Page 7 of Moon Cursed

“Mr. Hall got her the wolfsbane?” he sputtered. “How?”

“Hall had a thing for mundane drugs. Most of it burns up in our system too fast to have an effect, but not heroin. He had a dealer in the mundane dominion, and it was the easiest thing in the world to ask the dealer to get him some wolfsbane. The guy likely just ordered the stuff online.”

“How do you know all this?” Badr demanded, eyes narrowing. “Did Hall tell you all of this when you were killing him?”

“He didn’t have to. I’ve known for over a year who was responsible.Castorknew. He’s the one who put it all together,” I said. “It was easy once he figured out Dagem was using her dirty money to pull the strings. All he had to do was follow the trail.

“Money from Dagem’s bank account to Hall’s to get the poison. Money from Dagem to Holly to put small daily doses of wolfsbane in Castor’s food. Money from Dagem to Nurse Vega to lie and misdiagnose Castor every time he came in the infirmary, complaining about feeling ill. By the time Castor gave up on Vega and asked for a second opinion, there was already too much wolfsbane in his system. There was no going back. No cure. All he had to look forward to was a slow, agonizing death... because of them.”

“Oh, gods,” he croaked, stomach heaving. “Dagem, Hall, Holly, and Vega. They were among the seven that had to go.”

My voice was a growl. “You’re damn right.”

“But then who were the other three?”

“Mason,” I admitted, “but not because he had anything to do with Castor. It was because that vile piece of shit actually came into the temple andbraggedabout his rapes. The last woman who reported him went to his mother too, and his mom cursed him out. Said if he ever did something like that again, she’d disown him.

“But fucking Mason dared to swagger into my temple, complaining about Mommy being such a nagging bitch who doesn’t understand that Luame wants him to take advantage of all thatripe and tastyomega fruit. That’s why she made him an alpha, and all of them fish.

“Once I found out Mason was enrolling in the academy this year too, his fate was sealed. No fucking way an unrepentant serial rapist runs around free in my school.”

Badr scoffed. “Fine with me. I’m not shedding any tears over that shit, but who were the other two? Who killed my brother?”

“You know the other one,” I said. “Nia.”

“Nia? But then why did you let her off! Why is she strutting around happy, free, and planning parties!”

“Because I got to know her and realized she was just a pawn in Rici’s death.”

He lurched back. “Rici? How was Nia involved?”

“After they found out Castor sent a letter to Rici too, the council tried multiple times to get him in the same room, but the man was no fool. He turned down all their random party, summit, and conference invitations. But then the international alpha leader conference came,” I said. “Every important alpha from everywhere was going, Rici couldn’t turn it down. He showed up with his bodyguards, and Dagem and Sunella showed up with Nia.

“Somehow they contrived a way to get Rici and his guards alone, and then they killed them all. With Nia and her freaky wolf tranquilizer powers in the room, they couldn’t shift. Dagem and Sunella ripped them apart, and as a result, killed the only other person they believed knew about Destiny.” I sniffed, throat thickening. “Nia was just a pawn, Badr. I saw in her eyes she was sick about what they made her do.

“But it was after Castor learned his friend was dead that he got suspicious about his mysterious stomach bug that wouldn’t go away. When he found out he’d been poisoned, he knew two things—Dagem betrayed him, and he got one of his closest friends murdered.

“After that, all he cared about was protecting me, our children, andyoufrom the horrible, bloody future coming our way.”

“Okay, okay,” he breathed, pacing back and forth. “Let’s say all of this is true and I believe you. How does brutally killing him in public save any of us?”

“Because he was going to die, and I’d be all alone. All because of the final and seventh person on my list—the shadow. Castor never figured out who it was. He couldn’t finish the fight, and he hated that he was leaving me to fight them alone. I was the only one left who knew about Destiny and actually wanted to stop it, but because of who I was, I didn’t have any friends,” I cried, throwing up my hands.

“I’ve been isolated and under guard my entire life. I had no friends, no allies, and no family other than my father. Who was going to help me after he was gone? Answer—no one. That’s why Castor came up with a plan. I had to go to the people who had the most to lose, people who were enemies of Wolf Nation, people who wanted to tear the alpha council down and build a new empire on their ashes,” I told him. “You’re not going to want to believe this, but it wasCastorwho found Lucia and bought me a place in her safe haven.

“It was Castor who searched the council records on every wolf that’s had their ear cut and were thrown out of Wolf Nation. He gave me the leads I needed to track down the lost packs and get their help. It was Castor who transferred the remains of his trust fund into an offshore account that only I had access to.

“And it was Castor who said I had to kill him during the ceremony. They were going to kidnap us allthat night. Waiting wasn’t an option. Plus, it was the only way to make the epsilons, omegas, and lost packs trust me. With one horrible act, I made myself an outcast, fugitive, and enemy of the alpha council. Castor said they wouldn’t doubt me when I told them I wanted every single member of the council dead, and he was right—they didn’t. They joined me immediately. I honestly didn’t have to do that much convincing.”

“But why like this?” Badr burst out. “Why all this undercover revolution shit? Why didn’t he just tell me? Why didn’t you both tell everyone! Blast the truth on Loop Garou for all of Wolf Nation to see.”

I was shaking my head before he finished. “Because knowing about it didn’t stop it, Badr. I just told you that in the vision everyone finds out. Everyone knows! And what happens? It becomes law.

“No.” I sliced the air. “The only way to make sure the war never happens is take away all the shadow’s puppets, and then crush the shadow.”

“And you don’t think Edric, Nyx, Paxton, Orion, and I would’ve helped you?” he flung. “If you’d been honest about all of this from the beginning, we would’ve been right by your side making everyone on your list pay, but no.” Accusation hung heavy in his words. “Instead, you made us your enemies. You made everyone except for your little allies your enemies!”

“You are my enemies!” I screamed. “Everyone who’d stand in my way is my enemy.”

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