Page 68 of Secrets and Ruin

“It gave him centuries to get more powerful for when he inevitably fails,” I pointed out.

Niko sighed, nodding as he put his head in his hands.

“Tell me more about this place, how it’s kept us safe, and what you want to do next. I don’t like standing still like this.”

“I made this safe house years ago but often use it to get out of the house when I want some peaceful private time. It’s difficult to find and doesn’t use anything from the Black Forest Pack. I recreated some of the security measures, and I have some…” He reached to the shelf again, picking up a stick of something. “I light one of these before coming out here, obscuring my scent on the trails. It’s just some of the magical plants of the area, with thick smells that really confuse the senses, nothing special. I keep one lit here. We can use this to try to get the three of you out of the forest.” He put it down between us. “Eventually, he’ll find us here, but it will be hard for him. He won’t move out to attack all four of us until he’s healed enough. I think we have another few hours before he starts to try.”

“The three of us? You’re coming, too,” I said, crossing my arms.

“I can’t leave him out here. He’s mine to deal with,” Niko countered, shaking his head. “He’s rabid and needs to be put down. I thought I put the entire pack to rest centuries ago. I was wrong. Now I need to finish it. His immunity to our silver weakness is a major problem, and he doesn’t have the fae weakness to iron. It’ll be hard, but it has to be done.”

Holy shit, he’s immune to silver?

“And if he kills you?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice low, but I wasn’t certain if I did a very good job.

“Says the forty-something-year-old who thought being his rag doll was a good idea,” Niko snapped. “Do you really think you have a better chance than I do?”

“I think you couldn’t kill him eight hundred years ago, and you don’t know him now,” I fired back. “But we do, and there’s a chance my wolf is still in there.”

“You need to stop being fucking naïve, Jacky.” He pointed at me, then at himself. “Do I want peace between werewolves and werecats? Sure, but I’m not a fool. I know a monster like Rainer would never allow that sort of world to exist. You should figure that out, or you’re going to get someone fucking hurt. Oh, wait, you alreadyhaveby trusting a wolf who was out of his damn mind!”

“Fenris had a chance!”

“Fenris was neverreal!” Niko roared, his volume matching mine.

“Dirk, your parents are fighting,” Landon mumbled.

“One of those is your future stepmom, not mine,” Dirk said, muffled by his pillow.

“That was mean.” Landon groaned.

28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Iturned around to see them pushing to sit up from their respective sleeping spots. Landon looked at me, throwing the blanket off and getting up. He seemed uninjured from the fight before I was knocked unconscious, which I counted as a blessing. Dirk looked healthier as he got up as well, a little pale, but the rest was good for him.

“Good…morning?” I said, feeling guilty.

“Yup, sure is. You’re alive. That’s good. Had us scared,” Landon said as he walked over to us at the kitchen’s bar, which looked over the main room. “Please don’t scare me like that again. I don’t want to be the wolf who tells my pa that you died.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said, not sure if my best was ever enough. Most of the time, I scraped by with a bit of luck and hope.

“Yeah, that was bad.” Dirk came up on my other side, leaving me flanked by my wolves. “Niko, be nice to her. Fenris had us all fooled, and she’s run into fae magic, what it does with identity, and all that weird shit.”

“She got you Changed into a werewolf, then abducted—”

“I got myself Changed into a werewolf, and your brother abducted me. We’ve already had a talk about the first. It’s not up for debate now. As for Rainer… We had Fenris, and he was getting better. He was easier to deal with every day. Even Zuri didn’t realize he was your brother, so how was anyone in Texas supposed to know?”

“Fenris wasn’t real,” Niko repeated.

“He was real enough,” I angrily retorted, glaring at him. “Just like Brin was real before he was forced to fully remember his life and identity as King Brion.”

Niko lifted his hands, and while it was a sign of defeat, his expression didn’t match it.

“Fine. All of you can continue living in whatever fantasy you need to if it helps you sleep at night. It doesn’t change the fact that all of you are going to leave this forest, and I am going to kill Rainer, so this can be over and done with.”

“Niko, we can help.” Dirk stepped around the counter, but Niko stepped away.

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