Hell, she’d shot Jason, intending to put him down permanently. But she’d only reacted so aggressively because she’d been terrified he was about to kill Hunny. When Murphy had killed him, it had been to save Nessa’s life. Not solely out of hatred.
If he tracked Tony down tomorrow and murdered him, could she justify his actions? She hadn’t seen that monster in years; he might have forgotten all about her by now.
Would she be okay with him killing someone in cold blood for her?
Murphy’s eyes softened. “I won’t ever do anything to jeopardize our relationship, Nessa.”
“I believe you.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m fine with you looking into Tony. I can give you his full name and last known address to help with Colter’s search.”
Murphy removed his hand from her knee, leaning back in his seat and nodding. “I’d appreciate that.”
“Do you want to talk about Dante and Marcus?” She kept her voice light despite the tense topics they’d found themselves discussing so early in the day. Especially after such a deliciously delirious night.
“I’m hurt.” Murphy sighed, looking down at his plate. He’d barely touched his food, which worried her. “It’s been rough, trying to accept what Dante did. Knowing what I’d have to do when I eventually caught him. But Marcus? Losing one of them was difficult, but losing two friends? How do I manage that? How can I make the decision to damn them both?”
“Murphy,” Nessa said softly, her heart aching at his turmoil. “Take a few days and really sit with this. Dante isn’t going anywhere, right? You put him somewhere secure.” Hopefullynotsome secret dungeon on his property. “People are guarding him. Just … Don’t do anything today that you’ll regret for the rest of your life.”
“Dante has to be executed, Nessa,” Murphy grated out. “If I let him live after all he’s done then I’ll be viewed as weak. So will my clan, and other shifters will see that as an opportunity to attack, hoping to take us down.”
“Mercy is never an act of weakness,” Nessa informed him. “And if someone threatens your family, I have every faith that you’ll deal with them however you need to. Promise me, you won’t deliver any punishment to either of them until you can be clear and concise with your decision.”
Murphy looked across at her, his expression somber, and nodded mutely in answer.
Nessa nudged his leg with her foot, jutting her chin toward his plate in a silent demand to eat. With a disgruntled huff, he grabbed his fork and the bowl of eggs, placing a heaped serving onto his plate before he began eating. Relieved at the sight, she rubbed her foot over his calf in gratitude.
“While we’re on the topic of dealing with issues,” Nessa began after a few minutes, cutting into her pancake. “I need to talk to your bear.”
She hadn’t forgotten her talk with Hunny yesterday, and she was eager to find out if her mate’s bear was as cleverly diabolical as she was beginning to suspect.
Murphy furrowed his brow. “My bear?”
“Yeah. How does that work exactly?” She slid the pancake into her mouth, chewing quickly. “He can hear me all the time, right? But can he talk through you when you’re like this?” She waved at him with her fork.
“What, like, can he use my voice to communicate with you?” Murphy snorted. “No. I can tell you how he’s feeling or what he expresses in my mind, but it won’t be him talking to you. It’ll be me relaying a message.”
Nessa sighed in irritation. “That’s what I thought.”
“What do you need to discuss with him?” he asked, voice heavily laced with curiosity.
“Oh, I’msurehe knows exactly what he’s done.”
Murphy’s eyes flickered golden before returning to their normal shade of brown.
Aha! So that son of a bitch was listening in. And he looked guilty as hell. Kind of. Actually, it was a little hard to tell. Regardless, she glared at her mate, hoping his bear realized who her ire wasactuallyaimed at.
“Did something happen?” Murphy asked in obvious confusion.
“Yeah, you could say that. I had this revelation yesterday, and since it’s not fair to yell at you, I think it’d be best if you whipped out your bear so he and I could talk.” And by ‘talk,’ she meant she was going to give the animal a severe scolding.
“Whip out my—” Murphy shook his head. “If I shift now, your claiming bite and the marks on my back will heal instead of scar. You’ll have to wait a day or two to discuss … whatever this is.”
Nessa smiled coldly. “That’s fine. I’m sure your bear won’t mind waiting for this particular conversation.”
Murphy tensed. “Why did I just feel a sudden burst of nervousness?”
His bear was nervous? Good.
Feeling smug, Nessa took another bite of her food.
