Page 76 of Purchased

“I need to speak with you, alpha. It is a matter of some urgency.”

“Give us a few minutes,” Armand says to his friends and advisors. He sends them off with a wave to a side study. I note they are all male. The pack’s female influences seem limited, which is not a sign of health.

“I thought I was done talking to you,” he says when they are gone.

“This isn’t about you. Well, it is, but not in the usual way. I’m not talking to you as a client. I’m talking to you as an alpha, because a matter of pack security has come to my attention. A woman named Jenny Duplante came to see me.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. She believes you murdered her husband.”

He nods and shrugs slightly. “She’s right about that.”

“She also says you’ve made no attempt to make amends. She is afraid for her financial security, and deeply mourning her mate.”

He frowns, as if those feelings make no sense to him.

“The man was bad news. She’s better off without him.”

“She doesn’t feel that way, and I’m afraid she might do something regrettable.”

“Like what?”

“She wants to kill you.”

It takes several minutes for Armand to stop laughing. “You’ve seen the woman. She’s not a threat.”

“As you are well aware, women are often more dangerous than they appear, and they are always a threat,” I say. “But do with the information as you will. I’ve held up my end of the bargain. You’ve been warned.”

“Thank you,” he says. “I do need to give her some assurance she’ll be taken care of. I thought she would have known that. No member of our pack will be destitute.”

I could walk out the door. I don’t owe him anything else. I’ve done what I need to do. But I find myself staying behind.

“I’m worried about you, Armand.”

“I know. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’m the alpha of this pack. I’m in control.”

He’s a handsome young alpha, and yes, he’s in control, but he has a lot on his plate. He seems to lack any guidance from older pack members since his father retired. Having been born relatively late in his father’s life, the old man was never of much use to him. He is a prince with the intelligence to manage the pack, but his emotional intelligence is not keeping up.

“Don’t,” he says.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t look at me like that, like you’re understanding me.”

“Heaven forbid.”

“I’ve got this. I’ll deal with Jane.”

“Her name is Jenny.”

“Right. Sorry. Of course. Yes.”

“You should know the name of the woman who wants you dead, Armand.”

He smirks, handsome and reckless. He is a decade older than his mate, but what they say about men maturing slower than women is so clearly true in this moment. He seems almost as wild as she is right now.

“Women have wanted me dead before. It’s not as interesting as it seems. Most females don’t actually try. Beatrix might, but Jane… Jenny, she was happy to be pushed around by old Duplante. She’s not going to suddenly get a backbone now.”

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