“Should we go after him?” Carter asked when the stranger had gone.
Inwardly, I screamed yes! This man dared to defame my mother’s memory by claiming that she could love one of them—a vampire. Yet he’d looked so sad for her. It was like looking into a mirror and seeing my grief reflected in his eyes. I wanted to chase after him, pin him down, and force him to tell me everything else he knew about his people and who would have hurt her. But the party was moving through the gardens.
I shook my head reluctantly. “No, we should get back inside before we’re missed.”
I turned to walk back the way we’d come, but Carter’s hand on my hip pulled me to a stop. “Regan…” He looked down at me, his eyes searching mine. I knew he was looking for some sort of reaction to everything Valentino had said.
I squeezed my eyes shut. The temptation to let him see my confusion, my pain, was strong. But I couldn’t put into words what I was feeling. Not yet. It was too fresh. I knew if I tried, I’d lose it—something I refused to do on vampire territory. “Carter, don’t. I want to talk but … not now. I need some time to think.”
He nodded. “Later, then,” he agreed. And I knew he meant it.
We made our way back in a wide arc, careful to keep clear of the small group near the pond including Blaine and my dad.
I blinked against the lighting as we got closer, adjusting my pupils after the complete darkness we’d left behind. Most of the bulbs out here were soft white, but a yellow beam slanted through the corner of the yard, reflecting from above. My gaze followed it until I found the window it spilled from.
Two stories above my head, the curtains were pulled back in what must’ve been a bedroom. Two figures stood locked in what appeared be a heavy embrace. Their arms were wrapped so tightly around each other it was hard to decipher where one body ended and the other began. Until I caught sight of the halo of soft brown hair pinned ornately to the female’s head. I stopped walking and squinted at the red fabric of the dress, momentarily shocked into confusion at the sight of Charlie kissing someone.
For a second, I felt embarrassed at witnessing such a private moment. But then confusion took over. Who the hell could she be kissing? We’d left any eligible bachelors behind in Paradise.
As soon as the porcelain cheekbone flashed into view, I knew.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I hissed.
“What is it?” Carter followed my gaze and stared at the couple in the window. “Is that Charlie?” I barely heard him over the buzzing in my ears. “And Owen Rossi?”
My answer was a growl.
I took off for the house at a sprint, not caring who saw me. I managed to hold my wolf at bay but only because if I shifted, doorknobs would be a problem.
I no longer cared about the treaty. As far as I was concerned, Owen had just voided it.
I slammed into the house and up the back stairs. I heard Carter calling me as he tried to follow. I didn’t answer. All I cared about was getting to Charlie. And stopping Owen.
Upstairs, I counted the rooms until I found Charlie’s. I flung open the door and they sprang apart. Charlie stumbled, but Owen caught her from falling. Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths and she looked confused then alarmed, but I ignored her.
I zeroed in on Owen across the room and stalked toward him as he stepped sideways, trying to get between me and the door. His expression was a mask of neutrality. It was infuriating.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.
“Regan?” I heard Charlie calling uncertainly.
“Shut up,” I called over my shoulder. I didn’t turn from Owen. “You’re dumber than I thought,” I said to him. “Ballsy, but utterly stupid.”
“You don’t want to do this,” he said. I detected the warning underneath his calm exterior. After everything I’d learned tonight, it only made me angrier.
“You have no idea how wrong you are,” I hissed. “I want to do this very much. And now that you’ve voided the treaty, I can.”
“Voided the treaty?” Charlie echoed, her voice shrill with panic. “Regan, what are you talking about?”
Instead of answering her, I lunged at Owen. He dodged me and I ran into an end table. The stained-glass lamp crashed onto the floor and shattered. I leaped toward him again and my hands closed over the fabric of his shirt. I yanked. Buttons popped and his shirt came untucked as he danced away.
I moved to attack again but Charlie jumped in front of him, flinging her arms wide to block his body. I pulled up short and glared at her. Owen watched me over her shoulder, the coward—using my sister who was, no doubt, entranced with his vampire guile—as a human shield. I was going to kill him.
“Move!” I yelled.
“No. Regan, stop, please. I can explain,” Charlie insisted.
The pleading note in her voice took me back. I stared at him over her shoulder. “Don’t tell me you’ve convinced her you actually care about her? That’s a hell of a trick, Rossi. You’re sick.”
“He does care about me, Regan. And I care about him, too. Please stop and listen,” she pleaded. Tears glistened on her eyelashes, and she reached out to grab my wrists in both of her trembling hands. “Owen and I have been seeing each other for a few weeks now. I didn’t want to tell you because—”
The rest of her words were drowned out as I shoved her aside and reached for Owen’s throat. I saw nothing except his face and neck—and my hands reaching for his esophagus.
