Page 40 of Wulf's Pack
“Putting hits out on people is still illegal,” Carl says.
“Not to mention expensive,” I mutter. “We could never afford it.”
Skylar is not deterred. Her eyes flicker back and forth as she puts together a plan in her mind. After a moment, she blinks back to the present and gives me a devious grin. “We won’t have to order a hit on anyone. We won’t have to do anything illegal at all. We just need to drop a few hints to the right people, and they’ll take care of the problem all on their own.”
She’s so sure of herself. So confident. She’s absolutely stunning filled with so much excitement as she is. My eyes drop to her lips, and suddenly my mouth goes dry. I shake myself from the thought. Now is not the time to be distracted by the beautiful woman at my side. “What exactly are you thinking?”
“The Denver vampires.”
She waits a breath, as if we should all know what she’s talking about. I’m not the only one in the group wearing a blank expression.
Skylar starts wringing her hands as if resisting the urge to talk with them. “The Denver vampires are into all the same stuff Victor’s pack is, only they’re higher on the food chain. They run most of the organized crime in all of Colorado. Victor wants to take them out. That’s why he’s been building his army. He’s got spies in their clan. He’s taken many of their vampires prisoner over the years and tortured them for information before killing them. He’s hijacked shipments of drugs and weapons from the Denver clan. He’s moving all his pieces into place for a hostile takeover. He’s not ready to do it yet, but that won’t matter to the Denver clan. They’ll take him out before he gets the chance to come at them.”
It's not a bad idea. In fact, it’s a really good one. Us going to the vampires won’t be the same as just leaning on the strength of my clan. It’s smart and gutsy. We’re the underdogs. No one willexpect us to take the Vail pack head-on, but it’s still a way to take the offensive.
I’m not the only one who sees the potential in this plan. My entire pack is now looking hopeful. “Do you have proof of all that?” Carl asks. “We could make an anonymous call.”
I wish it could be that simple. “That won’t be enough to earn the respect of the shifters. We have to be seen actively taking charge. We have to go to them personally.”
Skylar winces. “Besides, Iamthe proof. An anonymous call won’t be enough. It would be enough to make him look into things, but Samuel is suspicious and calculated. He’ll take his time unless he’s riled up. We need him to strike quickly, not giving Victor the chance to come for us.”
“Samuel?” Elise asks.
“Samuel Osborne. Master of the Denver clan.”
“And you can rile him up?” I ask. I can’t help the growl in my voice. I don’t like how familiar Skylar sounds with this master vampire. Especially not if he’s mafia.
She places her hand on my thigh and looks at me with eyes that demand patience. “Yes. I can rile him up.”
“How?” Bree asks before I can.
Skylar takes a deep breath and addresses the whole pack. Her hand squeezes my thigh as if to tell me to remain calm, and then she says, “Because Victor stole me from him when I was fourteen.”
The words drop like a bomb, silencing the whole group. A million thoughts and questions run through my mind. My rage threatens to take over. Skylar squeezes my thigh again and releases some of her calming pheromones. I take a breath, but it’s all I can do to keep control of my temper. “Please explain.”
Skylar meets my eyes. “I’m free now,” she reminds me. “I’m safe with you.”
The reminder only puts me more on edge. It means she’s about to say something I’m really going to hate.
“My parents were drug addicts and in a lot of debt to the Denver clan. Basically slaves. My father fought in their illegal cage fights, and my mother was a whore.”
Her face blushes with embarrassment or shame. The need to comfort her calms me down. I take her hand off my leg and bring it to my lips before lacing our fingers together and letting them drop back to my thigh. She gives me a grateful smile and continues her story.
“I was raised with the vampires. I was always dragged along with my parents, and saw everything at a very young age. When I started to get older, the vampires began looking at me in ways that made my skin crawl. The master had claimed me for himself, but he was waiting for me to get a little older. I guess he liked his lovers fully matured, and a malnourished fourteen-year-old didn’t hold quite enough sexual appeal. That, or he was afraid he would break me. I’m pretty small.”
I flex my hand and force myself not to squeeze Skylar’s in a crushing grip.
“Still, even with the master’s claim, his clan would take subtle liberties,” she says, adding to the horror. “Discreetly touching me, getting rough with me, or scaring me for amusement. They could sense how weak my wolf is. I scream prey. It was too tempting. The master let them have their fun as long as my clothes stayed on, and I wasn’t hurt beyond minor bruises. I was the clan toy.”
A snarl escapes me. I can’t help it. I slam to my feet and begin pacing the small room. “How did you end up with Victor?”
Skylar watches me for a moment, as if judging my temper, but then answers. “Samuel runs a ring of illegal shifter cage fights. I came in handy when dealing with his fighters. He keptthem doped up on silver so that they were feral, and then he used me to calm them down in order to get them back to their cages.”
That has every one of us growling. Illegal cage fights? Keeping shifters feral? The sick bastard.
“Victor came for the fights and recognized me as an omega. He asked around and met with my parents. He offered them a lot of money to get me away from the clan so that he could take me with him.” Skylar’s face falls, and bitterness creeps into her voice. “They didn’t even hesitate. Just sold me off like I was an old bicycle they no longer wanted and disappeared.
“Samuel lost his favorite toy and his best fighter. I’m sure he was pissed. If I show up and tell him it was Victor who took me and then tell him everything he’s up to, Samuel will wipe Victor’s pack from the face of the Earth within days, if not hours.”
