“So you don’t think I’m ruthless enough?”
Robert nodded at Ascanio. “I like the boy. He’s smart and brave. Funny. But when Hugh was playing with his life, I would’ve let him die.”
I turned to him.
“I would’ve mourned him with his mother,” Robert said. “I would’ve felt terrible and grieved. But I would’ve let d’Ambray kill him. He’s just one of the Pack’s children. You’re the Consort. If you had let yourself be taken by d’Ambray, we would’ve been leaderless. I would have to go to the Pack with the news that d’Ambray had captured you, and they would have marched on the Casino to either save you or retaliate. It would be a bloodbath. So as painful as it is, I would’ve let Ascanio die.”
“I can’t do that.” I didn’t want to lead, but now I was doing it and that was the only way I knew how.
“I know,” Robert said. “I think it goes against your nature. It makes you a better person than many. That’s what I am trying to say. We, the alphas, we’re not always good people. We try to be, but there are times when there are no good choices. If my clan were running from an enemy, I would sacrifice myself for their sake in a heartbeat. But if they were running to a door only I knew how to open, I would race ahead of them even if it meant that some of those behind me might fall. We think in numbers, not individuals.”
I didn’t know what I would do. It depended on who was behind me.
“You saved Ascanio,” Robert said. “But now Roland and d’Ambray know you have a weakness and they will use it against you. They will take someone you love and threaten to kill them, because they know you won’t be able to pass up that bait. You have to prepare to sacrifice your friends.”
If I had to do it over again, I would’ve done the same thing.
“I will stand with you for as long as I can,” Robert said. “But if I am asked about what happened in the Order’s chapterhouse, I will tell the Pack Council my opinion on it. No matter how I phrase it, all of them will see it in the same light Thomas and I do. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” I looked at him. “I respect you as a fighter and as an alpha. Without you we wouldn’t have survived the night. If you ever need help, I will help you. You may want to let the Pack Council know that they may call as many votes as they want when this mess is over. However, if any of them do anything to derail my efforts to save our people by starting some sort of no-confidence vote while I’m trying to avert this war, I’ll have them confined to their quarters. I’m pretty tired of being judged on every turn, and my patience is short.”
Robert nodded. “Yes, Consort.”
He walked out. I leaned against the wall. Just what I needed. I hadn’t shown Hugh any gaps in my armor. He already knew them; he’d figured me out last summer. Now the Pack knew them as well. The Pack Council would have a field day with it when this was over.
That was fine. I failed Mauro. But Ascanio, Derek, and Desandra survived.
I was beginning to think in numbers. Well, wasn’t that sad?
The door swung open and Jim loomed in the doorway. “We found Double D.”
? ? ?
I STRODE THROUGH the hallways at a near run. “Where did you find her?”
“She was hiding at her cousin’s house in the attic,” Jim said.
“Have you called the alphas?”
“Yes.”
“The rats, too?”
He bristled. “What about the rats?”
“They think you’re hiding information from them.”
“I hide information from everyone. Do they think they’re special?”
I walked into the Pack Council room. A large table dominated the space, and what could be gathered of the Pack Council occupied the chairs: Robert and Thomas Lonesco; Martha, the female alpha of Clan Heavy; the betas from Clan Nimble, the female alpha of the jackals, Andrea for Clan Bouda, and Desandra, pale and bald.
“Where is the alpha of the wolves?”
George, Mahon’s daughter, looked up from her spot at a small desk. “She declined to attend. She sends her apologies.” She pointed at Desandra. “She’s all we could scrounge up on short notice.”
“Yeah,” Desandra said, her voice dry. “I’m a substitute alpha.”
Well, of course. Because this meeting wouldn’t end well for Double D, and Jennifer didn’t want to deal with the fallout. When the wolves pitched a fit and demanded to know why one of their own was sent to the People, she would tell them she had nothing to do with it. It was all Desandra’s fault. Marvelous.
“I thought your teeth fell out?”
“They did.” Desandra bared a new sharp set at me. “I found out I was coming to this meeting and they grew all on their own.”
Someone was pissed off.
I walked to the head of the table and sat in my chair, trying to valiantly ignore the fact that Curran’s chair stood empty next to me. If I let even a tiny bit of anxiety show, I would lose the Pack Council. They would begin to bicker and we wouldn’t come to a decision.
“Bring her in, please,” I said.
The door opened and Barabas led Dorie Davis inside. She didn’t look like a bombshell. She didn’t look like a streetwalker either. She looked perfectly ordinary. A woman in her early thirties, with a rounded face, blue eyes, and a shoulder-length blond bob. Not too athletic, not too curvy. Soft. The kind of woman who probably lived in the suburbs, made school lunches for her kids, and indulged in a glass of wine in the afternoon.
Barabas cleared his throat.
“Go ahead,” I told him.
He turned to Dorie. “Before we start, you need to know your rights. Everyone here is either an alpha, an acting alpha, or a member of the legal department. According to state law, no alpha can be compelled to testify against a member of their pack. The State of Georgia has no jurisdiction in this room. Nothing disclosed here can be used against you in a court of law.”
But it could be used against her in ours.
“Tell me what happened last night,” I said.
Dorie sighed, her face defeated. “I met Mulradin at the Fox Den.”
“Was he a regular client?” Robert asked.
“Yes, for the last ten months. He paid well. We had sex. He was getting ready for round two when someone busted through the door. There were six of them and they had shotguns. I was in my wolf form with a collar on and chained to the wall. One of them fired into the wall and showed the rest of the bullets to me. They were silver. The big one with dark hair told me that they would take turns shooting me. He said that I wouldn’t die right away. He said they would keep shooting me until I did what they wanted me to do.”
“Did you try to escape?” I asked.
“They were pointing shotguns at me.”
I took that as a no. “Describe the ‘big one’ to me.”
“In his thirties, over six feet tall. Very good shape. Muscular. Dark hair. Blue eyes.”
Hugh. “What happened then?”
“He told me that I had to kill Mulradin. If I tore him up, they would let me go.”
She stopped.
“So?”
“So I did.” Her voice was flat. “He screamed a lot. It was horrible. Then they took off my collar and I ran.”
So simple. No big mystery. Hugh had held her at gunpoint so he could manufacture this whole incident.