Page 95 of Bitter Discord

“You’re backing Hasan, ruler of the werecats, into a corner to force him to publicly work with your fiancé,” Lonan said, sounding a bit more surprised than I expected.

“He might be the ruler of the werecats, scary as hell to everyone else, but we’re his children. We can get away with more.” Zuri’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. Neither of us liked that we had to force Hasan into this. He would do it without complaint, but he wouldn’t have offered to do it. I had a strong feeling it was more of an argument than it needed to be, thanks to her smile.

“I didn’t give either of you enough credit,” Lonan said, shaking his head. “Thank you for letting me come here and be part of the discussion, even just to listen. It’s been illuminating.” He looked around the room, his eyes bouncing around. He was in a room where he was vastly outnumbered by werewolves. He stopped on Arlo. “Changing will be painful, so make sure someone is there with you when you try, but it’ll help set the bones faster and heal the smaller things.”

“Thank you,” Arlo said, keeping his composure, not sinking or recoiling under the gaze of a strong werecat.

“You know…” Zuri leaned back. “I never heard how Arlo ended up with William.”

“Neither have I,” I said, frowning. A lot happened in the last sixteen hours, but I spent ten of those sleeping.

“Arlo?” Heath crossed his arms and turned on the teenager.

“I… uh…” Arlo flushed. “I heard someone come in the house. I was supposed to be asleep, but I wasn’t ready to stop reading. Heard the doors creak downstairs like they also do when they’re opened and closed, so I snuck into the upstairs’ office and took Teagan’s gun. I knew there was someone else in side the house, and when I got downstairs, I saw him, and he ran. I followed him, not thinking, because he was an intruder and like…” Arlo groaned. “I wasn’t thinking. I should have woken up Teagan, called Heath or Fenris… He was there to do something and could have hurt Benjamin or Teagan, so I had to protect them, and I didn’t think. He laughed when I caught up to him in the woods. Knocked me out. I woke up in a car, and he dragged me out to meet some other werecat… Mason.”

“Shit,” I said, looking at Heath, who nodded.

“I was planning on telling you before you and Zuri interrogated William,” Heath promised. “But you woke up and came down here to talk to people immediately. Arlo, you don’t have to continue.”

“But…” Arlo looked at me, and resolve filled his eyes. “Mason was working with William. They wanted to do this thing together, but William… like snapped when he found out Mason did something to make you and Zuri angry that day. I missed what he said, but one second, everything was fine, and the next, William had my gun and killed Mason. He was unhinged… is unhinged. There is something seriously wrong with him. He told me to call the BSA and tell them about it, then he took me to the house.”

I nodded before reaching out and patting the young man’s shoulder. He was going to grow up to be a fine werewolf. With men like Heath and Teagan looking out for him, he would be more than ready for whatever else this world threw at him and remain good. I stood and started pacing.

“Oh, Mason,” I mumbled.

“Mason’s brother was one of Mikkel’s most loyal. William was Mikkel’s son. It would make sense that they knew each other,” Zuri said, her eyes on me. “Mason’s temper got the better of him with us, and it explains how our biggest detractor was the first to die. He was in on it. Should have seen that coming.” She shook her head, disappointed in herself.

“Let’s get out there and talk to this guy,” I said, sighing heavily.

Zuri stood, and we headed to the cage in the security building.

I did my best to pretend the damn thing didn’t exist on my property, but it was a necessity, especially with a werewolf pack. Heath only ever had the one. He used it when it was absolutely necessary and never left people in there longer than he needed to handle other things.

Except this time. Zuri and I could execute William right now, and no one would question it. We were the ones leaving William in the cage for longer than necessary.

When we walked in, he was alert. Beaten up but alert. His wrist was broken, and his right leg was mangled. There was bruising on his face, and I was certain his shoulder was broken from the impact with the wall.

“Well, the sisters are here,” he said, glaring at us. “Why am I still alive?”

“You know things we want to know,” I answered. “And you’re going to tell us.”

“What are you going to do if I don’t? Torture me? I could tell you anything you want to hear—”

“I’ll ask my mother to rummage through your brain and discover your every secret,” Zuri said with all the noble power I was accustomed to from her. “She’ll do it. She might make it hurt, but there will be no secrets left. Your better option is to tell us the small things we want to know, and hopefully, your last twenty-four hours before our father kills you will be painless. Well, as painless as things can be in your condition.”

“What do you want to know?” he asked, pale.

I was surprised, but my brain was still waking up, and I quickly remembered why he would bend so quickly.

That’s right… He fears Subira. I didn’t even need to tell Zuri. She assumed. I mean, it’s only fair. Subira is a half-myth in the flesh.

“What was your initial plan? Things didn’t seem to go the way you wanted them to.” I crossed my arms, staring at him as he glared.

“Mason was supposed to stay in the mansion all week, keep quiet, and tell me how people were feeling about the developments. When I took the boy, I would find the first victim and frame the boy. I figured there would be chaos. People going out to hunt on their own while the pack looked for their missing werewolf. Mind you, I didn’t want the boy. I wanted the older, weak werewolf, his father, Teagan. Old enough and experienced enough to kill a werecat, weak enough for me to control.”

“But Arlo found you, and you had to deal with him.”

“Children should go to sleep when their parents tell them to,” he muttered bitterly. “The boy was old enough and could clearly handle the gun he had. It could still work, but Lonan told me how the other werecats didn’t react the way he did. He wanted to hunt the boy down and kill him. I was hoping more of them would have had that reaction.”

---