Page 44 of Ember's Claim

Cohen brings the alpha’s body to a building and drops the carcass on a stone slab. Once he’s done, he locks up and guides us closer to the small…village?

Town?

Commune?

Whatever the hell it is.

He bypasses several small cottages, and one of the houses farther away from the others comes into view as he beelines for it.

My head stays on a swivel, memorizing all the details I can pick up while constantly appraising for threats.

Two men stand outside the front door of the house Cohen guides us to. There are three wooden steps up to the old porch, and they creak with my weight. The place is old but not dilapidated.

Cohen nods at the men, but the guy on the right jolts, falling back into the wall when he spots me.

I freeze.

Fuck. My. Life.

He’s easily recognizable.

That night five years ago, when Ember’s brothers and I came onto pack lands to search for her piece-of-shit sperm donor, replays in my mind.

The guy on the right witnessed us kidnapping Carson. His packmate did, too, but neither enforcer stepped in to do a thing to protect their corrupt alpha. Which is why Bryant still draws breath.

“Where’s Burke?” I’m fairly sure that was the name of the enforcer he was with that night, but it could be something else starting with a B.

Cohen hisses out a breath and spins to face me. “You knew the former alpha?” He shoves up his glasses. “The one before Aimes.”

If Aimes is the alpha Ember fought and won against tonight, and Burke was the alpha before Aimes, that means Burke took over in the power vacuum left when we killed Carson.

Shit. That probably didn’t leave him in a great position, considering the pack had been led by Ember’s dad’s biological family for hundreds of years.

“You knew Burke?” Cohen repeats a little louder this time.

“We met once,” I clarify. “I had no issue with him.” My eyes meet Burke’s packmate guarding the door. “Nor with you.”

“Burke is dead,” Bryant says, his jaw tensing. “Aimes killed him.”

Shifters age extremely slowly, but they aren’t truly immortal. If you remove their head or heart, they can’t come back from it.

An alpha challenge doesn’t have to end in death if one concedes defeat, but apparently, neither did. That, or Aimes wanted to make a point of killing Burke to set the tone for his rule.

“I didn’t know any of that,” I say, bowing my head out of respect. “He seemed like an honorable wolf.”

“He was,” Bryant agrees. “And it’s what got him killed. Aimes used wolfsbane. The same as he did tonight.”

My eyes flash, showing my dragon’s displeasure. “I’d like to see my mate now.”

“Wait, put the pieces together for me.” Bryant pushes off the wall of the house and takes a step toward me. “Please. My mate is still suffering. Losing Burke was…” His head shakes. “It was hard on all of us. That night, you said you had no concern with who took Carson’s place.”

That night five years ago…I didn’t.

All I knew was that I needed to help Ember’s brothers remove her biological father from the equation, so he couldn’t petition the paranormal council for visitation.

“I wished no ill will on your packmate,” I assure him. “Whoever took over after Carson…” I shake my head. “I had nothing to do with that, and I’m sorry for the way it played out.”

“Carson’s family ruled for generations,” Bryant says.

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