Page 49 of Heartless

My frustration instantly tipped over to rage. “I hit my head? How about being punched in the face, asshole?”

Callum looked unconcerned. “Whatever she’s telling you, it’s just another fucking lie.” He swept the chamber with his burning black eyes, before coming up hard against his cousin. I couldn’t be sure, but he seemed to fight a spasm of fear, before his lip curled. “I’ll tell you where she was. A truck picked her up last night and she went to meet with the Barakats.”

“Truth,” Charlie said, and it took a moment to realize he was testing the air, scenting my lies. But two could play that game.

“Then why don’t you tell them how I got there, Callum?” I spat. “You forced me out of this cave and then kidnapped me!” I looked at Charlie. “I’m telling the truth, too, right?”

“You believe it,” Reed replied with a shrug. “But you’ve lied to us before and got away with it.” I swallowed hard, because he was right. I’d let them believe I was the Clan Luna, a position I had even less claim to now. But instead of pushing me, Reed glanced at Callum. “Why would Alphason Sawyer take you to the Barakats, Vail? He knows you’re needed here. Why would he risk Jay and help our enemies?”

The questions struck an odd note, and I wanted to turn and see if they made Callum wince, but I kept my chin up, my eyes on Reed. “I can’t tell you that. But Trey can make people do what he wants.”

Reed took a step towards me, a tic pulsing in his jaw. “What did he make you do, Vail?”

For a moment, I thought about telling them everything. I knew the truth about my panther blood would have to come out soon, anyway, but it was what came after, that made me hesitate. I just couldn’t tell them Trey and I were mated until I’d explained it to Jasper. But maybe Callum knew I was wavering, because he strode forward and grabbed my arm. The loathing in his eyes was so intense, I felt my cat’s claws bite into my palms. Maybe he could sense that too, because he instantly went in for the kill. “You think he forced her? She’s been a Barakat plant since day one. And everyone knows they’re the Denners’ mutts. And who do they work for? Old Man Fucking Marrow! Why she was ever allowed to step foot on Hunter Moon soil is the real mystery.”

I gaped at him. “That is such bullshit! Callum, I know you want to protect Jasper…”

He glared down at me. “You’re the lying dud who nearly got our Clan Alpha killed. Who’s been working with our enemies since the day she was crapped out of the asshole of the Horn!”

“Just tell us!” Reed moved to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Callum. “Explain your relationship with Trey Barakat, or we’ll force it out of you.”

I backed up, overwhelmed, but Charlie moved so quickly to cut me off, I bounced off his chest. He didn’t grab me, but it was enough like another ambush to make my cat push up to the surface of my skin. The usual pins and needles feeling was a thousand times stronger, my bones vibrating as they prepared to shift. It was obvious they could all feel it, but it was only Callum who knew what was happening. And just like the night of the Frost Moon, the knowledge put a wild glitter in his eyes.

“Over my dead body!” Marnie was suddenly storming across the cave, her alpha power sparking in front of her like a lightning strike. “Where did you fool males learn to interrogate someone?” Ignoring Reed’s furious glare, she pulled me free of their circle and gripped me tightly by the shoulders. “Vail, have you ever in your life worked with the Denners?”

“Never.”

“Vail, have you ever in your life wanted to hurt the Clan Alpha?” Before I could open my mouth, she gave me an eye-roll and flapped her hands. “I don’t mean the times you wanted to slap him stupid for not trusting you, or generally acting like an alphadouche.” She punctuated this with another glare at my ambushers. “What I’m asking, is have you ever meant him actual harm?”

“No, of course not. I love him. I would die first.”

Maybe my declaration was a little too raw for the males in the room, but Marnie just smiled. “Truth,” she said, with a smug look in their direction. “You all heard it.”

“Doesn’t change what she is,” Callum said grimly, and took his phone from his pocket. He thumbed the screen, and I knew what he was getting ready to show them. He didn’t need to force me to shift, when he had the evidence of what I was on his phone. But before he could play the video, Theo put his hand on his cousin’s arm. Callum immediately shook him off. “Stay out of it, Theo.”

“You can’t do this. You know it’s wrong.” It was a frustrating fact of pack life that dominant wolves often ignored the opinions of omegas, but right then, Theo had everyone’s attention. “Your issue isn’t with Vail. Don’t do something you’ll regret, or it will haunt you.”

“You’re a lousy bookworm, Theodore, and an even worse shrink,” he spat, and with a vicious swipe of his thumb, the sounds of my forced shift by the mineral pool filled the quiet cave. Instead of watching the video, Marnie’s gaze snapped to mine, her gaze full of sympathy. But Reed and Charlie were unmoving, their attention fixed on the phone.

“Vail,” Theo said from behind me, a note of steel in his voice. “Dominant members of the same family can force a shift on each other.” I glanced quickly at his face, confused, but he nodded at his cousin. “He did it to you, after all.”

What was he saying?

Callum whirled on him, almost dropping his phone, but Theo just tapped the leather cuff on his wrist. “Remember how I told you this keeps my animal under wraps?” He looked pointedly at his cousin’s leather pants. “Did you ever think he had something to hide, too?”

“Fuck, Theo!” Callum exploded, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “You swore a blood oath, you asshole!”

“We were kids,” Theo said flatly. “And you were less of an alphadouche back then.”

Marnie sniggered at that, but my cat was suddenly right behind my eyes. Callum had taken a step back, and as she watched the retreating male with predatory interest, my human brain finally caught up. Theo was saying his cousin wasn’t just a hybrid, but if I really could force his shift, it meant he was part of the panther family, too.

Urgh.

As if my gene pool wasn’t murky enough with the Burrow Cats.

But still. The predator in me definitely liked the idea of payback.

“What are you hiding, Callum?”

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