Page 71 of War Games

“I really wanted to get a taste, but I thought better of it. I like bourbon, a lot, and I’ve never seen a vintage that old, much less had it accessible to try. It was very childish of me, but my mood was good from the party, and no one was looking, so I could be sneaky about it. Everyone else had been going and touching the bottle a little to read it. I knew my scent would be covered.”

“You didn’t place anything in it?”

“Of course not, Alpha.” Roselyn’s nostrils flared in insult. “I know I’m one of the last werewolves you think might have done it, but I will die before I betray you or anyone else in this pack.”

All the truth.

“Go upstairs. We’ll do Piper and let you both join the ranks.”

Roselyn stood up slowly, wary, just in case. She was a smart woman.

“Thoughts?” he asked.

“Carlos wouldn’t do this either,” she murmured. “He’s quiet and broken and?—”

“I know,” Heath whispered coldly, making his thoughts clear about what that meant.

“Yes, Alpha, of course.” She bowed her head fast and walked out.

He cleared Piper quickly enough, sending her and Roselyn home. He didn’t give them a status update on Jacky but caught Landon texting a second later. He showed Heath his phone before he sent that update.

“We don’t need to interview Jenny or Carlos right now,” Heath said, leaning back in his seat.

“We could be done, though?—”

“I want her to sweat more,” Heath said with a smile that held no joy or mirth. “She knows we know. With just the two of them left, I want to see if she’s willing to admit it tohim. I want to see if she’s willing to destroy herself before I am forced to tomorrow morning. She’s going to the Tribunal with me.”

Landon’s eyes went wide. Ranger and Shamus were beyond shock, horrified by what Heath had just said.

“Landon, I’ll need you as my second. A challenge has been issued. You’ll probably be talking to Corissa. She’s his mate. She’s allowed to stand as his second if he doesn’t want to bring his second from his proper pack.”

“So, you’re going to do it. You’re actually challenging Callahan for the Tribunal spot,” Landon said, seeming excited and afraid. His son loved a good fight, but this was going to be one of the hardest Heath had ever faced.

“I already have.”

27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Subira walked past Gwen and the werecat, heading directly for me, her staff striking the ground every time she took a step, using it as a walking stick as she often did. Her eyes were that of a cat, with the pupils slit as she narrowed them to inspect me.

“You don’t have the injuries I saw on your body. That’s good. That little witch must be working fast to help you with my power feeding her, and that healed you here.” She touched my chest with the staff. “How do you feel here?”

“I… I don’t know how I got here or really what’s going on. I remember everything now, but…”

“Ah. You remember drinking Heath’s bourbon, at least, yes?” Subira tapped the staff against my chest again.

“Yeah. I fell. I woke up, and I was with…” Just saying his name hurt now because I could also remember the flicker of hope that he had been alive and that I had imagined his real death. “I was with Fenris. After a little while, we were chased by Rainer as a Last Change werewolf. Rainer took Fenris over a cliff, but then I went down it and was in my human parents’ house when I was in college…” I rubbed my forehead.I remembered all of it, but it didn’t make any sense. “None of what happened is real. Rainer and Fenris were the same person. I didn’t catch my dad cheating in college. The fight between you and Hasan happened in Germany, not on his island…”

“Let me give you the quick version of what you need to know. Callahan bribed a member of Everson’s pack to poison him. Heath. To poison your lover, the Alpha. You see, Callahan and Corissa have been having a hard time getting unruly packs in line to deal with the threat of the witches, whether it be to cut off their business with them or help search for missing werewolves. It doesn’t matter. They need that control. We all do.”

“And Heath is the rogue Alpha the other packs look to, to disrespect Callahan,” I said, closing my eyes as I realized how easy that would be to figure out. “If the Tribunal Alphas can’t handle a simple rogue, they can’t handle anyone.”

“Exactly. Now, Callahan and Corissa warned Hasan without names that they had to do something. This came with unspoken but very real promises that you wouldn’t be hurt.” Subira leaned on her staff. “Yet here we are. You accidentally ingested the fae poison, not Heath.”

“Oh, no,” I said, putting my hands over my face. Was this my fault, too? Part of me believed it was better I went through this than him, but it led to so many other problems that it was me. It was a mess for everyone now.

“You don’t seem angry that Callahan and Corissa would do this,” Subira pointed out.

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