Page 17 of Wolf's Claimed Mate
It irked me as we drove through the main part of town. Conall didn’t turn on the music in his car, but I wanted him to. Part of me wanted to know what he listened to as he drove around. I was so used to seeing him walk everywhere that the sight of him behind the wheel was unnerving as it was attractive.
“So I figure we’ll start—”
I cut him off. “I’llstart in Kato’s office. You should go down to the basement where the fight was.”
“Why? There’ll be nothing left. Any scent traces will be long faded by now.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, they may have left something. It’s been a long time, but it’s not like anyone uses that warehouse.”
The building in question rose up on the horizon quickly, an abandoned behemoth of a factory, the windows blacked out, the bricks crumbling, and the grass around it overgrown. Conall’s energy dropped the closer we got. He grew more serious than the man who’d knocked on my door with coffee, intent on riling me up.
A stab of guilt hit me when I realized how much I had prevented him from doing his duty to Fenrys. Although it wasn’t enough to agree on searching the same place.
“Look, we don’t have to be stuck together,” I said tersely. “We can cover more ground if we split up. And, really, nobody will be in there, so we don’t need to pretend to be a couple, right? I know this place well. I know where they hid things, where they stashed cash and other papers. Plans. Contracts. Everything.”
“Which is why we should stick together.” We pulled up outside the warehouse. He tapped the steering wheel, as if anxious, stalling.
“Conall—”
“Let’s get it over with,” he bit out, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut. Anxiety crawled down my spine as I followed him. Then it hit me: of course, he’d be nervous about coming here. He’d nearly lost the alpha and Luna of his pack, his best friend, and his goddaughter. Aside from that threat, Thalia had told me this was the place where all her secrets had spilled out, and she’d argued with Conall over double-crossing Fenrys and putting all their lives in danger.
I sidled up to him, keeping close. I hadn’t been there that night, unaware of anything gone wrong until Thalia had called me from the hospital, telling me what had happened.
“Hey,” I said quietly. “It’s okay. Kato’s gone.”
He gave me a tight, unconvincing smile. “I just want to keep everyone safe.” It was a muttered thing, said as if he didn’t caremuch, but I could tellhe did. Above us, the sky was bright and blue, making me feel much better about exploring an abandoned warehouse I’d spent a lot of time in.
Conall tried the door. I thought it would be locked, but it swung open beneath his hand with a creak. Inside, broken glass and wood scattered over the long hallway, the smell of rust and damp permeating the air. I coughed, tugging my jumper up and over my mouth and nose. Dust hung thickly in the air, and bits of sunlight just about broke through foggy, uncleaned windows from inside rooms with open doors.
“Creepy,” I commented.
Conall was looking down at the hallway to the single, industrial door on the other end, which I knew led to the basement. I swallowed. I’d avoided that door at all costs. Kato was dangerous, I’d known that when I’d been involved, whenThaliahad been involved. But I had always thought his dangerous side came out when he was ridding the world of bad diplomats and town officials. Naively, I hadn’t considered that those who were taken down to the basement to be tormented by Kato’s awful pack had been good people making the wrong enemies.
I had believed so dumbly, and the more I realized the reality of Kato’s pack, the more I cursed my past self for not seeing any of it sooner. But they hadn’t hurt me. Maybe it was because I wasn’t a wolf that they’d kept me safe, had roughed upmy father, ambushed my mother, and gotten me out of my home to go shack up with Jackson and the rest of the pack in Silverlake Valley.
Befriending Thalia had been easy, making it look like I’d been a starving, feral thing needing shelter. Ihad, technically, after Jackson left the pack. I’d needed a place to stay after losing mine and his room together. She’d taken me in, and I’d seen my chance to impress Kato, and seen her opportunity for revenge. That was why and how I had gotten the two connected.
That confession was on my tongue to Conall but I knew he was the last person I should admit anything to.
“Conall,” I said quietly. He glanced at me but said nothing. “After Fenrys killed Kato, theydidremove the body, right?”
A twitch spasmed in his cheek. “I’m sure they did. Surely his pack would have wanted to bury his body, his family would have wanted peace for…” He trailed off, seeing my expression. “He had no family?”
I shook my head. “He’d been a lone wolf until he formed his pack. That was why he wanted to take over Silverlake Valley, to have a proper place to call his without shifter discrimination.”
Conall rolled his eyes. “You’re not a wolf. Do you feel welcome in this town?”
“Yes, but—”
“His views are good, but he achieved them through dangerous, awful means.”
I fell silent, knowing he was right. Blood would have spilled in the basement.
“Did you ever hear anything?” he asked. “Anything suspicious?”
Screams, I didn’t let myself confess.Pleas of mercy.
I shook myself off, shaking my head. I didn’t yet trust Conall. We walked deeper into the warehouse. I hesitated just before Kato’s old office, where I’d walked Thalia in once, proud of myself for bringing him someone to help the cause, not knowing he was dangerous.
