Page 117 of Savage Games

Silence falls over the clearing as everyone leans forward, straining to hear.

Brad's mouth twists, but with Blake's eyes on him, he knows he has no choice.

"Did you try to kill Wyatt with a silver knife coated in wolfsbane?"Blake asks, his voice low but carrying across the sudden silence.

Brad's jaw works, his eyes darting between Blake, Dean, and the growing crowd.Whatever calculation he's making, whatever lie he's constructing, dissolves under the weight of Blake's stare.

"Yes.”He finally spits."I tried to kill you.You were in my way."

"In the way of what?"

Brad's eyes flick to me, then back to Wyatt."Naomi.The pack she was going to win for me."

Gasps ripple through the crowd.I feel Jamie's hand squeezing mine tightly.

"Explain."Wyatt demands.

Brad's jaw works, the words clearly painful to admit."She was going to win the Games, with your help.Then we would mate, and I would take control of her new territory.Two packs under my control.Reclaiming the land that once was ours."

"And she agreed to this?"Wyatt presses.

Brad's eyes narrow."She understood the consequences if she refused."

"What consequences?"

A long pause follows then, "Her sister.I told her if she didn't comply, I'd make sure everyone knew what happened to my brother.What they did."

My heart stops beating.Everyone is going to know.What is he doing?Why is Wyatt asking him this in front of everyone?

"And what happened to your brother?"Wyatt's voice is dangerously soft.

Brad's eyes dart to Maddie, who’s now standing beside Lynn, pale and thin.He stares at her, hatred burning in their depths."She killed him.Her and Naomi.Conspired together."

The crowd breaks into shocked whispers.

I hold my head high, even as fear claws at my insides.This is it, the secret that's haunted us for months, now exposed for all to hear.

"Did you know?"Wyatt asks, his question cutting through the murmurs."Before it happened.Did you know what your brother was doing to Maddie?Beating her.Threatening her life.Her sister’s life."

Brad's silence is damning.

"Answer the question," Blake commands, his alpha authority rippling through the clearing.

"Yes."Brad finally admits, the word coming out like it's being torn from him."I knew."

"Yet you did nothing," Wyatt states, not a question.

Brad's laugh is bitter."What was I supposed to do?He was my brother.My blood."

"He was a monster," Maddie says suddenly, her voice carrying clearly across the clearing.She steps forward now, shoulders squared despite her small stature."And you let him hurt me."

The crowd parts for her, this tiny woman with fire in her eyes.She approaches Brad without fear, standing beside Wyatt, like they've been allies all along.

"You watched," she continues, her voice gaining strength."You saw the bruises, and you heard me crying.And you did nothing."

Brad doesn't look at her but shrugs like it’s no concern of his what happened to her."He would have challenged me if I’d interfered.Taken the pack."

"So you sacrificed her instead," Wyatt says, disgust lacing his tone."To keep your position."

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