Page 3 of Savage Fate

He’d always seemed calm and levelheaded when we stayed in Silver Ridge. Ari never once complained when Fane stole his food for me in the middle of the night, and his mate had never joined in with the other females to whisper when I walked into a room. The scars on his hands and neck made it clear he’d been in some serious fights.

The council picked Ari for a reason.

If someone challenged him and he wanted to keep the position of alpha, he could definitely handle himself against some formidable opponents.

“But Tate is at the center of a lot of these conflicts.” Gerry, the female alpha who had visited Mohan Wilds before, folded her arms over her chest. Her caramel bob swayed just under her sharp chin. “Why is that? What’s so special about you?”

Nothing anymore.

I shook the errant thought off before Fane could feel my dark emotions. “You’d have to ask Barric or Ruin. One is dead, and the other has totally vanished.”

No one in this room knew I was Barric’s daughter except Fane and Valeria, and I’d like to keep it that way. Despite Valeriaclaiming the pack would welcome me because of my mother, I’d rather not open that can of worms.

“And you’re sure the high lord is dead.” Olivia, Ari’s mate and acting beta, asked. “He’s powerful and cunning. Could he have faked it and disappeared with Barric to assist in plans with The Collective Hunt?”

My stomach clenched as flashes of Ruin’s demise flooded my mind. I hated that I missed him and mourned the loss of my friend.

But that friend had never existed, had he?

Sensing the sadness creeping around me, Fane’s hand rested on mine. Even though he wanted to tear Ruin apart, he understood my grief. He’d also lost a friend.

“Ruin is dead,” I said, swallowing back the lump in my throat. “He exploded right in front of me and vaporized. Nothing was left.”

Fane cracked his neck, his tattoos twitching. “Instead of accusing Tate of any wrongdoing, maybe you should all be thinking of a way to find the former head alpha. Or even better, you should thank her for nearly dying to save your lost pack members.”

“Fane’s right.” Saint Grimstone, the young and incredibly sexy alpha of Blackwater Falls, glared at the shifters who’d been giving me hell since I walked in the door. “She and Fane may not belong to any pack, but they’ve helped us more than most of you. They’re the ones who put their lives on the line and went against a demon lord and head alpha. Can any of you say the same?”

Most council members and visiting alphas lowered their gazes after being chastised by Saint. Ephraim smiled while Ari nodded in agreement. Fane, on the other hand, scowled at the alpha coming to my defense.

For shit’s sake, Fane’s possessiveness had no bounds. Was he seriously jealous that he wasn’t the one who got to bash the council in my honor?

“You can still growl at everyone for how they’re picking on me, Maverick.”

He rolled his eyes.“Saint is such a show-off. I’m the one who’s supposed to be pissed. Why would he care?”

I shrugged.“Maybe because he’s an alpha and wants to focus on the real threat.”

Ari sipped his glass of water, ice clinking against the sides, and set it back on the napkin. “Saint is right. Tate and Fane aren’t our enemies. Barric is. We need to focus on locating him. Now that The Collective Hunt has reemerged, I doubt they’ll stop this horrendous plot to eradicate bitten shifters.”

“I just can’t believe Alpha Barric is really involved in this.” Jasmine, one of the younger female shifters on the council, raked her fingers through her ginger hair with a shaky hand. “He’s always seemed so kind and compassionate.”

“He’s not kind or compassionate.” My voice was low, but it traveled through the room as everyone quieted. “I’ve seen who he really is, and he’s a monster.” I absentmindedly rubbed my throat where his talons had been, seconds away from killing me.

Jasmine’s shoulders lowered. “I didn’t mean to imply you were lying. It’s hard to reconcile the man I knew with the one secretly running The Collective Hunt and handing over shifters to Ruin Bacchus. I just—are you sure he was doing this of his own free will? There’s no way the demon lord could have influenced him?”

Valeria straightened in her chair on the other side of the table, her silver hair twisted into a long braid over her thin shoulder. “I saw Barric’s true colors long before he was involved with Lord Ruin. He killed his own fated mate because she birthed a human child.”

Shocked gasps traveled around the table while some, like Ari and Olivia, remained stoic. Valeria must have already told a few in the Silver Ridge pack. Word of his horrific act would soon spread.

Bits and pieces of the vision I’d had in the nursery upstairs bubbled forward. I’d seen what that son of a bitch did to his mate—all because she’d tried to protect me.

“Barric killed Tamara?” The blood had drained from Gerry’s face, and her hand trembled as she reached for her glass of soda. “What about his son? Did he really die of a mysterious illness, or did Barric slaughter him?”

Valeria’s gaze flickered toward me, searching for any sign that I wanted the truth revealed. When I didn’t give her one, her head bobbed. “Barric did not murder the child.”

Technically true.

“That’s got to be the most despicable thing I’ve heard about him to date,” Saint muttered.

---