Page 13 of Cimmerian

Appreciation was tightening my throat. Accepted. I was accepted here. “Yes, sir, I do. But I didn’t want to bring more danger than necessary to my family.”

He nodded. “Understood. But danger will come all the same. We might as well face it as one, instead of apart. How long did it give you?”

I played dumb. “How long?”

The Alpha raised a brow at me. “How long do you have to fulfill the debt?”

I breathed out heavily. “Less than a week now.”

He nodded again, tapping his fingers on his wooden desk. “Okay. This is what we’re going to do.”

Jasper squeezed my hand, and we both leaned in. But before we could discuss plans, the door swung open, and there stood a fuming Duke. If looks could kill, Jasper would’ve been six feet under already.

“What did you do with her?” Muscles strained against Duke’s arms, and his teeth were bared.

“What the hell, Duke?” Jasper jumped to his feet.

Alpha Dean’s receptionist came hurrying in behind Duke. “I’m so sorry, sir. He refused to wait.”

The Alpha waved her off. “No matter.” He turned to Duke. “You will stand down. You will not threaten another member of this pack.” By the tone of his voice I could tell he was commanding Duke, and no matter how much Duke wanted to get at Jasper, he wouldn’t be able to.

Duke’s muscles remained tight, but his fists slowly uncurled. “What did you do with Lucy?”

“I didn’t do anything to Lucy,” Jasper growled. “Watch your mouth before you blame me again.”

“She was fine!” he roared, and the pain lacing his anger was evident. “She was fine. And then you came over, and then she didn’t come home from her sister’s house. So what did youdo?

“I didn’t do anything,” Jasper repeated, gritting his teeth. The Alpha’s command was starting to affect him as well.

“Duke,” I interrupted, keeping my voice calm. “Duke. We tried to tell you something was wrong with Lucy. Remember?”

“Nothing is wrong with Lucy.”

“Stop it! Stop it at once!” The Alpha’s command had all of us freezing, looking his way. “Now one of you, andonlyone of you is going to explain to me what is going on here.”

I looked at Jasper, gave him a nod, and turned back to Alpha Dean. “While I was here on the weekend, Lucy was acting strange. Jasper and I both noticed it. Then when we were at the Chicago party we saw Lucy again, and she definitely wasn’t herself.” I bit my lip. “Lucy is the pack member being possessed by the demon.”

The Alpha looked stunned, and Duke raged, clawing at the doorway since he couldn’t get to Jasper. “This is all your fault. Both of you! Lucy didn’t deserve any of this.”

Tiny shards of remorse were burrowing their way into my heart, sending pain throughout my body. This was my fault. This was what I wanted to avoid, but unfortunately it had found its way toward me anyways. “Duke. I’m going to fix this,” I begged. “Believe me. I’m going to fix this.” Duke wouldn’t meet my eye, and Jasper looked like he was being torn alive.

“Lucy…” Alpha Dean mused. “This changes things.”

I swung my head back to look at him. “It does?”

He nodded, and all three of us waited for him to continue. “I’ve known Lucy since she was a young girl. She’s struggled with being a shifter for most of her life.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I knew this. Lucy had always been uncomfortable with her werewolf status. But what did that have to do with demons?

“Because of her uncertainty with the supernatural way of life, it should be easier to dispel the external force.Ifwe can catch her.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I said, trying to force Duke to make eye contact with me. “Iwillfind her.”

“Like you found Monica?” Duke snapped. “The receptionists were already gossiping about your so-calledmission.”

“You weren’t there. You don’t know what it was like.” But already doubt was creeping into my mind. Was it my fault Monica got away from us again? Could I have done anything differently? Was I too weak, too unprepared?

Jasper caught my eye, shaking his head.

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