Page 29 of Pretty Kitten

Ace and Rye exchanged a glance, then Rye turned to Daunte, who nodded. Strangely - to her, in any case - they then looked at her. She tried not to feel too self-conscious as she also bobbed her head.

“So, let me get this straight, you want to take the advice of a thirteen-year-old and call someone who could potentially lead you all to your doom?” Rain asked, her tone perfectly even.

“That’s about right.”

She rolled her eyes and started furiously typing on her phone. “Better get Vivicia and Faith here, too. Wouldn’t want to miss that party.”

Niamh was practically skipping, and it was hard to ignore her unwavering faith in her friend, or her enthusiasm, for that matter. Plus, the fact that his mate clung to him, giving him all the support he didn’t know he needed, helped through the worst situation they’d faced yet.

The Shifter Council wouldn’t want to kill them all - although they would, if they had to - but they’d try their damnedest to get to Clari and Zack. The PIA was the opposite; and by far the worst of the two. They’d want to destroy the Wyvern pride, and the only member they’d care about saving would be his mate and his nephew, so they could be dissected and studied by their mad scientists.

Truth was, they didn’t have a choice. Not really. If there was a chance - even a slim one - that the PIA may not end up being their enemy this time, they needed to take it.

“Wait,” Daunte thought out loud, “What about avoiding the issue altogether? Can’t we just prevent everyone from knowing what’s happened? It’s not like we socialize with other prides every other week. Maybe we can just…”

“It’s too late,” Rye replied, his ton curt.

Too late? They’d already been discovered? It made no sense. None. Clari had only just shifted a week ago.

Unless…

The very thought was poison to his mind, but he had to formulate it. Unless someone inside the pride had betrayed them. The temporary newcomers couldn’t have - there was no way they’d connected the dots; they’d barely spent any time with them.

Daunte turned to his pridemates. Every adult was there, except Christine, Ola, Coveney and Tracy. Coveney was on patrol with the newcomers who’d applied as fighters, Tracy was upstairs with the kids, Christine, out on assignment. But Ola?

They never thought too hard about one of them being out for a few days. It was normal; they had a life, and their respective jobs sometimes demanded their presence elsewhere.

However, normally, he knew what the other members of the pride were up to. Ola…

He wasn’t Alpha, but as Beta he still had the authority to search through the pride link. When he needed to. Closing his eyes, he concentrated as hard as he could, trying to find every member. He could feel them all - even Christine, faintly, despite the fact that she was out of town.

Everyone except Ola.

“She betrayed us.”

He couldn’t believe it, yet there was no other possibility.

“She did what she believed was just,” Ace replied coldly. “And so did I.”

She wouldn’t say more in front of the kids, but taking in the glint in her eyes, he knew exactly what she meant. His sister had hunted her down the second she’d suspected the betrayal, and her body had been dumped in a ditch somewhere.

Good. Saved him the bother of doing it himself. He’d never hurt a girl, but he would have made an exception for her. Ola was kind and passionate, sweet, and fair. But she’d put his family and his pride at risk. There was no forgiving that. Not in their world.

“If she went to the Shifter Council, they may never stop hunting us. They might have relented, if they’d had nothing but rumors and suspicion; but a testimony from a member of the pride? They won’t let this go.”

Chapter 19

Arrivals

Daunte remembered a time when he’d had a thing for Vivicia; now, he couldn’t see it. She was pretty enough, he appreciated that – he even recognized what had drawn him to her to begin with: her spirit. But he was completely indifferent to it now. He’d been told that being mated or bonded dulled any feeling towards any other female, but he hadn’t expected it to be so easy to ignore his old crush.

Plenty of bonded males still strayed on their females; Daunte knew he never would.

“You know, if you’re gonna get in trouble twice a year, maybe we should just get to decorate one of your lake houses and call it a vacation home,” Faith proposed, and Ace shrugged indifferently.

“Be my guest. But, guys, this is seriously going to get ugly. You may not want to…”

“Blah, blah. We’ll stick around and help, if only because I know your mate is hiding an impressive wine collection he only pops open when you avert annihilation. So, should we talk strategy? You must have a plan.”

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