Page 132 of Mates: Posy

"I'm coming, too. I want to know who was hurt because of me." I gave him a stern look when he opened his mouth. "Don't think I'll stay here and wait, Julian. If you say no, I'll just follow you— "

"Darling, I didn't say no. I wasn'tgoingto say no." He smirked a little, and I rolled my eyes, which turned his smirk into a grin. "Of course you'll come with me. You have a right to visit your relatives in the clinic. And anyway, you are not leaving my side until both Nyx and I have calmed down a lot more."

"Lilah, let me find out who it is first." Luke frowned at me.

"Thank you, but I can handle it."

"Even if it's Zayne and Zayden?" He raised an eyebrow.

I wanted to be angry that he thought I was so fragile, but I knew he was only concerned for me.

"Yes," I told him. "I need to know what happened, and if it is them—"

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure it is," he interrupted me.

"Then I want to see them."

"Li, I know you're strong enough to do this, but you shouldn'thaveto. I'd spare you from it if you'd let me."

"I appreciate it, but no. I need to know they're okay and find out where Junie is."

"Very well, sister."

He nodded, then his eyes fogged over as he linked with someone. Hoping he wasn't arranging something behind my back, which he'd done before with the excuse that it was to keep me safe, I spun in Julian's arms to face him.

"What else, Julian?"

"While we're at the clinic, I want to interview the witch as well."

"I'll link Tristan and see if her condition is stable enough for that," Alpha Wyatt said. "She isn't a wolf, but we don't know if she's another kind of shifter or a human. Just saying, her rate of healing may be different from ours."

"Noted." Julian dipped his head. "After the clinic, I'll bring Lilah back here. The betas, including mine, will guard her and Posy while the rest of us interview the new prisoners. Unless," he looked down to me, "you have an interest in interrogation, darling?"

"No, thanks," I said in a wry tone. "I will gladly leave that to you, my love."

"All right." He looked around at the others. "Finally, we'll reconvene here to review everything we've learned and use it to plan the end of the Tall Pines pack."

"Wait. We're taking down the whole pack?" Gisela asked with a furrowed brow. "I thought we only needed to take down Alpha L—"

"Don't say it!" Ranger and I shouted at the same time, but it was too late.

"—eo Halder."

SLAUGHTER THEM!Onyx's sonorous roar shook the whole room. SLAUGHTER EVERY LIVING ONE! STRING UP BY GUTS AND LEAVE FOR THE CROWS! RIP OUT THROATS AND LET ROT IN SUN—

30: Getting Schooled

Mason

It took nearly an hour for King Julian and his queen to calm Nyx down.

Nyx was a caveman of a wolf, which was probably why he and Quartz got along so well, but I'd never known him to lose it like that before over something as trivial as hearing his enemy's name.

My brothers and I had a brief talk and decided Ash would get Ranger to play basketball with him in the gym. We didn't want to pry, but we needed to know if there was something more going on. Ash was the best choice because everyone knew he couldn't stay still, and Ranger looked like he needed to blow off some steam, anyway.

After they left, we busied ourselves with little jobs that needed done. I gave Luke some paper and a pencil and asked him to draw the Tall Pines layout. Cole began a to-do list in case the king wanted us with him, which was likely. Posy and Jay started on lunch while Gisela and Wyatt set the table.

Ash began to relay what he was learning as they shot hoops, and we found out that Queen Lilah hadn't handled the news well this morning. Nyx had handled it worse. He'd gone on a rampage and destroyed the dining room in a blind rage, furious at both her panic and the audacity of a threat to his mate.