Something crashed behind me just as I felt hands yanking me back. My fingers brushed Owen’s skin, my nails leaving shallow scratches, and then he was out of reach.
“Argh!” I struggled against whoever held me, but couldn’t break their hold. I knew then it wasn’t Charlie holding me. I’d have broken free by now if it was. “Carter, let me go!” I demanded, still kicking and struggling as he dragged me toward the door.
“Calm down.” His words were punctuated by grunts and heavy breaths as he did his best to restrain me.
“Owen won’t hurt me,” Charlie said as she let Owen pull her to her feet, but I barely heard her. I was so consumed with the sight of her hand in his. Carter tightened his grip on me, and I wondered if he saw the contact, too.
“You’re going to bring the cavalry if you keep this up,” Carter said in my ear.
“Let them come!” I yelled. “He’s playing with her. For all we know he was going to eat her.”
“Regan, you bring them running and Charlie could get punished just as easily as him. Do you want the vamps blaming her for this? In their territory? Or worse, our own pack disciplining her? We both know how that could go for her.”
I hated it so much that he was right. I let out another growl before giving up on fighting his hold. He didn’t ease his grip, though.
“I’m done,” I snapped. “You can let go.”
Instead of releasing me, he slid his hand into mine and held tightly. His way of making sure I didn’t go back on my word. Still, it felt a lot like something else. Something I didn’t want to show Owen and Charlie. I grimaced when my attempts to pull away were unsuccessful.
“Now, Charlie,” Carter said, “you want to tell us exactly what’s going on here?”
Charlie’s brow rose at the sight of our joined hands, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she took Owen’s hand in her own again and sent me a tremulous smile. I rolled my eyes. She evidently trusted Carter’s ability to restrain me.
“It’s like I said before,” she began, her voice shaky. “Owen and I have been seeing each other for a while. I didn’t say anything for obvious reasons. But he’s not using me and he’s definitely not hurting me. So, you shouldn’t hurt him,” she said, giving me a pointed look.
“Huh. So this is consensual then?” Carter asked, as if that made it okay.
“Don’t encourage them,” I hissed.
“It is,” Owen told Carter, ignoring me. He met Carter’s gaze and something passed between them. The buzzing in my ears, which had dulled to almost nonexistent, roared all over again.
“This is ridiculous!” I turned my glare on Charlie. “If it’s true then you’re a traitor to your own kind,” I hissed.
Her expressions ran the gamut. First shocked then hurt. It settled on some combination of betrayal and anger. “A traitor?” she echoed. “A traitor?”
She took a step forward only to have Owen yank her back. He seemed unwilling to let her cross the invisible line we’d created between us. She was on his side. The knowledge made my cheeks burn with rage.
“You can’t betray a pack that isn’t yours,” Charlie hissed. “You think I owe you some sort of loyalty, but loyalty is earned, through respect. Of which I’ve had absolutely zero. You want me to call you family, to abide by your rules and stupid prejudices, but then you ignore me the moment your pack starts to suspect you see me as equal. Which you don’t. I’m a liability, nothing more. You’ve made that clear in the way you babysit me rather than accompany me anywhere. So don’t stand there and judge me. Or him. You know nothing about either of us and the little I know of you makes you a hypocrite—and someone I’m ashamed to call my sister.”
I opened my mouth and closed it again. Owen was watching me with a smug look on his granite face. I ignored him on purpose, but I couldn’t meet Charlie’s eyes either. Not now. Is that what she thought of me? After all the progress we’d made? And more importantly, why did it bother me so much? She was the one in the wrong.
Carter was right, though. If I ratted them out, it would only hurt Charlie. The most Owen would get is a slap on the wrist. And Dad seemed too set on the treaty going through to really care. But Sheridan and the others in the pack—they’d punish Charlie. More than they already had by shunning her. As much as Charlie hated me, I couldn’t let her be hurt. So I protected her. Again.
“Come on, Carter. We’re done here,” I said. Carter hesitated and I gave him a hard look. “Are you coming?” I asked.
“Regan, I think…” He winced as if bracing himself before finishing. “We should tell them.”
“What? Absolutely not,” I said, knowing full well what he meant. And furious that he’d suggested it.
“We need help figuring this out. Someone on their side would be perfect, and Owen’s clearly not going to do anything to hurt Charlie if he’s in l—”
“Don’t say it,” I hissed and Carter fell silent.
“Tell us what?” Charlie asked.
I didn’t answer. Mentally, I plotted all the ways I planned to kill Carter.
“Do you know something about the heart?” Charlie asked.
