Page 19 of Wolf Hunter

Julius has no fucking clue about Tasha’s real purpose, and I plan to keep it that way for as long as possible.

He doesn’t know she’d been sent to kill me, saving him the trouble. The secret will undermine me and leave me vulnerable, open. I purposely take a breath and loosen my stranglehold on Julius. I don’t want to hurt him unless absolutely necessary. We’ve gotten into more than our fair share of fights over the years, but underneath it all, he understands who is stronger.

Though it doesn’t stop him from pushing the limits every chance he gets.

I only meant to intimidate him into submission with my threat. Shut him up. But the swell of anger at the casual way he speaks of killing Tasha? It pushes me over the edge.

“You’d kill your own brother?” His laughter turns dry. “How like you.”

We stare at each other for the longest time, waiting on something unbreakable to crack between us. When nothing happens, when neither one of us backs down, I lose a sigh.

“Clearly, there’s something going on in your mind you’re not telling the rest of us about,” he continues. “Come on then, Reid. Spill. Let me know what’s really going on with you and your little pet in there. You think you can keep secrets from your own brother?”

Yes, I do.

I release him slowly. “It’s none of your concern. When and if I feel inclined to share, I will. Until then, I don’t want to hear another word out of you. She is my captive. That’s all you need to know.”

He appears wholly unconvinced but wisely keeps from questioning me again. “Fine,” he says. Bitterness drips from the single word.

He falls into step with me down the hallway.

“You have to trust me,” I tell him. “I’m only doing what’s best for us.”

“And how has that been working out for you so far?” he asks.

Oh, if he only knew.

“A lot of sleepless nights.” The blithe answer will have to satisfy him for the time being.

I also have to make sure to keep an eye on him. Julius might present a real problem if left to his own devices. People lie. Even family.

Why would my family be any different? I know for a fact my father hadn’t let anything stand in the way of what he wanted—not his wife and not his sons.

At this point, it seems safer to trust no one outside of myself.

What am I going to say to explain keeping Tasha around for any length of time?

I suppose it doesn’t really matter. But Julius is right on one count: if I say I want to keep her for questioning—which is true—then by rights, she should be down in the cellar.

Not directly across from me in a guest room.

“You can keep your secrets and your sleepless nights then, Reid. None of it matters anyway,” Julius replies with a small shrug.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I question.

“Don’t worry about it.” Anger flashes in his eyes, but he keeps it out of his tone. “You keep doing whatever it is you think is best. It’s been working for you so far.”

Julius continues down the hallway, showing me his back. It’s a slight dig, one I choose to ignore this time around. He may be older, and he may talk a big talk in terms of what it took to lead this pack, but we both understand the truth.

He’s all talk. No action.

He doesn’t have what it takes to control the wolves beneath him, which is why he wasn’t able to take on the title, much to his perpetual disappointment. He lacks the spine and the thirst for blood, much too concerned about himself or whatever else he loves in this life, which is so little.

We talked about escaping this prison once or twice when we were younger. Those days where Father ruled over everyone with the heaviest iron fist imaginable, content not only to take his ire and frustrations out on his oldest sons but all of us.

I didn’t want to leave for the longest time because I thought things might change for the better. Silly me, trying to see the best in people, especially when the best didn’t exist.

We were treated as prisoners in our own home.

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