Page 30 of Wolf's Endgame

“It’s complicated.”

“It really isn’t, Cannon,” Nikan snapped, and I saw Leo nod in agreement. “An alpha in the next pack, undeclared, is a threat to us all.”

“I only figured it out recently,” I countered defensively. “Kris doesn’t want the pack. He was working his own angle.”

“Which is?”

The question hung between us.

“Cannon?” Nikan pressed.

“I don’t know.” I avoided all eye contact as I admitted how badly I’d dropped the ball. “But I do know we need to find him.”

“Find him, find Kezia, we’re not fucking scavenger hunters!” Nikan was on his feet. “Bale is the threat to this pack. He needs to be eliminated.” Nikan and Leo exchanged a look before my brother looked back at me. “Then we deal with their alpha.”

“Kris is not their alpha,” I reminded them sharply.

“Yet,” Royce amended.

I stared at Royce in disbelief. “Kris is no threat to us.”

“Yet,” Nikan echoed Royce. My brother’s temper was overriding his common sense.

“And he won’t be, because his little sister is my mate.” Inhaling deeply, I looked around the room. “He keeps her safe, he would never hurt her. Hurting me is hurting Kezia.” I gave them a shrug. “Plus, he likes me. We get along well. There is no fight there. Trust me.”

“Oh fuck, we’re doomed,” Nikan groaned, dropping back onto the couch. “Our alpha is testing pack safety on how popular he is.”

“We’ll be annihilated,” Royce kidded back.

“I thought it was only Tev that stabbed me in the back,” I grouched as I glared at my brother and my beta.

The reminder sobered them both.

“What next?” Doc asked the suddenly quiet room.

“If Bale has acted against Kris, we need to move. Removing the threat of someone who can control him with their Will is the first thing I would do,” I reasoned. “Kris is his daughter’s mate, so he wouldn’t hurt him…I don’t think.” I wouldn’t bet my life on it, but I never said that. “The shaman was hurt?” When more than one of my companions nodded, I chewed my inner cheek. “Retaliation? Or a move to strike?”

“A shaman is the Goddess’s power on earth,” Leo mused. “Remove an alpha and the influence of the Goddess, it evens the odds in your favor.”

“Add in an armory of silver, and you’ve got one hell of an advantage,” I added grimly. “What a fucking mess.”

“You know,” Doc piped up, looking uncertain. “The more we talk and the more I hear, I don’t think this has anything to do with you.”

“What?” Nikan turned his full attention to the Doc. “You saying my brother isn’t as popular as he thinks he is?”

Doc gave him a flat look. “I think it may be a benefit, but honestly? It sounds like a coincidence.”

“How so?” Royce leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

“It seems the focus is on the siblings. Kezia was taken or tricked into leaving. Her brother, we think, has been taken. Only Tev struck against this pack.”

“Our alpha has been brought down for weeks.” Leo leaned back in his seat as he thought about it. “Plenty of time to wage an attack, when we are at our weakest.”

“We’re a strong pack,” I countered. “They don’t need me as much as you think.”

“We still need our alpha,” Royce corrected quickly. “We are strong, but we are strongest with you among us.” He shifted in his seat as he thought about it. “What if they didn’t make their move because they were waiting on us to make ours?”

“And in that time, they moved against the ones Bale actually wanted rid of,” Leo concluded. “We’ve played right into their hands?”

---