Page 175 of Claimed

She says nothing in reply, just pushes the eggs around her plate. She looks dejected. It would’ve been ideal to get that herb into his breakfast. Somehow, some way, we have to get it into his system.

An idea hits me.

“Thanks,” I say and lift the third plate to take it with me, but Wyatt takes one of the two slices of nearly burnt bacon from my plate before I go. I make eye contact with her and then I look at the bottle of whisky on the counter. I look at her again and move my gaze to the bottle a second time, lifting my chin just a little. But it’s enough. She gets me. She understands what she needs to do. Now she just needs an opportunity.

Unless Grey gets here first and ends this nightmare for us, I’m almost certain Wyatt will turn to that bottle again before the end of this day.

***

“We’ll be there in half an hour,” he mutters.

“Please? I can’t wait,” she says, bouncing in the seat beside him.

He makes a sound of aggravation before he pulls over on the gravel road we’re on.

She leans over and drops a peck on his cheek which makes my brother react with a start before Sherry darts out of the truck and hurries back into the Airstream to use the bathroom.

I keep my eyes focused on my tied hands in my lap, relieved he didn’t tie her up and gag her again, leaving her unable to voice this request.

She played nice during breakfast, asking, “Tell mehowwe’ll be living large after this…” Holding out a piece of the bacon from her plate for him to eat from her fingers.

Wyatt took it and said, “You’ll see. Might have to take out a couple people you care about, Sweetness, but it’s all for the greater good. Can you deal?”

“What about my family?”

“We’ll see if they’re ready to step in line or not.”

“Jason?”

“Being on the council? He’s probably gonna hafta go.”

“No! Please… There’s got to be a way.”

“Unless he comes around to my way of thinkin’, then maybe I’ll make him one of my lieutenants. We’ll see how it all goes. Honestly, planned on taking that territory for as long as I can remember, but know those fuckers will put up a fight.”

“I’ll talk to him. I know he gets annoyed with those guys sometimes, thinks there’s too many sergeants and not enough soldiers. Please give him a chance.”

“We’ll see, Sweetness.” He caressed her face. “Thought of burnin’ it to the ground, but bein’ the way I’m made, I know I need to run a pack so maybe we’ll get it shipshape, make sure everyone is in line, and then do a little traveling. Come back and move into that big house that Savage fucker just moved into. Wanna see about digging behind that waterfall, too. Sell all the gemstones in the rocks. You see back there? Are there emeralds and rubies in the rock walls like I heard?”

“I… don’t know. Only council alphas go back there.”

“I’ll take you back there with me and we’ll look. All this sound good?”

“I love traveling. But I… I really wanna know you won’t hurt my family.”

“Tell ya what,” he said, “We’ll tell them how it’ll be, and it’ll be up to them. I’ll think on letting your brother wake up before I put a bullet in between his eyes. But he’ll have to earn my trust. And there are no second chances.”

She didn’t say much as a reply, looking thoughtful. He didn’t push for an answer.

Listening to that, I hoped she was just playing nice to butter him up. If so, she’s a pretty good actress. She wasn’t laying it on too thick, but maybe just enough so she could hedge her bets. I was guessing she was doing whatever she had to do to make sure he didn’t tie and gag her again.

My guess? She wants to get rid of him, but self-preservation is also a factor in case that doesn’t work.

I shove off the chill that climbs up my spine.No. Wyatt won’t win. That’s not how this will go.

She’s in the camper right now so she can get the powder into the whisky bottle. It dissolves in liquid, probably won’t affect the whisky taste as it apparently has just a touch of sweetness – and this is probably her best opportunity to do it.

A few minutes later, I can tell Wyatt is getting impatient and about to get out and go into the Airstream. My heart is pounding way too fast, way too hard in my chest. Just as he mutters,“the hell is she doin’ in there?”to himself and reaches for his door handle, here she is.

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