Page 6 of Broken Kingdom

“I can come,” Alexander says, wincing as he pushes himself higher on the pillows. “I just need to shift into my wolf form and shift back and I’ll be good as new.”

“No, you won’t, you have three broken ribs,” Catherine says, her voice still thick from crying. She and Alexander were sobbing all over each other when Layla and I came in, but she quickly pulled herself together and apologized for her part in putting everyone in danger.

I assured her that she played no part—it was her brother’s decision to betray us—but she clearly feels responsible. She says she provoked Beck when he first arrived and got on his bad side. If she hadn’t, she thinks maybe things would have been different and Alexander never would have been manipulated into helping the New Lupine Brotherhood.

It’s a classic case of a victim blaming herself for someone else’s bad behavior, but that’s something she’ll have to work on with the school counselor after we save Juliet.

Maxim’s given us one day. One day to use the element of surprise to our advantage before he leads a scorched earth offensive against Jean-Paul and his people.

We have to get Juliet out before then. If we don’t, there’s a good chance she’ll be caught in the crossfire.

“And we can’t trust you,” Layla says, adding with a casual shrug, “Sorry, man, but that’s the way it is. You broke the friend code, and this mission is trusted homies only. Honestly, you’re lucky we aren’t telling Maxim what you did. I’m sure he’d do a lot worse than kick you out of the inner circle. You feel me?”

Alexander sags against the pillows. “I know. And again, I’m so fucking sorry. I’ll work hard to regain your trust. No matter how long it takes. I swear to you, I just want to help. Any way I can.”

Catherine squeezes his hand. “We know. But be quiet now. This isn’t about you. This is about Juliet. Jean-Paul is a sadist with a serious dark side. We have to get her away from him, the sooner the better.”

Next to me, Layla leans in. “Tell us everything you know, then we can go over the layout of the Montreal pack compound and the latest intelligence on what kind of weapons he’s been collecting. Maxim’s tech team AirDropped a shit ton of stuff to my phone.”

“Let’s do that outside,” I say, shooting Alexander another hard look. “Where we can be sure no one’s listening.”

“They aren’t letting anyone call in or out of Lost Moon until tomorrow night, to keep the lie that Hammer’s still in charge alive as long as possible,” Alexander says wearily. “Even if I wanted to betray you, I couldn’t. And I don’t. I promise.”

“But you should rest,” Catherine says, standing and bending to press a kiss to Alex’s forehead. “Rest and heal and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He grabs her hand, squeezing tight. “Be careful. Remember your training and make the most of your secret weapon.”

A tight smile pulling at her lips, Catherine nods. “I will.”

Out in the hall, as we move past other injured men and women on gurneys in the overflowing infirmary, Layla asks, “What’s your secret weapon?”

“My hedgehog. I’m small enough to climb through tight spaces and gain entrance to hard-to-get places.” Catherine glances over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing as she adds, “One time I swam up into a toilet to let Alexander and my dad in through an enemy’s window.”

I turn in the same direction Catherine did, but don’t see anything except patients awaiting care and two very busy doctors bustling between rooms.

“Sorry,” she says, “I thought I smelled Beck, but I’m probably imagining things. All the New Lupine Brotherhood wounded are being treated and held in the chapel.”

“We could set fire to it on the way out,” Layla says, displaying a bloodthirsty side that isn’t normal for her. But I expect being told she was going to be sold back into slavery again—a fate she only recently escaped before she came to Lost Moon—struck an ugly chord.

“No, but maybe we should swing by for a visit,” Catherine says. “Beck’s father is close with Jean-Paul. Their family has stayed with the Montreal pack on several occasions. Beck might know things about the compound that even Maxim’s spies don’t.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “Even if we can get him to talk, we can’t trust he’s telling the truth.”

“No,” Catherine agrees. “Not without leverage. But if we work out a deal with Maxim—a reduced sentence for Beck upon our successful return from our mission, aided by intelligence supplied by the world’s worst wolf—he could be of use to us.”

Layla growls. “He doesn’t deserve a reduced sentence. I want him to hang. I want them all to hang.”

“Oh, he will,” Catherine says with a dark smile I’ve never seen on her face before. “Because there won’t be a deal with Maxim. We’ll be lying about that.”

Layla laughs low in her throat. “Nice. I like the way you think when you’re pissed as hell.”

“Beck had terrible plans for me and nearly got my brother killed,” Catherine says. “Seems only fair that I return the favor. I’ll tell you what I know about Jean-Paul and his people on the way over to the chapel.”

We push out into the warm, sunny summer day and start across the quad, where several tents have been erected and are serving as triage stations for the steady stream of wounded allies coming through the front gate. Thankfully, more of Maxim’s force survived than originally expected, including Hermione who lifts a hand to me as we pass by her tent.

“Glad to see you in one piece,” she says.

I cross to clasp her offered hand. “You, too.”

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