Page 68 of The Forbidden Wolf

Damian’s head lolled. “Only the best for you, my boy.”

Sebastian slapped him hard. “I am the Alpha Heir of Manhattan, and you are the fallen Beta of the Bronx. You will address me with the proper honorific.”

Damian smirked. “Only the best for you, Your Grace. Kiana is the best we have to offer. She deserves the best too. Only the best for the best to create a bloodline like no other…”

“Elyse and Kiana are genetically identical,” Sebastian said. “The bloodline will be exactly the same either way. You have no logic, Beta.”

“No!” Damian lunged, and Kenzo grabbed the back of the chair to keep him from face-planting. “She is tainted! Accursed! She will ruin you! Ruin us!”

Sebastian stilled, and so did I. Damian was under the influence of truth serum—don’t ask what it was made of—and would out me if Sebastian pursued that line of questioning. And that would almost certainly out Evan. I believed the Manhattan wolves were basically good, but that word didn’t always mean the same thing to wolves. I had become proof of that myself. Sometimes good meant disposing of a threat, no questions asked.

My wolf bristled. Evan was pack now and under her protection in a way he hadn’t been before. He was more than pack. There was a possessive edge to her attachment that I wasn’t totally comfortable with. Neither motherly nor mately, but… maybe like Frankenstein felt for his creation before things went horribly wrong. Hopefully things would stop going horribly wrong though.

Max chuckled. “Dramatic little devil, isn’t he?”

I nodded weakly. I could feel a migraine coming on.

Sebastian’s jaw worked side to side. Finally, he asked, “And when did you first come to this opinion?”

Damian opened his mouth and then clamped his together. “You’ll need more serum for that.”

Sebastian nodded at Kenzo.

Kenzo did nothing.

“Kenzo!” Sebastian barked.

His friend startled and shook his head like he’d dozed off. “Sorry, dude. I think he’s messing with me.”

Damian pushed out his lower lip. “Oh, he can call you dude, but I can’t call you—”

Sebastian struck him again, and I winced. Damian deserved it, but I still didn’t care for how easily violence came to my mate. Damian just laughed though. Kenzo jabbed him in the neck with a second dose. We only had one more.

“Tell him to hurry,” I told Max. “If Damian can fight the serum off that quickly and control Kenzo in a room full of silver, he’s more powerful than he’s ever let on.”

“Yes.” Max’ brow knit with worry. “This is all very concerning. Very concerning indeed.”

A few seconds later, Sebastian changed tactics. “When the Bronx marched on Manhattan, were you using your powers to prevent humans from taking notice?”

Damian smiled sluggishly. “Yes. Of course.”

“And did you influence your own pack to make that march in the first place?”

Damian ground his teeth and then hissed, “The entire pack wished to see the insult to our Alpha Heir corrected. Hard to say how much they needed my encouragement.”

The tightness in my chest loosened just a bit. He was talking in circles as he always did, but that sounded like a confession to me. My father had not been acting entirely of his own accord that day. Perhaps Kiana had also been under his sway. Which meant it might be possible to have a reasonable discussion with them now.

Sebastian scoffed. “Well, without your protection, Kiana and other pack members were photographed during their retreat, frightening the humans, and putting all five Thrones in danger. This very night, Elyse was mistaken for her twin and almost murdered by anti-shifter activists.”

“Sounds like they should have tried harder,” Damian giggled.

Sebastian roared and grabbed Damian’s throat, lifting the Beta and his chair off the ground. Max and I both reached for the screen as if we could stop him, but Kenzo actually did. He grabbed Sebastian’s bulging forearm and squeezed until the Alpha Heir dropped the Beta on his side with a reverberating clang.

Sebastian backed up toward the door, raking his fingers through his hair and breathing heavily. He cast another glance at the camera, eyes full of… fear? Was he worried he would be in trouble with his father for that lapse of judgment? Or me?

But then Damian cackled as Kenzo sat him upright. “Oh, well, it was worth a try.”

Kenzo froze, looking astonished askance of Sebastian. I gasped. Had Damian made Sebastian attack him? Was he trying to commit suicide rather than tell the truth?

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