Page 2 of The Renegade Mate

“Who’s the girl?” I asked as Sam stepped back.

The girl was slender, about my height, but looked a hell of a lot better in tight jeans than I could ever pull off. The blood from the gash on her cheek had dried, and she’d put her auburn hair in a ponytail, though some strands had come loose and were stuck to the dried blood on her face.

Mason was staring at her like a lost puppy, but she was avoiding his gaze. Instead, when I asked the question, she turned her eyes to me. “I’m Shya,” she said, her voice quiet. “Michael’s daughter.”

“What?” I bugged my eyes out at Derek, but he remained silent. My best friend Sofia had been on a few dates with Derek about a year ago, but then he started to ghost her. Scared something bad had happened to him, she’d driven over to his house, except on the way there she saw him walk out of a bookshop with Shya and hug her. Derek was not a hands-on kinda guy, and Sofia was convinced something had been going on between Derek and Shya. Since then, Sofia and Derek had barely talked to each other and when they did, they were usually yelling.

I turned to Mason. “Seriously, what the hell is she doing here?” Michael was the Alpha of the Bridgetown Pack. Last I’d heard, Michael was plotting to invade us and start a war. Of course, I’d been out of contact for a few days when my fucking ex, Seth, had kidnapped me, beat me senseless, and kept me locked up in his basement. But even so, it was some turnaround if he was letting his daughter tag along with our renegade Pack.

Mason shrugged. “It’s fine, Mai. She’s been working as an informant to Derek. Besides, Michael’s backed off; he has other things to focus on now. Turns out the murders and the framing of Carson for them were all a plot by Tristan, the Bridgetown Beta, working with none other than our boy Brock to take over both Packs.”

Before I’d been taken by Seth, we’d suspected that Brock was up to something, but not this, not killing Jem and taking over the Pack. “How did this happen? How did they get away with it for so long?”

“He must have been planning this for a long time,” Mason growled. “We took our eyes off the ball, Mai. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “It’s no one’s fault.”

Mason looked at me, his eyes haunted. “Hayley killed Jem.” His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

“I know,” I whispered, choking back tears. The raw grief threatened to overwhelm me, but I couldn’t break down. Not now.

“She did it right in front of us. She didn’t even hesitate.”

“Tell me,” I demanded, needing to know how it happened.

Sam sighed. “We’d gone with Jem to the Alpha House. We knew about Brock’s plot, knew he’d started to take out our supporters. We were trying to form a base where our people could come for safety and where we could coordinate everything. Hayley was there. She met us at the door. She hu—” Sam choked off, unable to continue.

“She hugged him, Mai,” Mason said. “She hugged him and kissed him, then drove a silver knife into his heart. He never saw it coming. None of us did.”

“But why? Why would she do this? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know. As soon as Jem went down, Brock and his enforcers surrounded us. We barely got away. I think if we’d been any further into the house when she did it, we’d never have escaped. We’d all be dead on that floor alongside Jem.”

I could feel the tears rolling down my face. I couldn’t stop them. I turned, and Ryan was there, pulling me into him. He held me tight, soothing me, feeling my pain and his as it reverberated back and forth down our bond.

“I’m going to kill her,” I repeated, my voice steady and resolute. The others looked at me, and I could see the fire of revenge burning in their eyes. “We’re going to make her pay for what she’s done.”

“Damn right, we will,” Ryan growled, his grip on me tightening.

“We need a plan,” Derek said, finally breaking his silence. His voice was cold and distant, but his eyes were grim and resolved.

“First, we heal,” Ryan replied, his gaze roaming over all the injuries we had. “We’re no good to anyone like this. While we recover, we gather intel. Find out what their next move is and how best to counter it.”

“Agreed,” I said, looking around at my small band of loyal friends. “Our priority is protecting the Pack and each other. Then we get justice.”

“Speaking of the Pack,” Derek spoke, his voice low and cautious. “We did manage to get some news on the others.”

“Sofia?” I asked, knowing my voice betrayed my eagerness to hear about my best friend.

“Sofia and Jase are safe,” Derek continued, a hint of relief in his eyes. “They’re with Wally and Thomas. They’ll protect them.”

I breathed out loudly, feeling a weight lift from my chest. Knowing that Sofia and her brother were okay meant a lot.

“It’s good that we have friends on the inside,” Ryan said, a determined glint in his blue eyes. “We might need their help.”

I glanced at Ryan, not sure how I felt about using Sofia and Jase as spies for us. They were my friends; I wanted to protect them, not put them in danger.

“There’s one more thing you should know,” Derek said, taking a deep breath as if bracing himself. “Jem … He wanted you to take over the Pack. To be the Alpha pair.”

---