Page 335 of Primal Bonds

Marjani compressed her lips and swiped the blade viciously over the whetstone.

Adric set his hands on the table. “Lady Blaer is up to something, and thanks to my asshole cousin Corban, she knows the secret of our quartz. It’s time to take her out.”

Zuri’s smile was all teeth. He and Luc had been close friends. “I’m your man.”

“Agreed. But take your time, assemble a team—the woman’s powerful, and she’s smart. I’ll be damned if I lose anyone else to her. And before you do anything, ramp up our defenses. You and Jani both.”

Marjani jerked her chin in assent.

“I’ll let the clan know that the cubs aren’t to go out alone, and that even the adults need to take care.” His jaw set, because Gods, he hated to do this. “I’ll also warn them that Luc can’t be trusted. Anyone seen talking to him will answer to me.”

Zuri fingered his soul-patch. “The wolves aren’t going to like it. One day Luc’s a hero for saving Jani, the next, he’s bad news. If you don’t tell people about Lewes, they’ll say it’s just another example of how the cats have taken over since you became alpha.”

Jace scowled. “Ric appointed two wolves as lieutenants. What more do they want?”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying it looks bad. And then there are your cousins,” Zuri said to Adric. “Two out of three of them are dead.”

“Thanks to me and Jani.” Adric blew out a breath. “I know. It’s damn convenient that out of Leron’s immediate family, only Nash is left. A suspicious man might think we planned it that way.”

And everyone knew Marjani’s Gift was strategy.

Zuri moved a big shoulder. “Nash says himself that it’s Corban and Kane’s own fault they’re dead. But you gotta admit it looks shaky.”

“He’s right,” his sister chimed in. “And I have an idea. You need a new lieutenant—why not Nash?”

Adric sank back onto his chair. “Nash Savonett?” he asked, as if she could mean anyone else. “I don’t know, Jani.”

“He’s a Gifted tracker,” she returned, “one of our best, and he’s backed you since day one. If he wasn’t Leron’s son, you probably would’ve considered him before now. And he’s a wolf. It keeps the balance.”

“She’s right,” said Zuri. “The lupines appreciate that you appointed me and Luc as lieutenants. After the way Leron treated you, you could’ve turned on the wolves, but you didn’t. You brought us into your inner circle. But these last couple of years have set some of them off again—too many wolves have died.”

“Because they attacked me and mine,” Adric shot back. “Every damn one of them would be alive today if they’d accepted that I’m the alpha now. Not Leron, and not any of his sons.”

Zuri spread his large hands. “I know that. Even they know that. But…”

Jace had been sitting back in his chair, silently observing. Now he leaned forward. “Nash has my vote. Keeping the balance is important, and the man is smart. Plus, he doesn’t have the prejudices his brothers had. Take Evie’s brother, Kyler. Nash has gone out of his way to be a friend to him—a human. He’s been working with Kyler, showing him how to defend himself.”

“So it’s unanimous,” said Adric. The clan wasn’t a democracy—the final decision was his—but these three were his lieutenants precisely because he trusted their judgment. “I’ll inform Nash that he’s my newest lieutenant. But he’s on probation for the next six months. If it works out, we’ll make it official.”

“Fair enough,” said Zuri.

“Anything else?” Adric glanced around the table.

When the other three replied in the negative, he adjourned the meeting.

Marjani fell in beside him as they left the Factory. “I keep telling myself that Luc’s not responsible, that he doesn’t have a choice, but he knows what that bitch is capable of. If she’d captured you…” She shook her head. “It’s like I don’t even know him anymore.”

He set an arm around her narrow shoulders. “It hurts.”

Her chest heaved. “Yeah.”

“You sure you’re okay with Nash making lieutenant?”

“I wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise.”

“Even though his own brother was behind your—” He halted.

They didn’t discuss the attack on her. At first, it had been because she wasn’t talking to anyone but Suha, the clan’s head healer. Then, as the months passed, he’d let it go. Some things were better left buried.

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