“I’d have said the same if I hadn’t seen it myself,” Chase said. “I didn’t know where they went. I haven’t heard of any raids in the area, and there hasn’t been a rogue settlement in our woods in many months.”
“They’re likely the ones I killed last night,” he told them. “A witch is hexing them to do her bidding.”
“Why?” Chase asked.
“When I figure that out, I’ll let you know,” he lied.
“Could it be after the human you’re hiding in your bedroom?” Kendrick asked.
He folded his arms and met the obnoxious Alpha’s gaze until he lowered his head. Why would he even suspect the attacks were anything to do with Layla unless he knew something?
“It’s just a question, Your Highness,” Kendrick said quickly. “We saw her in your window as we were coming in. She looks like a lovely creature, even if she doesn’t belong here.”
“So you think the witch is after the human because she’s a ‘lovely creature’?” he growled.
“Forgive me, that is not what I meant. I was just stating that she’s a beautiful woman,” Kendrick said. “But she’s the only thing that changed here recently, so maybe...”
“How do you know what’s changed in my pack?”
Another traitor in his pack? How was he supposed to deal with so many trust issues? If Cain had his way, they would all be dead.
“I assumed again, Your Highness,” Kendrick said.
But there was the slightest fluctuation in his heartbeat., The tiniest hint of fear in the air. Lies. Kendrick was lying.
“How do you know where my bedroom is?” he asked the Alpha. “I’ve never invited you here before.”
Chase sat back and watched the proceedings. The amusement Chase felt went a little way into dispelling his belief that the two of them were working together but not completely.
When Kendrick didn’t answer, tensions rose among everyone seated at the table and the warriors guarding them standing along the walls.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’m afraid that was my doing.”
He took his attention away from Kendrick to look at the woman beside him. She gave him a coy smile before she lowered her gaze.
“I’ve been here before. I have been invited by your Beta several times,” she revealed.
Dylan would never jeopardise the safety of the pack for a woman. But he couldn’t deny that they had seemed a little too friendly, and Dylan had gone out of his way to introduce the woman as if she meant something. Maybe he hadn’t been trying to set him up after all.
‘Dylan!’ he said through the mind link.
Since he had practically banished his Beta for the day, he wasn’t at the table with them.
‘Yes, Alpha?’
‘Did you invite this woman into my house before today?’
‘Yes, Alpha. I met her in town at a club a few months ago. Around the time you started trying to have a pup.’
Around the time he’d been fucking any woman that showed any interest. He knew that was what Dylan had meant. In his desperation, he hadn’t been very picky. But he would have known Amber was from Kendrick’s pack even then, and he wouldn’t have touched her.
He shook his head and looked back at the woman and then at her Alpha. Though Amber had spoken the truth, there was still a hint of a lie in her words. Perhaps she was stretching the truth. She’d probably manipulated an invitation from Dylan for a reason.
“Maybe we should get back to the matter at hand before things go too far?” Chase suggested. “I’m still concerned about these rogues. How did you find them?”
Chase was right. If he could get them out of his house without killing anyone, his child’s future would be a little safer. He had to focus on that.
For a moment, he expected Cain to have something to say, but the beast remained as silent as he had been since he had promised to take matters into his own hands.