Niggling guilt filled me . . . We should’ve kept Alex lockedaway.
“It wouldn’t have been the first threat I’d have had to learn to live with, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, Liam wasn’t content with my offer. Your Alpha thirsts for more, which is a dangerous trait in aleader.”
“You thirsted for more. You took over theAspens.”
“You think the Aspens were innocent? They killed off most of mypack.”
“No, they didn’t. You’re the one who walked into their camp and challenged theirAlpha.”
“Your truncated comprehension of my pack’s history is alarming. I can’t tell if you’ve been fed wrong information or if you’re lackinginformation.”
I bristled again. “Why don’t you tell me yourversion?”
“My version?” Her tone turned a notch shriller. “You mean, thetruth?”
Although we hadn’t penetrated the forest, we were following the tree line fencing the great lawn from the wildernessbeyond.
“Yes.” There was no point debating whether her truth was the same as everyoneelse’s.
“Something in the mountains made us sick, and when we came to the Aspens for Sillin,which is one of the only drugs that work onwolves—”
“I thought it only helped us if our blood came in contact withsilver?”
Her eyes thinned a little. “It has lots more properties than voiding ourmagic.”
“I didn’tknow.”
“You don’t seem to know much aboutwerewolves.”
I bristled. “That was uncalledfor.”
She didn’t apologize. “Do you want to hear the rest ofit?”
What I wanted was for her to stop disparaging me. Fearing how childish it would sound to voice this, I grumbled, “Goon.”
Cassandra observed me a protracted instant before pursuing her tale. “When we went to the Aspens for help, they turned us away. They had stocks of Sillin yet wouldn’t share a meager amount. We’d even offered to pay an exorbitant amount for the drug. A month went by, and so many of us died that my grandfather, who was Alpha at the time, attempted a new negotiation with the Aspen Alpha. Again, they told us we should’ve taken better care of our supplies and offered us nothing. My little sister and I, we snuck onto their property and into their stock. We took only what we needed. She was caught and executed instantly. I got away, and then we ran and hid. Only five of us survived. Well, six . . . Aidan never lived among us, so he wasn’t subjected to thepoisoning.
“Four years ago, when I took over the Aspen pack, Julian Matz visited the compound to meet with me. At least, he claimed that was the nature of his visit. My father, who was so sickly he could no longer shift, was found dead the following morning. The pack doctor said he’d stopped breathing. I believed he’d been asphyxiated, but for the sake of diplomacy, I let it go. I letJuliango. . .”
A chill skated over my skin, which had nothing to do with the tall shadows that stretched like fingers over Cassandra and me. “What poisonedyou?”
She watched the loamy earth squish between her bare toes. “There was a toxic waste site on our land. It polluted our main water source.” Her gaze scraped over my face with such intensity that her eyes felt like claws. “Do you understand now why Sillin is so near and dear to me? I liken it to my security blanket; I may never need it again, but I can no longer live without it. I learned the hard way what lack of foresight brings about, and I will not let this happen to mywolves.”
I wasn’t going about getting what I wanted from Sandra the right way. “Thank you for sharing your pack’s history withme.”
She dipped her chin into her swan-like neck and scrutinized me from underneath her stubbylashes.
“I’ve always felt you were smart, but now I see you’re a sensible woman.” The words burned on their way out. “So I have to wonder why you won’t offer us the deal again. I swear I’d make Liam keep away fromyou.”
Her lips twitched, and then a bark of laughter burst out. “You’dmakehim? Oh, honey,” she tittered, “Liam may appreciate your looks, but he doesn’trespectyou. Men like him—so conceited and chauvinistic—they don’t take advice from a gender they deeminferior.”
“You have a skewed vision of Liam. He’s nothing like his father. Besides, he listened to me when I told him not to duel you the day you killedJulian.”
Her smile turned broader. “He listened to get you into hisbed.”
Heat splashed my face. Why did I have to go and blush now? “That’s nottrue.”
“Ness, let me tell you a little something about myself that very few people know. My sister, she was mute, so I learned to read lips at the same time I learned to talk.” Her shoulders were pulled back as straight as a rake. “That day beside the pool, I saw what Liam asked you . . . to break up with your new boyfriend. August,correct?”
