"Rachel wasn't used by Tenbel or any of the other males. That uppity black robe wouldn't touch her because they were related. He is a half-brother. She belonged to the one called Louis. There is something you need to know. She said Louis isn't a beta."
Monster straightened. "What do you mean?"
Naya's head was spinning. The girl, Rachel, daughter of Corre, half-sister to Crispin—and bald, disgusting, Tenbel, also half-brother to Crispin?
She leaned forward to listen. She hadn't told Monster about her conversation with the drones. Descriptions of the beta sounded just like her father, but was this Louis related to Crispin as well?
"The male is an alpha. The way she talked about him. The way he smelled. I'm sure Louis is an alpha," Nixon said.
Naya watched the subtle emotions in Monster's eyes as he absorbed the news. "Do you think Louis is also related to Corre? Did Rachel say? Did she know him before she was brought here?"
Nixon's bride-mate shook her head. "That poor girl is so young. How could her father, her brother, do this to her? And to force her to mate with a relative? It can't be true."
The big body beneath Naya’s hummed with a mix of confused emotions. Through their bond, she could feel the storm of them until everything settled suddenly into the red boil of anger.
Offering no commentary on the discoveries, Monster asked, "Have you heard or seen Mac or Seta today?"
"Mac left with ten men and credits to hire more, I assume to deal with the other black robe parishes and take on that slumlord."
Nixon hesitated. Naya could see him thinking, smell the anxiety in his sweat.
"You challenged him again? And Seta?" Nixon asked.
Monster nodded. "What type of men did Mac take with him?"
Shaking his head, Nixon said, "The kind he works with routinely. One of them started the fight that killed a guy recently, and it's not the first time. The man wants seniority in the dorms. I know Mac has had to make him knuckle under twice now. I told him we should just send him to the pits and be done with it. Some others are the same. They lost fights with Mac over something or other. Rotten to the core."
"Men who have forgotten their loyalty to me and given it to my secretary?" Monster speculated.
He was talking about the betrayal of one of his men. Naya remembered meeting the other alpha. She hadn't sensed a threat from him.
Was this what life with Monster was going to be like? She didn't imagine Monster would face his challengers the way her father did, with verbal maneuvering and asset acquisition.
"It's possible," Nixon answered.
Monster's large hand moved to the food James had brought in earlier. He picked up a knife—a tarnished thing with dents and scratches in the metal handle—and poked at the hunk of meat on the plate.
"Nixon, I need you to pick men who are loyal to you, loyal to me, and have them on guard around the tower and at the pits tomorrow. Not obvious, but watching, ready. Do we have men who can do that?"
"You think Mac will move against you? Seta too?"
"I want to be ready for anything," Monster said evasively. He began cutting the meat. "If the men ask you about the new women, you can refer them to Alreck."
A small, satisfied smile curved his lips. Naya wondered why that pleased him so much. "I've made him the official matchmaker."
Still under Nixon's arm, Marissa looked like she wanted to say something. Monster beat her to it.
"You are welcome to help him," he said, looking at her. “He will need it. You know as well as I do that those females will not be leaving Sector 2, so they will need protection. Free choice contracts with an alpha who wants them is the best I can do."
Marissa jerked her head in agreement. Naya could see in the other woman’s eyes it wasn't the answer she wanted, but it was one she could live with.
Dismissed, the two left. Alone with Monster, Naya had a thousand things she wanted to say, to ask. But his eyes held a challenge, taunting her.
Cutting a piece of meat, he offered it to her lips with a raise of an eyebrow. Opening he mouth, she let him place the piece on her tongue, never taking her eyes off his.
All his troubles had walked out the door with Nixon and Marissa, and now his focus was entirely on Naya. There was nothing in his attitude that said he was going to answer any of her questions.
The intensity of his regard stirred her blood, skin tingling with awareness. Her lips felt swollen. Her tongue thick. Saliva pooled in her mouth as his carnal hunger became hers.
