“Why do you think he challenged you?” Liam’s fifteen-year-old voice rang across the deathly quiet porch.
“To bring his bastard child into the pack. He doesn’t get that she’s not his kid. That she can’t fucking be his kid. Boulders don’t have girls!” Heath bellowed a couple expletives that had Frank shutting his eyes. “The Clarks are parasites, Liam. They suck up the resources of the pack and bring nothing but fucking problems in return.”
For a moment, no sound came out of the speakers, and I thought Aidan or whoever was broadcasting the recording had pressed pause. I looked at Liam, but he stared at the weathered teak slats beneath our feet.
“I just had a fucking fantastic idea.” Heath’s voice exploded over the terrace. “I’ll kill him before he publicly challenges me.”
A pause, then: “If you make it look like a hunting accident”-Liam sounded so cool and collected, the complete antithesis of his dad-“you can blame that creepy-ass hunter so we can finally get rid of him.”
There was a click. It was probably the recording, but it felt like my heart. Like an explosion had detonated in the marrow of my bones, surged into my muscles, and vibrated through my flesh, coating every inch of me in goose bumps. They cascaded over my skin in icy waves.
“I didn’t even know my father wanted to be Alpha,” I whispered, even though that was far far from the worst part of what I’d just heard. Of what everyone had just heard.
Liam lifted his face, pain etched inside each one of his features.
I rolled my fingers into such tight fists that my nails carved up my palms. I had a strong urge to hit him. In the heart. Instead, I wiped my mouth on my forearm in an attempt to erase every kiss we’d ever shared.
He dragged a hand through his dark hair, and a lock flopped into his eyes. “I was fifteen, Ness. A kid. I had no idea what I was saying.”
“Is that really your excuse?” My voice rang inside my ears.
“I just wanted Aidan gone. Not your father-”
“And yet you didn’t tell your father not to kill mine.”
Sarah tried to touch my arm, but I whipped it out of her reach and stepped back until my tailbone smacked into the guardrail.
“Ness… ” Liam started.
I’d pledged myself to a man who’d been on board with eliminating my father. “You are Heath’s son.”
Liam shut his eyes as though I’d taken a swing at him.
“I don’t want you as my Alpha.” I gripped the handrail behind my back for support. “How do I break our link?”
His eyes snapped open, then grew wide.
“You can’t break the Alpha link,” Frank said, forehead grooved with so many wrinkles that it seemed as though the evening had added years to his face. “The only thing you can do is move away until you don’t feel the pull of the pack.”
I stared at the elder, then at the shifters surrounding us, at the Creek Alpha who was sitting with her wolves in the living room, watching me through the open glass doors, at Sarah whose mouth gaped, at Lucas and Matt and Cole who all wore matching looks of regret, and finally at August. He was the only one who didn’t stare back. His eyes were like twin rifles set on the back of Liam’s head.
“I’ll leave, then.” I pressed off the balustrade and walked past Liam, who put his hand on my arm. “Don’t you dare touch me.” I snatched my arm away, my icy shock replaced by a searing wrath.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured as I passed by him.
I whirled. “No, you’re not. You’re just sorry I found out.”
Liam shook his head. “They were just words. We never ended up hurting him. Aidan pulled that trigger. We didn’t.”
“Lucky for you, huh? Lucky for you he made a mistake!” I backed away before stalking off, speeding through the living room in my stupid heels, clutching my stupid dress. I walked toward the bell desk to phone my uncle.
As I dialed his number, Aidan strolled out of the back office, a USB key in his hand-probably the vessel containing the malicious conversation. I dropped the phone, and it clattered at my feet, the battery flying out of the handheld device.
“Should’ve heeded my note,” he said.
“What note?” I pressed a hand against my chest as though to keep my heart from dropping like the phone.
“The one I tied to the bicycle, which I had delivered to the inn.”
“You shot my father and your ex-wife. You really thought I would stop by for tea?”
“I’m not a fan of tea. I’d have served something fizzy… ”
I arced my hand in the air in frustration. “Oh, you know what I mean!”
He squeezed an oily smile onto his lips.
I crouched to grab the phone and then attempted to fit the battery back inside, but my hands were shaking.
“Want some help?” He extended his hand.
“No.” After several botched attempts, I jammed the battery back in. While the phone powered up, I said, “I know killing my father was a mistake, that you were aiming for Heath. Why?”
“I had my own vendetta toward him. He took something I loved.”
I hadn’t considered Aidan Michaels capable of love, but I also hadn’t considered he could be a werewolf.
“The recording came in handy when Heath came to avenge your father’s death. Should’ve seen how astonished he was when I played it back for him.” He flashed me a smile that made my skin crawl.
Aidan Michaels was a monster. Just like Heath Kolane. Where Heath raped women, Aidan shot them.
“Even though you didn’t mean to kill my father, it was still your finger on that trigger.”
“Is that a threat, little girl?”
“Maybe it is.”
“I’d be very careful doling out threats. You might be an orphan, but there are still people you care about… ”
My stomach curled onto itself at his menace. I backed away from him, clutching the phone to my chest. Keeping one eye on the Creek wolf, I tried to dial Jeb’s number from memory, but an automated message kept telling me I’d entered the wrong number. Ugh.
“Need a ride home, Ness?” Aidan asked.
“Like I’d ever let you drive me anywhere.”
“Oh, I would’ve phoned up my driver. I have better things to do with my evening. Better yet, you could use the bicycle I sent back. Here, let me get you the key to the garage.”
Footsteps pounded the foyer floor, and then a gruff voice said, “She won’t be needing that key.”