Page 99 of Wolf's Endgame

“Coming with you.” She pulled her long blonde hair into a high ponytail. “You think my mate is going to war against my father, who wants to kill us, and I’m going to sit here and bite my nails?”

“You’re pregnant.”

“Even more reason why I will not let my mate go without me.”

I watched her as I reached for my own hoodie. “You marked him?”

Cannon and I had made the mate mark the night we completed the mate bond. I’d noticed, almost by accident, that Kris and Cass had no mark. They were mated, there was no doubt, but they hadn’t marked each other.

“I told him I was pregnant,” Cass said, with a flush in her cheeks. “Your brother was very happy.”

I grinned. “Nice.” I frowned as I realized what I had said. “Ugh, ew, no. Not nice.”

Cass smiled wider before she turned serious again. “I won’t lose him, Kez. Tell me you’re defying your mate’s order too?”

We shared a conspirator’s smile. “Does a bear shit in the woods?”

Together we hurried down the stairs, and I directed Cass to the back door. We’d need to be quick to get out of town and then make it past the perimeter guards. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her to a stop as we passed the kitchen counter.

A pitcher of water sat between two cups, both of which had herbs in them.

“What?”

“There.” I pointed to the cups. “The shaman…” I reached for the water.

Cass gripped my arm. “What if it’s to knock us out?” she hissed.

Pushing her hand off me, I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I scolded her.

“He’s on the alpha’s side.”

Looking at Cass incredulously, I fought the urge to slap her. “We’re on the alpha’s side, dumbass.”

She looked stumped momentarily before knocking my hand away again from reaching for the cup. “Not on this. They want us here. We don’t want to be here. He could be working with them.”

“Has pregnancy made you stupid?” I poured water into my cup. “This better work cold.” Swirling the mixture, I watched as the water changed color, and then knowing the shaman’s potions better than I should, I held my nose as I drank the concoction down.

After a few moments, I beamed at Cass. “See? Not dead. Or unconscious. Come on, drink, we’re wasting time.”

Cass took longer to drink than I did, but she wasn’t as familiar with all of the shaman’s concoctions as I was. She was still gagging when we got to the back door. Looking at her over my shoulder, I had a twinge of guilt as I took in her pale, drawn face.

“Are you up for this?” I glanced at her stomach. “It’s not just you anymore.”

Cass’s lower lip trembled, but she nodded firmly. “This is my family.”

“Yeah, but half of your family could be trying to kill us.”

“My dad,” she choked. “Pack Leader Bale killed my mom.” Tears welled in her eyes, but they didn’t fall. “Even if he didn’t administer the blow, he left her in a cell to die. Alone. My brother? I know he’s got his issues, but he would never put a silver collar on my neck. I know it in my soul. Your alpha and his pack see him as an enemy—he isn’t. I know it, Kez. I need to do this for my mate and my brother. My unborn child. It’s my family, Kez.”

“Our family,” I corrected her. “Landon’s shady, he’s up to something, but I agree…he’d never hurt you.”

“Or you.” I could argue, but I merely looked away. Her hand on my arm caused me to look back at her. “He knows what you can take. He may have pushed, but he wouldn’t. Unless…” She swallowed. “Unless he’s desperate. He’s desperate, Kez. I need to get to him before he does something so monumentally stupid…”

“He is stupid,” I agreed. “This wasn’t supposed to be a rescue mission for Landon,” I scolded her as I eased the door open.

Cass scoffed. “Course it was. He’s your best friend.”

“I thought that was you,” I snarked as I peeked out onto the street.

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