Page 52 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

“I’m glad, but next time, I’ll go for a run. I can’t afford to lose control like that, and I’m sorry.” He hung his head, looking defeated.

“If I found out one of my father’s long-term allies had paidfor the hit that killed my parents, I’d want to smash some furniture too.” Dirge finally spoke up.

“What?” I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands.

“That’s not confirmed yet,” Reed said.

“Reed uncovered a paper trail proving that Alpha Varga deposited a hundred million dollars in a Swiss bank account known to be owned by the Drakenia guild ten days before it happened. That’s damning evidence,” Kane said by way of explanation.

Holy shit, these people had unreal resources. But to turn on an ally…

“So, he gets the notice about the great pack gathering, and then he’s trying to put someone else on the throne. But who? He hasn’t made a move yet, right?” I asked.

Brielle shrugged helplessly. “I don’t care why he did it. He killed them, even if he paid someone else to do it.”

“But why is important. If it’s a power grab, we’re not safe. If it’s a personal grudge, he might be content to let it die with my parents,” Kane argued.

“Once they stick a blade in your back, it’s best to assume they’re going to do it again. It’s wishful thinking to hope he won’t,” Dirge said.

“Spoken like an enforcer,” Lucien said from the door, sauntering in wearing a pinstriped suit. “But this is politics.” He looked around and frowned. “What the fuck happened to your office?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s under control.” Kane said, pressing his lips into a thin line. “What’s the word from the council?”

“I didn’texplicitlytell them what’s going on, but I put out some feelers. Spoke to Councilman Lug from the goblin court. It’s amazing that a man with no poker face holds such a high position. Council procedure won’t prosecute someone on a hit unless a signed contract is produced, and you know as well as Ido that the Drakenia guild works on untraceable blood oaths. Probably for that exact reason,” he added under his breath.

“So we have no recourse with the council,” Gael said, shooting a worried look at Kane and angling himself in front of me in what was probably meant to be a subtle move, but was as obvious as the broad side of a barn. “But we could call a tribunal.”

Everyone around the room froze for a heartbeat, and then they were all talking at once.

“He’s too new as high alpha—his first movecan’tbe a disciplinary tribunal.” Reed’s argument was the most vehement. “He’ll spend his whole reign looking over his shoulder for retribution, and the Hungarian pack is well connected.”

“He can’t just let this go unchallenged. Taking the coward’s way and assassinating the high alpha isn’t only a strike against the royal family, it’s a strike against all wolfkind. Kosta was the strongest of all the packs, and one pack can’t unilaterally move to remove him from power,” Gael argued. “They didn’t challenge him to a fair fight. They slunk around in the night and used sedatives against his mate, and a paid assassin. You want to let that go?”

Kane held up both hands in a peace-making gesture. “I see both your points, but I have to side with Gael on this one. It’s no better to look weak and toothless than it is to look bloodthirsty and reckless.”

“We’re going to need witnesses to spread the word that it was a fair tribunal and not a witch hunt,” I offered. “That would help with the whole bloodthirsty thing. Surely people expect there to be retribution for the high alpha’s death. Maybenotreacting is what Varga’s after. Making Kane’s line look weak and leaving the throne vulnerable.”

Reed straightened his cuff links, clearly agitated. “A witness would help, if you’re determined to go through with a tribunal.”

Kane tapped his fingers on his desk, thinking.

Lucien spoke up again, “Let me do some digging for a witness. That much money doesn’t change hands without someone talking about it.”

“Three days. You’ve got three days. After that, I’m hauling him in here whether he wants to see me or not.”

“That’ll have to be enough, then,” Lucien said, then turned and walked right back out the door.

TWENTY-SIX

Leigh

Ilay on my back in bed that night, Nugget batting at my fingertips as I wiggled them around for him to chase. Thinking, processing.

Gael had gone off to check on security or something like that, after kissing my forehead and dropping me at the door after dinner.

A dinner where Bri had had to use her magic to get my stomach to settle enough for me to eat, but she’d lookedsoexhausted. Guilt gnawed at me over letting her help me. A little vomiting wasn’t uncommon in pregnancy, after all, but a knock at the door interrupted my self-flagellation.

I scooped Nugget into my arms and opened the door to find Shay and Olivia waiting side by side in the hall. To my surprise, Dirge wasn’t hovering behind Shay, her usual silent shadow.

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