Page 68 of Pack Kasen: Part 1

I consider the mechanics of how an accidentally dropped chain somehow got looped around the top of the railing, literally hanging the feral by her neck.

My word is important to my pack and as a leader, it’s my duty to be right more than I am wrong.

Finished with my examination, I turn away to face Finan, who waits quietly beside the sliding glass door.

“Have Wes and Cruz return the feral to the cage,” I say.

His expression doesn’t change, but I can tell he has an opinion about that.

As he walks away, down the side of the house and to the bunkhouse, I peer through the sliding glass.

At the large wooden table, my enforcers sit with their heads angled toward me.

In one of the large, oversized armchairs in front of the fireplace, Marisa is sitting, clutching a tissue. Silas is crouched in front of her with one hand on her knee. Those two have been friends since before they could walk. I’m not surprised he’s in there reassuring her.

The house is mostly quiet, with the faint sounds of banging pots and pans coming from the short hallway that leads to the kitchen and dining room. The noise reminds me of how long it’s been since I last ate, and of how many meals a far too beautiful feral has interrupted. Too many. My stomach rumbles slightly, but I ignore it as I walk inside.

My enforcers get to their feet.

I walk past them.

“My office, Marisa.”

Silas bounces to his feet, his expression a mix of concerned and alarmed. As an enforcer, he knows what’s coming betterthan anyone, and as Marisa’s friend, he must know there is nothing he can do to stop it. “But she?—”

“I’ve made myself clear,” I say without slowing or turning around.

By the time I’ve taken a seat in my armchair, Finan, back from his task, is standing beside the open door, as Marisa walks in. Silas hovers beside her.

“Outside, Silas.”

“I can?—”

For the first time, I look at him. “I understand why you think you need to be here. You need to wait outside before you open your mouth and lie because you want to protect her and get yourself punished for something that doesn’t involve you. Outside.Now.”

He squeezes Marisa’s hand and spins around. I wait for the door to close before I speak, knowing that he’s still hovering outside the door. But that’s good enough for me.

Marisa swallows hard and visibly braces herself.

“The truth,” I tell her.

She widens her eyes. “I told you the truth.”

“You told me what you wanted me to believe. A lie, in other words. I want the truth.”

She studies me for a beat.

We’ve been together for a while. She knows when I lose my temper, what is liable to piss me off even more, and she knows I passed that limit.

Marisa is smart. She’s manipulative and quick to anger, but she’s also dominant and strong enough to have been an enforcer if she wanted to be.

“I was doing everyone a favor by getting rid of the feral,” she says, lifting her chin.

I steeple my fingers together as I tamp down the burst of rage her words provoke. Finan’s slow blink tells me Marisa might not be seeing the well of rage within me, but he sees it.

That man sees way too fucking much.

“I see, so now you decide the ways things need to be.”

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