The living room began to feel a little overcrowded when Hank, Dominic’s beta and the guy she remembered from the spring festival, appeared and stared at the same homicidal mess.
Hank let out a similar sigh to Cole’s, laden with the unspoken complaint that they would have to find a way to dispose the body. “There goes half of Wyatt’s endgame.”
Cole turned to regard the beta with knitted brows. “What endgame? Where’s Dominic?”
“Xavier spilled the beans and told me more about what Wyatt’s been planning,” Hank told them. “Nathan was being used by Wyatt in his scheme to make Dominic give up Tolstone.He found out and must have wanted to get even by taking away Wyatt’s bargaining chip.”
The alarm was shared by everyone in the room, and Erica could feel herself tighten like a wound spring again.
“Give up Tolstone?” Ronan interjected. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Hank came to stand with them. “Wyatt wants to be Prime Alpha, and he’s using his relationship with Erica to persuade Dominic to step down and let him take over. If he agrees, Nathan was going to get pinned for the cocaine possession, and Wyatt would make sure Erica went free. If he didn’t, we’d all be at Wyatt’s mercy.”
“Dominic would never…” Cole stopped himself, and a thoughtfulness dawned in his eyes that made her want to know what he could possibly be thinking. Maybe it was the same thing she was. Even Dominic confessed to her that he was willing to give up Tolstone to be with her.
Ronan looked to Hank, who in turn kept his intense gaze on Erica, as if she were the cause of all this trouble. It wasn’t her fault that Wyatt was power-hungry, but it was her fault for giving Dominic a weakness that could be exploited. He only needed the right push, and Wyatt had given him that.
Cole continued, “He knows the consequences of turning over the town to Wyatt. This place wouldn’t be a sanctuary anymore.”
Hank didn’t seem convinced. “He’s gone down to confront Wyatt now.” He then turned to march toward Nathan’s body. “You gonna help me?” he asked Ronan.
Erica straightened, brows high. “You just let him go alone?”
“He wanted to go alone,” Hank answered. “It’s his job to defend Tolstone, not ours.”
“You’re kidding me, right? What if he’s in trouble? Doesn’t he deserve some backup?”
Hank narrowed his eyes. “You do know what being the Prime Alpha means, right? He doesn’t need backup. He’s more powerful than any of us, even Cole. It’s in his blood. If he thinks he can handle it, there ain’t a damn thing I can do to convince him otherwise.” He looked again at Ronan and motioned toward the body bag, meaning he was done coddling Erica.
The other beta, though his arm might have still been torn up under the bandages, came to Hank’s side to help lift the makeshift body bag. Erica heard Nathan’s fur scrape against the plastic and his blood slosh around inside.
As if sensing her distress, Cole squeezed her shoulder. “You did the right thing. Nathan would have killed you if you hadn’t got him first.”
Erica forced herself to watch the men carry the body toward the front door. Mostly just to prove to her father that she wasn’t as torn up as he believed.
“They’re going to take him to the animal shelter,” Cole continued. “They have an incinerator there that they use for animals that have died. No one’s going to convict you for murder.”
“I’m less worried about that bastard than I am about Dominic. Do you know where he’s meeting Wyatt?”
As if to answer her, the radio on Cole’s belt buzzed to life. Through the static, she heard a woman’s voice. “Cole, we’ve had multiple calls about shots fired down by Renewed Relics on the square. Can you go check it out?”
The strength in Erica’s legs nearly gave out on her. Multiple shots fired at his store? It was pointless to hope that it had nothing to do with Wyatt and Dominic. That’s where they must have been.
He reached around and whipped the radio off his belt. “Any sign of activity in the store?”
“Jaime Gabors said he thought he heard a disturbance inside.”
“I’m on my way.”
He slipped the radio back and wrenched himself free of Erica’s grasp. Before she could talk herself out of it, she chased after him. “I’m coming with you.”
He laughed. “Like hell you are!”
“If Hank and Ronan are going to drop off the body at the shelter, I’ll be here by myself.”
Cole glanced over his shoulder but wouldn’t slow down as he made his way to the front door. “You’ll go with them.”
“I’m not going to sit in the back of a car with a dead wolf!” She hoped her feistiness could somehow mask her worry. If Wyatt and Dominic were fighting and guns were involved, what were the chances that silver bullets were being fired at her mate?
