Page 15 of Wolf Crowned

I could almost see his face in my mind. The smile slipping away as his stoic sneer replaced it. “That sounds like a threat, Lincoln.”

My jaw worked as I tried to think of what to say. My mind was running a million miles a minute. “Not a threat if it’s true, Dad. It’s not just me. There’s plenty of other wolves that feel this way. Bad things are going to happen. I don’t want to see you or Sawyer dead. You are the only family I have left.”

The phone crackled, and I imagined he was on the verge of breaking it in half. “I think it’s you who don’t understand, Lincoln. Those other wolves are weak. They think they can play along with the humans and live in a peaceful, blissful existence. I saw the true light. Luna showed me she abandoned us.”

I scoffed. “Luna didn’t abandon us. Bad things happened, and it cost our family dearly. Sometimes things happen outside of your control.”

The phone crackled so loud that I had to move it away from my ear. “If Luna were here to protect us, she would’ve never allowed humans no less to murder your sister and mother.”

I huffed into the phone. It had been dumb to call him. I already knew that. There had been some small part of me that still hoped that my father could be talked down. I should’ve known that ship had sailed long ago.

I rubbed at my eyes. “I just don’t want to see you or Sawyer killed.” There was truth to my words. It shocked me. Part of me would always hold onto the way Dad had been before.

My dad howled with laughter like I’d told the funniest joke in the entire world. “I think you are mistaken.” His voice had taken on a hard edge.

“Nothing is going to happen to Sawyer and I. We will be fine. We don’t need your worry. You, on the other hand.”

His breathing grew heavy. My pulse spiked, and I held my breath as he continued with his threat. “I’m going to take everything from you because of your betrayal. Your little mate’s family. I’ll make her watch as I kill every last one of them. Make you both watch as I slaughter the pack. Then for your punishment, I’m going to kill that bitch as slowly and painfully as possible.”

I clenched my jaw so hard I was sure I was going to crack some teeth.

He wasn’t done yet, though. “Then if you’re lucky, I’ll kill you. But I might just take the satisfaction out of letting you live knowing that you let everyone that you cared about die and then you have to live with that for the rest of your very painful, tortured life.”

I hung up the phone, but his threat hung in the air. It hadn’t hit me until just now.

To win the war and protect my mates, I had to kill my dad.

Six

Sloane

The website couldn’t be restored. This was bad. Just another obstacle that we would have to figure out how to work through.

Like we needed another problem. We took one step forward and five back every day.

It seemed like that’s all I did anymore was detour one road block only to meet another. I wouldn’t let this stop me. I couldn’t. Too much was depending on me.

Lincoln and Brandon were sitting at the table with their heads together both scanning over the small laptop screen.

I put one hand on Lincoln’s shoulder and the other on Brandon’s. “How’s it going?”

Lincoln reached up and patted my fingers, but didn’t turn his gaze away from the computer. “I think between the two of us we can have the new site up in another day or two.”

A day or two seemed like forever when we were going to have to be going to meet Sawyer in the next week. It wasn’t enough time. But I couldn’t complain to them. They were doing everything they could already, and they were already reinventing the wheel as it was.

I gave them both a squeeze. “I appreciate it. I’ll have to switch up some tactics. Maybe go about this the old-fashioned way.”

Lincoln nudged Brandon. “We are a lot further along than we would be because of him.”

I didn’t know my brother could blush until now.

His cheeks took on a very rosie red. “I don’t know about all that.” He ran his hand under his nose and stared at the wall opposite us.

I gave my brother a little shake. “Don’t sell yourself short, Brandon.”

He gave me a half smile and then ducked his head down again as he buried his face in the monitor. I could see now why him and Lincoln got along. They were both kind of loaners and preferred the company of a laptop more than they did most people.

Lincoln pushed the laptop towards Brandon. “You should show her what you were showing me earlier.”

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