“I don’t know.” Standing, he once again fished out his cell. “I have to call Dante.”
She grabbed her own phone. “I’ll be talking to Ethan. I want to know why he didn’t tell me what happened.” It turned out that Ethan hadn’t told her straightaway because someone was starting to speculate that Riley was somehow involved, and Ethan hadn’t wanted her anywhere near the mob of people whose emotions were running high. When she passed on that information to Tao, his face turned a disturbing shade of red.
“You are shitting me,” rumbled Tao.
“I wish I was.” Hurt, angry, and confused, Riley began to pace. “Ethan avoided the question when I asked him who it was. I don’t know why.”
“How can anyone suspect you?” His wolf bared his teeth, pissed beyond belief. “Everyone knows that you were there when both Ethan and Lucy were shot! How the fuck could it have possibly been you?”
“They think that I have one of the Phoenix Pack hiding in the mountains, doing the shootings.”
Tao swore. “We have to get out of here, Riley.”
She came to a halt. “Tao—”
“No, this isn’t a negotiation.”
Bristling, she was about to snap at him, but then she heard familiar voices outside. Riley stayed in place while Tao opened the door for the Phoenix wolves.
Dante strode in, fairly vibrating with anger. “I cannot fucking believe this shit. What did Sage say, word for word?”
Tao quickly relayed the conversation to his pack mates.
“They’re seriously blaming Riley? I say we just get out of here,” declared Makenna.
Tao nodded. “I agree.”
“You guys go if you want,” said Riley. “I’m staying.”
“I can understand why you’d want to stay, Riley,” Dante told her. “In your position I’d want blood too. But we’ve questioned every person in this flock and we still can’t be positive who’s doing this.”
“If I were Alpha,” began Ryan, “I would have detained every suspect and separated potential targets for their own protection. Sage hasn’t done a single thing. If his own daughter wasn’t shot, I’d suspect he had something to do with not only this but with what happened four years ago.”
Riley blinked. “Sage? Really?”
“You don’t think it’s convenient that both of his daughters weren’t at Alec’s party that night?” asked Ryan. “He was also the one to arrange a celebration for your uncles’ anniversary—he had to know Lucy would invite you. Maybe he wanted you here to tie up loose ends.”
Riley hadn’t really considered that. “But . . . he loves Lucy, and he was at the scene when she was shot right in front of us.”
“Which are yet more reasons why I don’t suspect him,” said Ryan. “But I also don’t trust him. I don’t like his lack of action.”
Tao turned to Riley. “We’ve done what we can to find out who it is, and we can only be sure of three things: One, they can’t shoot worth shit or you, Lucy, and Sawyer would all be dead. Two, if this is about finishing Wade’s job, they have a grudge against the five of you remaining from your age-group. Three, if they are related to the past shootings, they’re cunning and manipulative to have done what they did to Wade and kept the entire flock fooled all these years. Much as I hate to say it, we’re no closer to finding out who they are now than we were when we first got here. It’s time to go home.”
“I can’t leave.” Riley shook her head. “Not now.”
“For fuck’s sake, Riley!” Tao threw up his arms. “What the hell can you possibly do here?”
Nothing. She knew that. But walking away after Ethan, Lucy, and Sawyer had been shot . . . it felt disloyal, as if she were leaving them to deal with the entire mess. Riley knew intellectually that she wasn’t to blame for what was happening, but her arrival had still somehow triggered it. She didn’t know how or why, only that it might never have happened if she hadn’t come. To just run back to Phoenix Pack territory and leave them to their fate felt wrong. Maybe it didn’t make a lot of sense, but that was how she felt.
“This isn’t up for debate,” snapped Tao. “We’re leaving. Pack your shit and let’s go.”
She lifted her chin at his dictatorial tone. Her raven let out a pissed-off croak. “Don’t ever think you can intimidate me into doing what you want,” she clipped. “Throw your dick and dominance around all you want, but I have my own mind and I’ll damn well use it.” She looked at the others. “I appreciate that you came to help. You’ve done more than enough and I really don’t blame you for leaving, but I can’t go.” With that she spun on her heel and stalked up the stairs.
“Riley, we’re not done here!” Tao clenched his fists against the urge to punch the wall. He turned to his pack, eyes flashing wolf. “She can’t be serious about staying.”
“I can understand why she’s torn, Tao,” said Jaime. “She lost her parents. This whole thing will be bringing it all back—the loss, the pain, the fear. Especially since one of the people who was almost killed is one of the people who raised her. I’d want the bastard’s blood too.”
Tao’s mouth tightened. “Her life is more important than revenge.”
“I’ll bet if you ask her,” began Makenna, “you’ll find out that this is about more than just revenge. She grew up with these people, Tao. They were here for her like your pack mates were there for you. A couple of them might be assholes, but others have been good to her and they’ve loved her. For Riley, leaving probably feels like abandoning them all to whatever danger lies ahead.”
He closed his eyes. “Fuck, I hadn’t thought of that.”
Makenna gave him a weak smile. “Talk to her, Tao. All she’s hearing now is you trying to bully her into doing what you want. That’s not going to get past her anger or the chaos in her head—that’s just going to put her on the defensive.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not good at talking.”
“I know, but you’ve got more chance of getting through to her than any of us have,” said Makenna. “She’s—much like you, actually—arbitrarily stubborn. If anyone can talk her into leaving, it’s you. Your worry will mean more to her than ours.”
Dante took Jaime’s hand. “We’ll head back to the cabins and pack. Convince Riley to do the same so we can all get the fuck out of here.”
After the front door closed behind his pack mates, Tao inhaled a deep breath and made his way up the stairs. He needed to be calm, he told himself. Calm. Patient. Nonconfrontational.
Basically, he needed to not be himself.
He found Riley sitting on the chair near the window, her face in a book. It was a dismissive act that raised his hackles. Be calm, he reminded himself.
She didn’t pay him the slightest bit of attention as he crossed the room, not even when he came to a halt in front of her. She just kept her gaze on that damn book he knew full well she wasn’t even reading.
“Riley, we need to talk.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
His wolf growled. “Well, you’re going to.”