“Huh?”
“Pain is your motivation,” he clarified. “Pete’s looking forward to beating a little compliance into Greg Sanders’s infamous shrew before I give him the all clear to take whatever else he wants from you. The more you talk, the less opportunity he has to hit you. Is that motivation enough?”
My heart slammed against my chest, and my hands began to sweat against the soft gray upholstery at my back, but I forced confidence into my expression, crowned by two eyebrows arched in challenge. “Knowing that either way, this party ends with my rape and murder? No. There is no motivation strong enough to guarantee my cooperation.”
“Yeah?” Kevin smiled viciously. “Let’s give it a shot anyway….”
I shrugged, bolstering myself with bravado, since I had nothing else left to work with. “I’m not exactly new to being threatened. Or punched.”
Yarnell’s leering grin widened. “Sounds like she likes it rough.”
I never said I liked it that way….
“Well then, she’s in luck.” Kevin paced in front of me again, arms crossed over his chest. “Ryan’s missing again, isn’t he?”
“What?” I was honestly thrown off by his first question; Ryan’s was the last name I’d expected to hear from Kevin’s mouth.
“Any idea how he got out of his cage?”
No. So far as I knew, no one had figured that out yet. But responding to Kevin’s question—even one I had no answer for—could be construed as cooperation, and I couldn’t let them think I was capitulating so early.
“So Kevin asks the questions, and Peter likes to hit girls. What’s your role in this?” I leaned to my left to peer at Dan around Kevin’s arm. “I mean, other than informant and traitor…?” Because he was the only one who could have told them Ryan was missing. My father hadn’t reported that development to the council, because technically they had no authority in the matter. And until the larger pile of cat shit hit the fan, we were hoping we could find him before anyone else found out.
So much for that idea…
Kevin stepped into my line of sight to block Dan from view, so I leaned the other way. “What are you getting out of this, other than Milo Mitchell’s pocket change?”
Dan shrugged, looking miserable. “Membership has its privileges.”
“Membership to what?” I demanded. “You were just eight months’ probation away from membership in the biggest Pride in the country, and you threw it all away! Why?”
“Because he sees logic, which is more than I can say for you recently,” Kevin snapped, moving between me and Dan again. “Your dad said he’d consider accepting Dan if he could keep his nose clean until September. But by then, the war will be over, and your Pride won’t even exist. Dan’s smart enough to side with the inevitable victor early on.”
“But for what?” I leaned the other way again, already tired of having to fight for eye contact. “You sold us out—sold Marc out—for a little cash!”
“No, that was Pete,” Dan snapped. “I just wanted out of the free zone.”
“Oh…” Understanding finally came, and I almost felt sorry for Dan. Almost. “You think they’re going to take you in. Did they tell you that? That after you’ve served as their spy, or their foot soldier, or whatever, that they’ll let you play their reindeer games? Because they won’t. You know that, don’t you, Dan?”
Surely he wasn’t that gullible….
Kevin growled, and backhanded me so hard I fell over sideways again, the living room spinning before me. I never even saw the blow coming. “My father will stand by his word.”
“The hell he will….” I mumbled, my words slurred by shock and the pain radiating through my right cheek. I tasted blood in my mouth, and licked it from my lips as Pete pulled me upright again, probably positioning me for another blow, rather than for my comfort. “He said you could come back, too, didn’t he?” I pinned Kevin with my gaze. “How often has he promised? How soon did he say you’d be back home, in your old room? Next month? Next week? Or was it last month?”
Kevin glowered at me. “Plans change.”
“Wow, you’re so naive for a bad guy!” I let genuine amusement leak into my tone, then leaned forward to spit more blood on Yarnell’s pale, plush carpet before I met Kevin’s eyes again. “He’s not going to take you back, and my bet is you already know Dan’ll never make it to the northwest Pride. So how’s he going to die? In a fight? Or peacefully in his sleep? Or are you going to bait one of us into killing him for you? Either way—” I leaned around him again to catch Dan’s gaze “—once you hand over Manx and Kaci, they’ll be done with you, and you’ll end your existence in an unmarked hole in the ground. Maybe right next to Adam Eckard. Because the truth is that my father’s the only Alpha in the country who’d seriously consider admitting a stray into his Pride. The proof of that is lying unconscious in the back bedroom.”
Marc, of course.
“Where you put him.” I glared at Dan, unable to censor my anger and betrayal even if he was my only shot at survival. “Were you there when they came for him? Did you fight him? We’d never have known, would we? Since you were the one who reported it, we didn’t think twice about your scent in his house.”
