answer what she asks.”

“Did Titus know you were in his car?” Faythe continued, as we all stared at my phone on the white granite countertop.

“Not until I showed myself. After we’d already crossed the border,” Robyn added.

“Okay. Titus, I have to ask…” Faythe said, and I closed my eyes. I knew what was coming. “Why didn’t you smell her?”

“Because she hid in the back, beneath the clothes from my gym bag.”

“She hid herself in your scent.”

“Yes.” And the fact that she still smelled like me made it difficult to concentrate, with her standing so close.

“All right. Titus—”

“This is my fault,” Robyn interrupted, a bit of bread crust crushed in her fist. “I snuck out. Titus had nothing to do with it. Don’t penalize him and his Pride for what I did.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple,” Faythe said. “But you can fix this—”

A door squealed open over the line, and Faythe’s chair springs creaked again, as she swiveled. “Faythe? We…” Chairman Rick Wade’s sentence faded into nothing. “Who’s on the phone?”

“It’s Titus,” Faythe said, and everyone in my kitchen went completely still. “The good news is that Robyn’s safe.”

“Damn it,” Wade swore. “I assume the bad news is that he has her?”

“Yes, but he didn’t take her. She stowed away in his car. He and Robyn are on speaker phone.”

“Give it here,” Wade said, and I realized Faythe hadn’t mentioned Abby or Jace. “Titus, take me off speaker.”

I picked up my phone and tapped the speaker button to turn it off. “I’m here. Listen, I—”

“Send her back,” Rick Wade interrupted. “I’ll have someone meet you at the border. That’s the only way to keep this thing from—”

I stood so fast my barstool nearly fell over. “With all due respect, Mr. Chairman, I don’t take orders from you.”

The chairman’s silence was swallowed by twin groans, one from Faythe over the line, and one from Jace, in my kitchen.

“Titus, I want you to think carefully about how you answer my next question. Are you saying you won’t return Robyn? And please keep in mind that you have no standing on the council and no business interfering in the council’s affairs.”

“Robyn made this my business. I didn’t take her. She snuck out. And she doesn’t seem inclined to return.”

Robyn’s eyes widened, but Jace scowled. “Don’t,” he mouthed silently.

I marched out of the kitchen, down the main hallway, and into my office, intentionally cutting everyone else out of the discussion. This was my problem. I would deal with it my way.

“Mr. Alexander, you have a petition sitting before the council right now,” Chairman Wade continued, as I closed the door. “Do you really want to shoot yourself in the foot?”

“Are you saying you won’t approve the petition if I don’t send Robyn back to you? Against her will?”

“Of course not!” Faythe spoke up, her voice thin over the distance. “The council cannot be bribed, and we don’t operate through coercion!”

“I’m saying that what you’ve done won’t garner any good will with the other council members.” Leather squeaked, and I recognized the sound from Bert Di Carlo’s office couch as Wade took a seat. “But doing the right thing here could buy you some good will.”

“The right thing? Dragging a woman across territorial boundaries so you can lock her up again?”

“Giving her a safe escort into the Southeast Territory, so she can honor the deal she made. That’s in everyone’s best interest, Titus. Including Robyn’s. And if you make this easy for everyone, I’d be happy to let the other council members know how instrumental you were in returning Robyn to us safely. Beyond that, Faythe and I will call in every favor we owe. We’ll do everything we can to get your petition approved. You’ll be Alpha of the first new territory this council has acknowledged in two centuries. You’ll be the first stray to ever sit on the council.”

“Marc sits on the council,” I pointed out, and the fact that he couldn’t seem to remember that gave me little faith that he would remember the promises he was making to me. Or that I’d be taken seriously on the council, even if I were granted a seat.

“Marc is a co-Alpha,” Wade insisted. “He and Faythe share a vote. You’ll have your own. We’re ready to move into the future with you and your Pride, Titus. But we need you to show a little respect for the institution you want to join. Robyn made a deal with the council. If you want to sit on that council, you have to uphold its interests.”

Well. That couldn’t be any clearer. I sank into my office chair and closed my eyes. “So, I scratch your back and you scratch mine.”

“It sounds bad when you put it that way,” Faythe said. “Look, I sympathize with Robyn’s situation more than anyone. If I could give her freedom, I would. But she agreed to the terms of her training and rehabilitation, and the council can’t afford to set a precedent by letting her walk out on an agreement. Beyond that, Titus, she killed four people. Four humans.”

“Four humans who knew about shifters and were actively hunting them,” I reminded them, mentally searching for a way out of this. A way to make everyone happy. “Four humans you’d have taken out yourself, if you’d known what was going on.”

“Four humans we would have dealt with much more carefully, with as little media coverage as possible. Look, we all want what’s best for Robyn, but we can’t let her out into the world until we’re sure she can control herself. Until we’re sure life won’t trigger instincts she can’t yet control. That’s in everyone’s best interest. Help us help her. Please.”

“Fine.” I didn’t really have any choice in the matter. “But let me do it my way.”

Rick Wade growled. “This isn’t a negotia—”

“What’s your way?” Faythe interrupted.

“Robyn came here to see Abby. She feels isolated and disenfranchised. So let her spend time here with her friend. With a fellow tabby.”