Liam sighed. “As for you, Nate, you’ll need to step down as my Beta.”
Nate swallowed and again bobbed his head. “I understand.”
I waited for Liam to tack on another punishment, because a job downgrade couldn’t possibly be his only reprimand. Could it?
When he stood up without adding anything, I frowned.
You seem disappointed by my verdict, Nikki.
“Merely pleasantly surprised by your leniency.”
He dragged his palms over his denim-clad thighs. “Nate, you do understand that if the full moon doesn’t help her, we’ll have to make hard decisions.”
When he hiccupped a sob, my already compacted chest squeezed some more. I sent a silent prayer to Lycaon to fix Lori’s mistake.
How could she have accepted to bite her knowing how it would end? “Did Bea really ask for this?”
Nate turned his reflective brown eyes to me and gave such a slight nod I almost mistook it for a tremor.
“Why didn’t Lori refuse?”
“Bea threatened to expose her. Since Lori’s reputation in the pack is already dismal, she accepted.”
I stared at Bea in shock. Had she really resorted to blackmail to obtain what she wanted? She turned her head toward the wall and scrunched up her muzzle, just as a knock resounded in the tension-filled air. I jumped, and the movement chafed my skull.
It’s Darren. You need stitches.
Lucas pushed off the wall and crossed to the door, which he drew wide open. The shifter, who’d delivered me along with all my siblings and most of my generation, strode into the room, thinning blond hair sticking out haphazardly around his face. He must’ve been forewarned about what he would find because pity deepened the lines bracketing his eyes and mouth.
“Sorry. I got here as fast as I could.” He walked over to my side. “How you doing, kiddo?”
Way better than half the people in this room.“Not too bad.”
Liam had crouched in front of Bea. I wondered if he was talking into her mind but then remembered she wasn’t linked to him. Pity and fatigue tamed his irate expression. Had he even slept after he’d dropped me off? Probably not.
As he unfurled his massive body, he looked over at my brother. “Nate, you’ll find Miles’s car about a mile down the road. Report the accident and then follow the ambulance to the hospital. Donotleave Miles’s side until he wakes up. I want to know exactly how much he remembers.”
My brother stood, sending my hand resting on his back toppling onto the warm corduroy.
“And we messaged him from Bea’s phone that she was out-of-state. In California, since that’s what you told her neighbor.”
So Liam had visited her apartment building also . . .I wasn’t sure why that surprised me.
“Make sure to perpetuate that story. We don’t want her family growing suspicious.” Liam walked over to the wall and yanked on the chain, unhooking it with one stiff jerk as though it were made of plastic instead of metal. “Lucas, transfer Bea to the bunker.” He handed the clanking links to his Beta, who tugged on the chain as though it were a leash, forcing Bea to stand.
“Wait.” Nate dug a key from his pocket. “Here.” His hand bobbed in the air.
“I’m not letting her go free.”
“I know.” Nate sighed. “You probably shouldn’t.”
Lucas pocketed the key.
“Wait.” Nate vanished into the bedroom and returned with the fleece I’d soiled. He wrapped it around Bea’s gnarled, naked form.
Just as I mused, “She’s so much calmer than the others,” her nostrils flared and her gummy lips retracted. She whipped her head to the side, running her muzzle along the bloodied stain.
When drool dripped off her fangs, Lucas rolled the chain twice more around his hand. “She’s reacting to the scent of Nikki’s blood!”