“Pain is your motivation,” he clarified. “Pete’s looking forward to beating a little compliance into Greg Sanders’s infamous shrew before I give him the all clear to take whatever else he wants from you. The more you talk, the less opportunity he has to hit you. Is that motivation enough?”
My heart slammed against my chest, and my hands began to sweat against the soft gray upholstery at my back, but I forced confidence into my expression, crowned by two eyebrows arched in challenge. “Knowing that either way, this party ends with my rape and murder? No. There is no motivation strong enough to guarantee my cooperation.”
“Yeah?” Kevin smiled viciously. “Let’s give it a shot anyway….”
I shrugged, bolstering myself with bravado, since I had nothing else left to work with. “I’m not exactly new to being threatened. Or punched.”
Yarnell’s leering grin widened. “Sounds like she likes it rough.”
I never said I liked it that way….
“Well then, she’s in luck.” Kevin paced in front of me again, arms crossed over his chest. “Ryan’s missing again, isn’t he?”
“What?” I was honestly thrown off by his first question; Ryan’s was the last name I’d expected to hear from Kevin’s mouth.
“Any idea how he got out of his cage?”
No. So far as I knew, no one had figured that out yet. But responding to Kevin’s question—even one I had no answer for—could be construed as cooperation, and I couldn’t let them think I was capitulating so early.
“So Kevin asks the questions, and Peter likes to hit girls. What’s your role in this?” I leaned to my left to peer at Dan around Kevin’s arm. “I mean, other than informant and traitor…?” Because he was the only one who could have told them Ryan was missing. My father hadn’t reported that development to the council, because technically they had no authority in the matter. And until the larger pile of cat shit hit the fan, we were hoping we could find him before anyone else found out.
So much for that idea…
Kevin stepped into my line of sight to block Dan from view, so I leaned the other way. “What are you getting out of this, other than Milo Mitchell’s pocket change?”
Dan shrugged, looking miserable. “Membership has its privileges.”
“Membership to what?” I demanded. “You were just eight months’ probation away from membership in the biggest Pride in the country, and you threw it all away! Why?”
“Because he sees logic, which is more than I can say for you recently,” Kevin snapped, moving between me and Dan again. “Your dad said he’d consider accepting Dan if he could keep his nose clean until September. But by then, the war will be over, and your Pride won’t even exist. Dan’s smart enough to side with the inevitable victor early on.”
“But for what?” I leaned the other way again, already tired of having to fight for eye contact. “You sold us out—sold Marc out—for a little cash!”
“No, that was Pete,” Dan snapped. “I just wanted out of the free zone.”
“Oh…” Understanding finally came, and I almost felt sorry for Dan. Almost. “You think they’re going to take you in. Did they tell you that? That after you’ve served as their spy, or their foot soldier, or whatever, that they’ll let you play their reindeer games? Because they won’t. You know that, don’t you, Dan?”
Surely he wasn’t that gullible….
Kevin growled, and backhanded me so hard I fell over sideways again, the living room spinning before me. I never even saw the blow coming. “My father will stand by his word.”
“The hell he will….” I mumbled, my words slurred by shock and the pain radiating through my right cheek. I tasted blood in my mouth, and licked it from my lips as Pete pulled me upright again, probably positioning me for another blow, rather than for my comfort. “He said you could come back, too, didn’t he?” I pinned Kevin with my gaze. “How often has he promised? How soon did he say you’d be back home, in your old room? Next month? Next week? Or was it last month?”
Kevin glowered at me. “Plans change.”
“Wow, you’re so naive for a bad guy!” I let genuine amusement leak into my tone, then leaned forward to spit more blood on Yarnell’s pale, plush carpet before I met Kevin’s eyes again. “He’s not going to take you back, and my bet is you already know Dan’ll never make it to the northwest Pride. So how’s he going to die? In a fight? Or peacefully in his sleep? Or are you going to bait one of us into killing him for you? Either way—” I leaned around him again to catch Dan’s gaze “—once you hand over Manx and Kaci, they’ll be done with you, and you’ll end your existence in an unmarked hole in the ground. Maybe right next to Adam Eckard. Because the truth is that my father’s the only Alpha in the country who’d seriously consider admitting a stray into his Pride. The proof of that is lying unconscious in the back bedroom.”
Marc, of course.
“Where you put him.” I glared at Dan, unable to censor my anger and betrayal even if he was my only shot at survival. “Were you there when they came for him? Did you fight him? We’d never have known, would we? Since you were the one who reported it, we didn’t think twice about your scent in his house.”
