Wes whispered in his ear, “You will do as your alpha commands or your cousin will die. We have him safely tucked away where no one will find him. If you tellanyoneabout this, he will die. The choice is yours.”
Letting go of Mark, Newell casually stepped back against the desk again.
I could tell Alec. How would they know?
As though reading his mind, Newell said, “If you tell Knight, he will be duty bound to tell his alpha. And you know they’ll go straight to the council with it. Regardless of what happens after that, the consequences will be the same. That goes for the human authorities too, not that they would involve themselves with this. And as for telling anyone in the pack, who can you really trust?”
Will. I trust him with my life. Jason too. In fact, Mark trusted his whole unit, so Wes could fuck right off.
Newell addressed Wes. “Take him to the council.” Wes roughly turned him around and shoved him towards the door. “Harry’s life is in your hands, Mark.” There was a certain cheerfulness to his tone, and Mark wanted to rip his tongue out.
His claws and fangs slid out with a soft snick, his wolf murderous under his skin, begging to be let out. Mark was seconds away from shifting, consequences be damned, when Wes slammed him against the wall hard enough to wind him.
“Don’t.” Wes shifted effortlessly in the blink of an eye, lips curling up over his extended jaw. He glared at Mark, no words needed.If you do this, he’s as good as dead.
With great effort, Mark steadied his breathing. Each deep inhale brought more of Alec’s scent from where it clung to his skin, soothing his wolf.I wish he was here right now.
With Mark in no danger of shifting anymore, Wes let him go and changed back. “Let’s go.”
“I can walk there on my own. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go. Considering.”
Wes had the gall to laugh. “Fair enough. Make sure you go straight there. Remember, Harry’s counting on you.”
Mark fought to keep his temper; he needed a level head more than ever now. “You’re Harry’s beta. How can you stand by and do nothing?”
Wes laughed again, like Mark had made a joke. “I didn’t stand by and do nothing. Who do you think took him in the first place?”
“You bastard.” He forced himself to take a step back, away from Wes. Otherwise he’d very likely try and kill him.Think of Harry.
Shrugging off the comment, Wes replied with. “It’s for the good of the pack.”
Mark’s stomach roiled, and he turned on his heels, heading for the stairwell as quickly as possible. For the good of the pack? They were insane. Both of them. And fuck knew who else was mixed up in this. He drew out his phone as soon as the stairwell door closed behind him and pulled up Will’s contact details.
I need to talk to you now. Emergency.
The dots appeared straight away to show Will was typing a reply. Thank fuck for that. When it came through, he almost dropped the phone.I can’t, I’m sorry.
Realisation set in, and Mark slumped against the wall.Your sister?
Yes. Just do what they say.
Bollocks. Why hadn’t Will called him to warn him? He must have known they’d go after one of Mark’s family too? Not that it mattered now, but for fuck’s sake, Will! He’d still had no call back from Jason, and Mark tried to push away the doubt trying to creep in. No way would Jason be involved with this. He tried him again, but this time it went straight to voicemail. “Fuck.”
Alec’s words echoed in his mind.If they threaten you in any way, please call me.He wanted desperately to do that. Alec would know exactly what to do, but Newell was right. Alec would never go behind Cam’s back, and Newell would find out he’d told them before Harry could be found. It wasn’t a risk he could take.
Sliding his phone back in his pockets, Mark took a deep breath and started down the stairs.
He could do this.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Alec sat on his sofa with his head in his hands. He’d dropped Mark off over two hours ago and couldn’t stop thinking he’d made a mistake. Newell was dangerous, he knew that, so why the fuck had he let Mark out of his sight.
Because he asked me to.
Mark wasn’t his. He couldn’t sense how worried Alec was about him, how it physically hurt to let him go, knowing he could be walking into danger.Maybe I should have bitten him after all?
Fuck no. Fantasising about it in the heat of the moment was one thing—Alec wasn’t made of stone—but now he could think with a clear head. He wanted Mark to be safe, but that didn’t mean he wanted him as a mate. He didn’t want anyone as a mate.
