“How long have you felt this way?” Costin asked.
“My parents were members of the Order,” Skender said. “They were killed back when it was disbanded. I didn’t know that a remnant remained. While my parents were members, I didn’t believe in their cause. Probably because I was young and didn’t like being told what to do or think. But after they died for what they believed in, I realized they’d been right.”
“Just because someone dies for their convictions doesn’t make their ideas right,” Drake said coolly.
Skender glanced over Costin’s shoulder to the wolf behind him. “Can you honestly say hiding what you are is right or good?”
“Have you ever considered that maybe the Great Luna created us to be secret so we could help the humans, as we’ve always done?” Costin asked him. “Maybe our purpose wasn’t to come and take over or even live along with the humans but to stand up for them when they couldn’t stand up for themselves.”
“They are a selfish race with few redeeming qualities. I’ve always wondered why Vasile was so hell-bent on protecting and saving them,” Skender said, his lip curling up in disgust.
“They were created for a purpose, just as we were,” Costin said. “We have no more right to exist than they do, and we have no more right to take away their freedom than they do ours.”
“But don’t you see?” Skender pressed, his voice growing urgent as his hands fisted at his sides. “Theywouldtake away our freedom. They would do it in a heartbeat and not even think twice about it. If they knew we existed, we would be done for. Why do they get to live their lives freely while we skulk in the darkness?”
Costin could tell that there would be no reasoning with Skender. His mind had been brainwashed to the Order’s agenda, and he was a passionate acolyte to their cause. A zealot through and through. Such types cannot be unconvinced of what they so passionately believe.
“Do you know more of the Order’s plans?” Costin asked.
“If I tell you I do, then I simply make my wait for death longer. Perhaps I would rather you just get it over with now.”
“And what about your mate?” Fane asked. “Do you care so little for her fate?”
“We aren’t bonded,” Skender said. “She will live on, unless your females catch her, of course. I’ve no doubt Decebel’s mate will be eager to rip out Stephanie’s throat.”
“You speak so flippantly about the other half of your soul. Why are you not fighting us to get to her, to save her?” Drake asked.
Skender shrugged. “Not all true mates have the same kind of bond.”
“Or maybe she isn’t your true mate but simply your partner in crime?” Fane suggested.
“I don’t answer to you, pup,” Skender said, glaring at the one who had always been known as the prince of their pack.
“Be glad that it was not Jacquelyn the Order took because I would have already started pulling your entrails from your stomach, while you still lived,” Fane said, his words harsh but his voice as cool and calm as his father’s often was when he was in a rage.
“Your woman is a half-breed. She’s worse than the humans. An abomination to our kind,” Skender said.
“Okay, can I kill him?” Drake sighed. “Costin, if you don’t want his death on your hands, I’ll do it for you.”
Costin shook his head. Something in him was telling him not to kill Skender, no matter how badly he wanted to, nor how much the man deserved it. “Alpha,” he said as he glanced to Vasile. “If you approve, I would ask we throw this cur back in a cell, separate from his supposed mate this time. I don’t know the reason just yet, but I believe we need him alive.”
Vasile, still in his wolf form, gave Costin a single nod of his large head.
Drake and Fane grabbed Skender’s arms and began pulling him in the direction of the stairs. They would put him back in his cell and, no doubt, give him a bucket to use for his bathroom instead of letting him out again.
Vasile phased back into his human form once the other three wolves were out of sight. “Are you sure this is what you want?” Vasile asked Costin.
“Part of me wants him dead, the threat removed. But part of me says he still has a part to play in all of this,” Costin said.
“If you change your mind, just say the word,” Vasile said and then suddenly froze. “They found her,” he said flatly, his eyes once again glowing with his wolf.
Costin felt fear slipping through their bond seconds before he heard Sally’s voice.“Stephanie found us. She has Titus.”
Costin’s wolf roared inside of him.“Is she still in the archives?”
“Yes. Costin, hurry.”His mate’s voice was urgent.
The beast had been clamoring for flesh between his teeth and under his claws. Looks like he was going to get his wish. The she-wolf would die for touching his son.