Owen caught my eye and I was shocked to see concern knitting his features. His hand wrapped protectively around Charlie’s shoulder. I clenched and unclenched my fists and then blew out a breath. God, I hated when Carter was right. We’d found our ally—his motivation to help us was airtight.
“The vamp that followed us that day we went shopping,” I said slowly, purposely avoiding Carter’s gaze. “Carter and I ran into him earlier. He told me some things about my mom and about the pack. It’s a long story—”
“We have time,” Owen put in, his words too earnest for me to argue.
As quickly as I could, I relayed my conversation with Valentino. First in my room and then tonight. Charlie’s eyes grew wider and wider the longer I talked. Carter moved in beside me and hovered there. I wasn’t sure how to feel about his protective stance, so I ignored him. When I was finished, Owen was the first to talk. Charlie wiped at a fallen tear and I ignored that too.
“Valentino. I know him. He works in the orchard,” Owen said.
“He used to be on your father’s council,” I told him. “An ambassador of some kind.”
He nodded, assessing me shrewdly. “I remember that. No one talks about why he stepped down.” He frowned. “It seems if we’re going to solve this, we’ll have to work together.”
I grimaced. “It seems that way, yes,” I said in a clipped voice.
“Regan, I’m really sorry about you mom,” Charlie said, stepping free of Owen’s touch and coming toward me. I realized her intention too late. I let her pull me into a hug, my arms awkward as they came around to pat her back. Charlie pretended not to notice my stiff response and squeezed me quickly before letting go. “Thank you for trusting us with all this,” she said. “I know it was hard for you.”
Her words made my eyes water.
“You’re right,” Carter said, stepping in when I didn’t answer. “We’re placing a lot of trust in you both.” He flashed a pointed look at Owen. “And we’re asking for that same trust. We won’t say anything about what we’ve seen here tonight if you’ll agree to help us.”
“You want us to coordinate our investigation,” Owen said.
It wasn’t a question, but Carter nodded. “What happened to Regan’s mom and what’s happening now with the threat against Charlie are related. We need to find the connection.”
“I agree.” He flicked a look at Charlie and then back at Carter. “I overheard my father talking to Mr. Vuk earlier. They’re going to hold the second round of the contest tomorrow—here. They think it’s safer. Now that we know differently, we need to be on our guard.”
“Tomorrow?” Charlie echoed. I tensed and she and I shared a worried look. “But when were they going to tell us?”
“When it came time to appear,” I said grimly, realizing this is how they wanted it. “We don’t get the luxury of preparation. Not for this one.”
Charlie stared at me and then nodded slowly. “I read about this in that book you gave me. They’re going to test our knowledge,” she said and her shoulders sagged as if in relief. Although I didn’t know why. The element of surprise, no time to study—not that I knew where to begin—didn’t make me feel good.
“This is good. You girls will be made to stand in front of everyone,” Carter said. “No one’s going to mess with you in plain sight like that. Too risky. Owen and I will keep watch. Take note of who attends, who doesn’t. Who looks overly pissed about the whole thing.”
Owen nodded, eyes glittering. “I’ll speak to Valentino tonight. Have him nearby as well. We’ll find them.” His voice left no doubt what he’d do when we did. For once, we were on the same page.
I nodded. “Good. We’ll talk again tomorrow.” I stepped forward until I was only inches from the pale-faced monster my sister had inexplicably fallen for. I ignored how much that fact made me think of my mom and Valentino. “If you do anything to backstab us on this, to hurt my sister, I’ll kill you,” I told him.
Charlie gasped, but Owen was unmoved. “If Charlie comes to harm, I won’t stop you,” he said.
I was prepared for him to snap back with a threat of his own. Not to agree with me. His martyr attitude took the fight out of me. Suddenly, I was exhausted. To hide it, I turned on my heel and stomped away.
“Good night,” Charlie said in a small voice. I didn’t reply.
Carter grunted a response and followed me to the door, close on my heels. I had a feeling he was waiting for me to try and fake him out, double back, go off. But I didn’t. I was done. With all of it. Valentino. My mom’s killer. Vamps. Charlie and Owen. At least for tonight I was going to pretend it didn’t exist. That I wasn’t about to lie down in a bed that reeked of the creatures I hated most, in a room decorated by the mother of the boy who was trying to steal my sister.
I was going to pretend I was home, resting up for the ceremony that would make me alpha to a pack that already belonged to me in ways that couldn’t be described on paper instead of a contest in which I’d be forced to do to Charlie exactly what she’d accused me of tonight: putting her down in front of the pack.
And when this was over, and I was alpha, my first order of pack business would be to kill my husband, Owen Rossi, treaty be damned. I just prayed Charlie would forgive me for it.