“You’re no longer in danger as far as Wolf is concerned. If he wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
“Thanks, that makes me feel better. Your protection is for shit.”
“I’ll deal with my operatives. What did Wolf say to you?”
Dex ran a hand through his hair as he paced. “He said to let you know you still owe him for Budapest. What does that mean?”
“It means Wolf, or Fang, as I knew him—though that’s simply another alias—was once a TIN operative.”
Dex’s mouth hung open. “Wolf was TIN?”
“Years ago, he was one of our best operatives.”
“And what? He decided Therian Intelligence wasn’t enough of a challenge?”
“Back in 2005, I was part of a covert team sent to Budapest. Somehow information was leaked, and the operation went terribly wrong. Wolf was almost killed. His partner wasn’t so lucky. Wolf believes someone at TIN betrayed him, leading to Tucker’s death. Tucker and Wolf were close.”
“So his friend dies, and Wolf goes to the dark side?”
“Wolf doesn’t make friends. He’s all about the job. He is the job. Tucker left behind two small children, his wife having passed away a few years prior.”
“What happened to the kids?”
“They live with their uncle. He’s a good guy. A white tiger Therian like his brother, Tucker. They were close.”
Dex could understand how Tucker’s death would have hit Wolf, especially the possibility of someone he trusted betraying him, but to allow his grief to turn him into a monster who sold his skills to the highest bidder? Just what kind of operatives did TIN recruit?
“Wolf won’t be back. He’s probably on his way abroad by now. He never stays in the country long. Too risky.”
“And why do you owe him?”
There was another long pause on the line, and Dex supposed he should be grateful he’d gotten this much out of her. Frankly, he was surprised she’d even answered his question. Usually he was met with the same excuse about information being not relevant.
“He saved my life. We were the only ones who made it out of there. I was one of the few he still trusted after that.”
Shit. “Okay, so is he a threat? Will he be back?”
“No. If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s his word. Whatever you m
ay think of him, he’s honorable.”
“That’s nice. You’ll have to excuse me for not fanboying all over him, what with him torturing me and all.”
“New operatives are on location securing the area.”
“Because the old operatives did so fucking well,” Dex scoffed.
“The old operatives have been incapacitated.”
“What? All of them?”
“Like I said. Wolf was one of our best.”
With that, the line went dead. Dex stared down at his phone. He wasn’t sure how to feel. Part of him wanted to be fucking livid that TIN couldn’t keep tabs on one guy, no matter how good he was. Another part of him feared Wolf might not be as honorable as Sparks believed him to be and he’d return. Maybe he was honorable when he was with TIN, but that could have all changed when he decided to stick needles under people’s fingernails.
Dex returned his phone to his nightstand and lay down facing Sloane. His initial thought was not to tell Sloane what happened, but he’d learned his lesson about keeping secrets from the man he loved, and he had no intention of doing it again. It might hurt Sloane, but they’d work through it together.
Dex cuddled up to Sloane, checked his breathing again, and held his hand before closing his eyes, hoping he could get some sleep.