"Please, help me. I didn't do anything. I'm not lying." Her eyes pleaded with me. A nicer person, a less determined person might have felt bad. Not tonight. She'd picked the wrong person to play her games on.
I rubbed my chin and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. I gave her an easy smile. She blanched. Hmm. Guess that smile needed work. "If the next words out of your mouth aren't the truth, I'm walking out that door. It's best that way, believe me. Right now, I'd like to dismember you piece by piece then watch as you heal, so I can do it again."
My smile held all of the dark yearning and terrible wrath that I concealed on a daily basis. I let some of my darkness peak through. This time she flinched, her mouth shutting so she could watch me with the intensity of a rabbit faced with a wolf. Pretty funny since she really was a wolf.
"Caroline is my best friend. One of my only friends. You did something so horrible to her that she fled a place that was supposed to make her feel safe, at a time she needed it most." My voice was a low thrum in the quiet. The yearning for violence might have scared me a few years ago, but now I embraced it. She had to believe I would hurt her if she lied to me. Had to believe I'd make her wish she was dead.
She’d brought this on herself when she did whatever it was that sent Caroline fleeing into danger. I wouldn't forgive her for that, and if scaring her was the most I could do, I'd take it.
"She found out I was still seeing my boyfriend. The alpha decreed that we weren’t to have contact until he approved." The sneer in her voice made it clear what she thought of that order. "I don't think she planned to tell anyone, but I had to be sure. Jonathan can't go through another punishment."
"What did you do?" I asked, my voice doing that weird growl thing that happened when my emotions were too close to the surface.
Lisa gave a negligent shrug. "I just planned to threaten her a bit."
A yowl escaped me, the dangerous sound similar to what a cat makes when they mean business. The sound was deep, and promised pain for anyone stupid enough to keep pressing me. It was a warning.
Lisa jerked, her lips curling to expose teeth that were a lot sharper than they had been a moment ago. I tensed, ready to act if she thought to attack me. She settled down when Liam shifted forward, violence in every line of his body.
"Nothing too bad. I cornered her in her room. Said some things."
"You're lying again," I threatened, my voice full of power that had an odd reverberation to it.
"I let my wolf out. It was just supposed to scare her, but she flipped out. Next thing I knew, I was on my back, and she'd almost ripped off my arm. Clay and Sondra came in then." Lisa crossed her arms over her stomach, looking defiant even as her eyes moved between Liam and me. "Happy now?"
I held my body very still, the urge to go for her throat very strong. She'd just admitted to terrorizing Caroline, and she didn't even acknowledge that she'd done anything wrong. Yes, her blood would look very nice decorating her front.
"Aileen," Liam warned.
I took a deep breath and sat back. She wasn't worth it. Such an action would put the final nail on the coffin of Liam's conviction I needed someone watching me at all times. I was better than that, even if it would be satisfying to make her pay for her actions.
"What happened after that?" I asked.
"Nothing." Her eyes shifted away from me.
I snarled and darted forward, my fangs brushing her throat. "What did I say about lying?"
"I left a few presents in her room. Made her think I'd be coming for her again, but with more wolves this time."
I sat back, my fangs retreating into my gums as I looked over my shoulder at Liam. He was just behind my chair, his body poised for action. I kept my smile to myself, seeing he'd bought my act. "You have anything else to ask?"
His chin tilted down as he met my gaze for a long moment. His face was thoughtful. "No, nothing else for the moment."
The door opened to reveal Brax in the doorway, his face a dark cloud as his eyes went straight to Lisa. He didn't say anything, his power rolling into the room like a pack of angry wolves. The glow of it to my magic sight seethed with rage. It was a burning, living thing.
Lisa flinched, hunching into the couch and looking terrified of her alpha. I couldn't bring myself to feel an ounce of sympathy for her. She'd brought this on herself.
"I’ll be taking my wolf now," he said, his voice a dangerous thrum in the quiet.
Liam didn't protest. I remained in my seat, watching through veiled eyes as Lisa jumped up looking like a shade of the confident, sunny woman I'd met when I first came in. She scuttled to the doorway, careful not to brush against Brax as he stepped aside to let her out.
He lingered once she disappeared, the power that had saturated the room pulling back until he wore it like a cloak. He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking suddenly tired.
"Why was nothing done to protect Caroline after the first attack?" Liam asked.
It was a question I should have asked, but fury and rage were too close to the surface to make speaking right now a good idea. Worse, I could feel the familiar burn behind my eyes that said I wasn't far from a crying fit sparked by all this surplus emotion. It wasn't that I was sad. It's just when I was thrown into a rage, my body sometimes got confused, which caused that awful thing called tears. It had been the bane of my professional life, and I'd learned the best thing to forestall it was to go silent until I got my emotions back under an iron grip.
Brax's sigh was heavy and tired sounding. "We didn't know what caused the altercation. Neither of them would tell us, and we assumed it was because Lisa threatened Caroline's personal space. It's happened before with other pups."
The chair arm cracked under my grip. Neither Brax nor Liam commented, though they both glanced in my direction.
"I knew there was something more between them, but I had to tread lightly. You managed to get more out of her than my people did. Good work." That last piece was aimed at me.
"Does this change anything?" My voice was tight and raw from the stranglehold created by my turbulent emotions.
Brax hesitated, the expression on his face answer enough. I went back to staring at the wall. "I'm sorry, but the former problems still remain. We need to find her before she hurts anyone else."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I CLOSED MY eyes and let my head fall back against the chair, listening as his quiet footsteps moved down the hall. There was a rustle of movement as Liam came to sit on the couch Lisa had occupied moments before.
"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked.
"Do what?" I asked, without opening my eyes.
"Question someone. Get them to make mistakes and then capitalize on those mistakes to get at the truth."
I made a small sound of amusement.
"You were quite skilled. For a moment, I thought you were falling for her act. I even thought I might need to save you. Force her hand."
"Did you now?"