Page 32 of Wicked Witch of the Wolf

“Weirdly, yes. He seems like a ‘letter of the law’ type, so my guess is he showed up, but didn’t tell you anything you didn’t already either know or suspect.”

“Wow, you’re good. He confirmed that he sent the wolf who helped you the night you took out your stalker. The one who dumped dirt on your head.”

I shuddered when I thought about what might’ve happened to me if he hadn’t. “Why?”

“Something about how you helped him that night, and he despises being beholden to you in any way.” Ronan gave me a sideways look. “What’d you do to the guy? He really doesn’t like you.”

“I annoy him. Mostly on purpose.”

“Me, too. It’s kind of fun.”

“Scary fun, but yeah.” I frowned at him. “Nothing else came from the Floyd meeting? I mean, it’s nice to have it confirmed, but we were already sure Mason was responsible for the soil.”

“There’s more, trust me. After making some truly repulsive comments regarding my sister and her education, Floyd gave me a list of wolves to investigate. I shrugged it off, told him it was a group of wolves playing poker down at the Moose Lodge, but he was adamant.”

“I can only imagine the comments about Aurora went along the lines of ‘girls don’t need no education to be useful to the pack.’” I rolled my eyes.

“Did I mention that you’re good? Because you are.”

“Floyd’s not hard to predict. I just imagine the dickheadiest move I could make in any given situation and assume that’s what he’s going to do. What’s up with the group of wolves? And I want you to respect how I’m resisting making a dogs playing poker joke. It isn’t easy.”

“Ass.” He kissed the back of my hand, released it, and stood. “Floyd’s suddenly investigating wolves who’ve been loyal to him for decades. Whose families have bled for the pack. He’s in panic mode.”

“And are they still loyal?”

“To the pack? Yes.”

But not to Floyd. I could read between the lines.

“Ronan, if that list was complete, would you be one of the wolves on it?”

He held my gaze for a long moment. “They meet in the back room of the pub now.”

So, yes. “I feel like you’re getting at something here. Exactly what’s going on?”

“Things are changing.”

“Oh good. You’re being oblique. Here I was concerned you’d overload me with information,” I said dryly.

“Right now, I have more questions than answers. What I can tell you is I’ve been meeting with a group of alpha wolves who are dissatisfied with the way the pack’s been run. They feel Floyd’s using them to exact revenge on anyone who crosses him. They don’t like how the senior wolves have been treated. They hate the abuses. Singly, they know they aren’t strong enough to fight any of it, so they meet, pretend to play poker, and plan.”

I reached into the lavender planter by the chaise, broke off a flower, and whispered a calming spell into it. “You’re a big part of that plan, aren’t you?”

He gave me a short, sharp nod. “Floyd knows something. He can feel the pack sliding away from his control.”

“The roof is leaking, but he can’t find the hole,” I said. “He must be desperate.”

“Now you get it.”

“Better than most.” I rose and went to him, pressed the lavender into his hand. “I’m starting to understand why you stopped by. You really are worried.”

“Not sure worried covers it.” He closed his fingers over the lavender and hugged me close, the soft curves of my body molding into the hard planes of his. “It’s not that I don’t think you can take care of yourself, it’s?—”

“It’s okay. I get it. Yes, I can take care of myself, but I’m also not a fool. You don’t have to worry that I’m not taking the threat Floyd presents seriously. I know exactly how far he’ll go to keep his power.”

“That’s just it. I’m not sure you do. I’m not sure evenheknows.”

Ronan left after that.

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