Page 99 of What a Wolf Demands

“What’s weird?” Max asked behind him.

Duncan swiveled. “Sorry, Alpha. I, um, didn’t catch anything.”

“Nothing?”

“I’ll try again,” Duncan said, seeming to shake off his confusion. He gave Lily an encouraging smile. “Same question, okay? Did you kill Charlie LaFont?” As soon as he said it, he closed his eyes.

“No.”

Duncan’s eyelids fluttered. The same frown lined his otherwise smooth forehead. Again, he opened his eyes, his gaze confused . . . almost disturbed.

Max leaned forward. He couldn’t see Duncan’s face from his position, but he must have sensed the tension. “Anything?”

“No.” Duncan shook his head, his gaze on Lily. “It’s the weirdest thing. It’s like there’s a blank. Like my Gift is just . . . gone.”

Thibeaux’s voice was nasty. “It’s because she’s a latent.”

Someone on the New York side of the room let out an angry gasp.

Lily stared at Duncan, her face stricken.

Dom’s heart flipped over. If the best Tracker in the territory couldn’t clear her name, who could?

Max rose, his pale eyes like ice as he glared at Thibeaux. “I don’t know how you do things in Bon Rêve, Thibeaux, but we don’t discriminate against latents here.” It was one of the not-so-secret sources of Max’s power. He accepted latents into his pack, many of whom Turned just by being in close proximity to Lizette. It had taken everyone a while to make the connection. Now that word of her Bloodsinger ability had spread, the territory was inundated with requests from parents desperate for Max to accept their latent sons and daughters for training.

What was normally regarded as a weakness had suddenly become a fast track to joining the wealthiest, more powerful territory in the country.

Thibeaux got to his feet, his face growing red. “Mark my words, Simard. Your love affair with latents will be your undoing.” He pointed a shaking hand at Lily. “She murdered my friend. She’s probably feral.”

There were more angry gasps. Remy shifted in his chair, clearly ready to fight if necessary. Dom forced himself to stay seated, even though every part of him wanted to lurch across the chairs and grab Thibeaux by the throat. Fighting would solve nothing—and it would very probably end up with someone hurt or killed.

Max stared at Thibeaux the way someone might look at a particularly bothersome bug. “Take your seat. You heard Duncan. He can’t work with you standing and blocking his Gift.”

Thibeaux’s face grew redder. “He just said he can’t read her. It’s cause she’s a latent!”

Duncan shook his head, his face earnest. “No, it doesn’t work that way. I can hear lies from anyone, even humans. Lily being a latent has nothing to do with it.”

“Bullshit!” Thibeaux spat. “You’re just covering for her!” He tossed a hateful look in Lily’s direction. “Covering for a filthy latent.”

“She’s not a latent,” the mystery wolf said, his voice mild.

Thibeaux froze.

Lily swung toward him.

So did everyone else.

The strange wolf stayed as he was, his posture completely at ease, as if he wasn’t center stage in the middle of two enemy factions of werewolves.

Thibeaux recovered first. “Of course she’s a latent. She can’t Turn.”

The golden-eyed wolf glanced at him and grimaced as if he’d tasted something sour. He stood, then shot his cuffs and straightened his jacket, making fussy little movements like he was in no rush to get anywhere.

Suddenly, Dom had enough. He rose and faced the wolf. “What do you mean she’s not a latent?”

The wolf looked up. “Exactly what I said. Lily isn’t a latent.” He leaned slightly to the side, directing his gaze around Dom so he could smile at her. “She’s a Null.”

What?

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