Page 81 of Bitter Discord

“Oh, shit,” Andon said before a booming laugh filled the space. I went to the door and opened it, hoping to see the commotion. Sure enough, Lonan was standing only a few feet away. Zuri was glaring at him while the other werecats were strewn about like children on the playground.

“I can keep you here,” Zuri threatened. “It would be so easy. Plus, you’ll get to pass the night in the blink of an eye.”

“If you attack me—” Lonan’s face was red with fury, but I didn’t care what threat he planned.

“Let him go,” I said, sighing heavily. Zuri looked in my direction, frowning.

“He could ruin everything, Jacky.”

“If he wants to be a statistic, let him. We’ll catch the killer another night if Lonan is the one who dies tonight. We tried.”

“I won’t get killed,” he snarled. “I’m not a baby who doesn’t know how to defend myself. Mason was a fucking idiot. No fucking puppy is going to kill me.”

“Sure.” I had a strong feeling this wasn’t the last I’d see him tonight. I also wondered if his bluster was something else. A smart person would have just snuck out instead of obviously trying to leave and getting everyone’s attention.

Lonan was either the loudest mouthed, ill-tempered son of a bitch I had ever met, or he was the smartest werecat in the building. Or the stupidest. It could go in a few directions, really. One thing I was certain about was that Lonan did nothing halfway.

Zuri cleared the werecats, but what if he could give enough truth to hide things?

“I’m leaving,” he growled. “I tried all day to convince myself to stay, but…” He shook his head, glaring at the other werecats. “You’re all cowards. Sitting here to protect yourselves and letting her tell you what to do. I just—”

“You only hate me because I am engaged to a werewolf. You’re contrary just to be contrary. Got it. You can go. Good night, Lonan. If you’re alive in the morning, don’t bother coming back. Just get on a plane and leave.”

His nostrils flared, and he stormed out. I went to the front door, watching which car he got into, taking a few pictures with my phone then sending them to Heath immediately with our idiot’s name.

Heath sent back a thumbs-up and a wolf emoji.

When I closed the door, Zuri was remarkably pleased with herself, maybe even overly proud. Everyone else was more than a little confused.

“That’s it? You’d let us leave if we throw a tantrum?” Ysabel demanded.

“No,” I said with a quick shake of my head. “Lonan will have someone on his tail. A werewolf who can take him if there’s a problem. He just doesn’t know it, and none of you will tell him.”

Eyes widened.

“That’s dirty,” Andon said, leaning on the wall. “Cunning. A bit cruel, considering the person you’re messing with. The werewolf?”

“Fought in the last war. We call him mad, and he is… genuinely insane. Heath and I had him stay on his property until earlier today, just in case Lonan decided to do whatever he wanted. I was keeping him out of things to be nice, but if Lonan wants to play the role of stupid because he hates werewolves that much, I’ll give him a werewolf who plays the same role on the other side.”

“He survived a fight against Nikolaus. Lonan doesn’t stand a chance if it goes that way,” Zuri added.

“You would let a werewolf kill one of us?” Ysabel asked, horrified.

“No. I would let a werewolf kill someone who has no qualms about killing a teenage boy,” I answered. “And Lonan? If he is targeted, he’s going to kill Arlo. The werewolf is under orders not to reveal himself or engage unless Arlo is there. His first and only job is to do whatever is necessary to save Arlo if he has the chance. If Lonan puts himself in the way of that, that’s Lonan’s problem.”

For the first time, I felt cunning, as though I had walked the werecats around me into a trap as they realized I had finally outplayed one of them. I had figured Lonan out, and they would see what happened when someone willfully endangered others just to be an asshole.

For the most part, I couldn’t admit to them that I didn’t wantanyonehurt tonight, including Lonan, at Fenris’ hands. Fenris, a werewolf Heath and I wanted to retire from these sorts of fights entirely. I had no idea what sort of backslide I was in for with the wolf when tonight was over. I hoped he still had a shred of rationality to remember I was on his side.

“You two acted very well,” Marcia said finally. “What’s keeping us from telling him?”

“We couldn’t tell him there was going to be a werewolf following him, and it wouldn’t make any sense if at least one of us didn’t fight against him leaving.” Zuri leaned on the corner of the wall. “None of you will tell him because I’ll punish all of you for it. It’s that simple. If he finds out through any of you, you’ll all pay for it.”

“Of course.” Marcia shot daggers at Zuri.

Everywhere I turned, I had to deal with people who hated each other. Marcia and Zuri. Many werecats didn’t like me. The same ones hated Heath on principle. Heath and Director Rhodes hated each other. Fenris didn’t like most werecats.

Listening to the conversation continue, I realized if anyone died tonight, it wouldn’t be the killer. It would be someone finally losing their patience with someone they didn’t like.

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