Page 12 of Stealing Sloane

“What’s it to you if I do?”

She was right, of course. It shouldn’t matter to him if she wanted to go on some suicide mission. She was nothing to him.

His wolf, on the other hand, let out a snarl and raked his claws at him.

“You … you just can’t, okay? I mean, you can’t do this. Stella would never get over it.”

“I hardly know her,” she said.

“But she’s still your sister. You’ve already lost your parents, she can’t lose you too.” A strange hollowness crept into his chest.

“I have to do this.” A determined expression set on her face. “This is the only way.”

“No, it’s not. Even if you don’t go after Ronan, he’s never going to stop coming after you, not until he pays for his crimes.”

“And who’s going to make him pay for murdering my parents?”

“The Lycan High Council will. My Alpha can help you. You need to do this the right way, so you can get justice for your parents. If you kill Ronan, you’ll not only have his clan after you, but the rest of our kind too, not to mention, the human authorities. Murder is still murder, and that’s never justified.”

She paused, as if contemplating his words.

“Besides,” he added before he could say anything else. “Don’t you want to meet your brother?”

“Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t know I’m alive. It could be the only way to keep him safe.”

Jacob smirked to himself.She had no idea who her brother was. He wasn’t exactly someone who could just disappear without questions being asked. “Oh, you should definitely meet him. He may not be as easy of a target as you think.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “Wait, you know my brother?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Who is he?”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

“Surprise?” she echoed, the pitch of her voice rising. “Why is it a surprise?” She grabbed at his arm and tugged. “Tell me who he is.”

“No way.” He chuckled as he pulled his arm away. “You’ll have to find out for yourself.”

“Is he someone I know? Someone important?” She cocked her head to the side. “Are you lying to me to make me stay?”

“Yes?” He shrugged. “I don’t know? Maybe?”

“You’re lying.” She stamped her foot like a child. “Tell me now, or … or …”

“Or what?” He leaned in close to her face, close enough to take in a whiff of her intoxicating scent. “What are you going to do about it?”

Her lips pressed together. “You can’t stop me from leaving.”

“I know.” He hoped, however, she would do the right thing. “But then you’ll never know if I was lying or not.”

Before she could say anything else, he turned around, shifted back into his wolf, and trotted away from her. While tempted to look back, he and his wolf kept walking away, and the sound of the back door slamming shut told him that he had won this round.

Chapter 3

Cliff had been worried that Ronan was still after them, so they needed to find somewhere to lay low. They decided to go to Stella’s adoptive parents’ house, which was in a small town a few hours from Las Vegas. After a few days and there was no indication that Ronan knew where they were located, Cliff determined it was safe enough for her brother to come.

Sloane wanted Jacob to be a liar, if only to prove she should have left Nevada that first night. The secrecy around his identity had been frustrating, and she’d been annoyed that Stella wouldn’t tell her who their brother was, not even a hint. Though Jacob managed to rouse her curiosity enough to stop her from taking off, she had already decided that she would be on her way once she found out who he was. But, apparently, he had been too busy to drop everything and come to Las Vegas because he only appeared a few days later.

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