“Your mom accidentally bashed Beatrice in the face with a door.”
“What?”
Ivan grinned. “A door Riley shoved Alice through after ‘tripping’ on her way out of the Mercantile. Since Fredrick had been shadowing her, he saw the whole thing and accused her of intending for Alice to hit his mother. Still, Beatrice’s mouth wasn’t looking so good when we left. Might have a busted front tooth too.”
“She just got lip fillers.” Antonia tried to shove Riley’s foot off her chest. “That’s gonna mess up her mouth.” The female’s grin surprised Kraft.
“Beatrice messes up every time she speaks,” Riley muttered. Then she glowered down at Antonia. “This is allyourfault. Where’s the damn artifact? You stole it, and my uncle and the rest of the pack are blaming Max.”
“Wait. Everyone’s blaming me?” Max blinked.
“Which makes our future alpha look weak. Because he tried to be kind instead of ripping out your throat and demanding you play nice with us.” Riley’s snarl was like music, so aggressive. So mean.
Antonia shuddered.
I really do like her,Paz said to him and subtly scooted closer to the violence.
“I told them already,” Antonia began, and Kraft reluctantly lifted Riley off the poor little lycan. She smacked him, and he grudgingly let her go.
Ivan helped the witch-wolf, whatever that was, to her feet by yanking her up by the arm.
The look of pain on Antonia’s face pleased his berserker, he could tell. “Ow. Thanks, you big rock.”
“You’re welcome.” He let her go, and Antonia scooted back, rubbing her chest and shoulder.
“I gave the artifact to my father. He said he wanted it to be properly worshipped by everyone. That the Crimson Claw was using it to stay relevant and on top.” She swallowed hard, looking very young to Kraft’s keen eye. “H-he told me your alpha had plans to sell the artifact to a coven, where it could be used to make new berserkers. Unnatural creatures.” She stared at Riley with a hint of fear.
“But then I overheard him with a strange man several weeks ago. Turned out the man was a sorcerer. A former mage of the Dark Mist coven. I know this because I saw a few of his people, and I recognized them from an alliance my father made years ago.” Her eyes seemed to darken. “They play with power they don’t respect, and it’s too much for one coven, let alone one man. Sebastian Castle said he could use the statue of Hirpus to strengthen our clan. That’s when I realized that my father wanted the artifact for his own, not to help out the packs. But to put him in the place he's been trying to claw his way to for years.”
“Why didn’t you tell any of us before?” Ivan rumbled. “Why wait and let a sorcerer put his hands on the most important artifact ever discovered by our dires?”
She glanced away. “I wanted to tell, but my father saw me eavesdropping, and he’d know I told. He’s not an easy male to live with.”
Riley cocked her head. “No, that’s not a real answer. Tell them, witch-wolf, who you really are.”
“Stop calling me that,” Antonia growled.
But compared to Riley’s deep growl, Antonia might as well have been a kitten threatening a lion.
“I still don’t get the witch-wolf reference.” Max studied Antonia. “But she’s not wrong about Julian. If she’d told us, we’d have confronted her father. And he’d waste no time in killing whoever betrayed him.”
“Yeah? Well, we’re wasting time chatting.” Kraft crouched low and looked into the Wildridge dire’s gaze. “I’m working to get that artifact back. With it, we’re going to confront something worse than your father and Sebastian. But right now, it’s not safe in the hands of a sorcerer planning on using it for his own ends.”
Antonia gasped. “You’ve seen it? The growing Darkness?”
“Wait. You know about that?” Riley frowned. “What the fuck, Antonia? What kind of game are you playing?”
“Of course I saw it, you big-boned freak.”
Ivan had to hold Riley back from ripping Antonia in two. But Kraft thought he saw a glimmer of respect in Riley’s gaze for her enemy, which he understood. He absolutely hated rushing to an easy victory. Prey was so much more fun when it put up a fight.
Their gazes met and, as if they shared the same thought, they smiled.
Antonia nodded. “I saw a glimpse of that Darkness and knew I had to do something. So I stole back the artifact before my father could trade it to Sebastian. And I gave it to someone else for safekeeping.”
“Who?” Riley asked. “And give me a straight answer, or so help me, I’ll tear your head off.”
Antonia swallowed. “I gave it to a shapeshifter friend of mine. You wouldn’t know him. He’s avian.”
