Page 29 of Rejected Wolf Mate

My jaw tensed as that prickling unease grew to a crescendo. He wasn’t going to let me leave without telling me whatever it was he wanted me to do. Best to get it over with.

“What?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I might have been… disingenuous about my motives when we last spoke,” he said.

At first, I didn’t know what he meant. Then it all came together. The things the Silver Wolves had told me, the things I had dismissed out of hand because I couldn’t accept the alternative, all the information I’d found out from Rand, the questions Dana had asked. It all clicked, fitting into a pattern that only meant one thing.

“You didn’t just want intel,” I said flatly.

“Oh, I wanted intel, I promise,” he said. “But I needed it more to strategize how to eliminate a problem rather than circumvent it.”

My head spun, my mouth turning dry. Eliminate.

“You want to kill the Silver Wolves,” I said.

“I have larger plans that they would get in the way of,” he said. “So I figure it’s best if they’re out of the picture entirely.”

“What are those larger plans?” I asked, though it didn’t really matter. All that mattered at the moment was that I’d been tricked and the Silver Wolves were now in trouble because of me.

But when Ansel spoke again, I realized just how badly I screwed up, and it turned out those larger plans mattered quite a bit.

“I would assume it’s obvious,” he said. “The council and their ways have become archaic, outdated. I think it’s time for some fresh blood, don’t you?”

My mouth opened, my head spinning. He wanted to get rid of the council?

“There are dozens of other spec-ops groups that will stop you,” I said. “And that’s not including the military. Even if you got rid of the Silver Wolves, you won’t get far.”

He gave a wolfish grin that showed all his teeth. “You’re acting as though we’re going after the council next week. This is one of the early steps, you have to understand.”

I could barely breathe. It was as though all the air had been pushed out of me. I had never expected anything like this. If I’d known, I would have run away years ago. Guilt and horror battled inside me as I processed the words.

“But all that’s beside the point,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You have a very important and vital role to play. All of the Silver Wolves are dangerous, but how much easier would it be if one of them was already taken care of by someone they trusted?”

My breath caught as the world seemed to stop around me. I gaped at Ansel.

“You want me to kill Rand?” I asked.

He nodded.

I shook my head. “No. Not happening.”

He raised his eyebrows. He didn’t look surprised or angry, just inquisitive. “I would have thought you would jump at that chance,” he said.

“Things change,” I retorted. “I’m not going to help you kill anyone. That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Perhaps not,” he said, still not seeming angry in the slightest. But the confidence in his tone and posture unsettled me. “But let’s say it’s part of a new deal.”

A growl grew in my throat as I bristled, glowering at Ansel. “No. I did my job, now I’m out. I’m going home, and that’ll be the end of it. That was what we agreed on.”

“You want to go home?” he asked. The smirk playing on his lips made my insides squirm. I hesitated, the last of my confidence ebbing away as I glanced between him and Dana as they both stared at me.

“No shit,” I said.

“You want to go back to your sister?”

“That’s none of your business,” I said.

He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I will say I think you’ll be rather disappointed if you go home now. I doubt you’d find her there.”

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