Page 62 of To Hunt A Wolf
I shrug. “Sure.”
“You are a fighter, mostly because it’s what you were trained for. And what you know. But more than that, you are a strategist. You see the bigger picture, and you assess. I’d wager you’re constantly assessing, in fact. Risks, rewards, exit points.”
“You seem to think highly of me, considering you barely know me.”
“Knowing you and understanding you are two very different concepts, don’t you agree?”
The way he speaks… like he sees me in a way no one else has—it throws me off balance.
“If you think I’m such a strategist, what’s my strategy for leaving now?” I ask, trying to regain my footing.
“I don’t think you’re leaving at all.”
“No?”
“If I hadn’t come after you, Levi would have. Or Tripp. And even if they hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Eventually, your emotions would clear, and you’d realize the only way forward is to go back.”
I hate that he’s right.
“I don’t care what you think of me,” I say. “What I care about is saving Kari. I promised, and that’s not something I take lightly.”
“I don’t intend to stop you. Your loyalty is the precise quality that makes you so valuable.”
“So you say.” I hesitate, biting my lip while I do the exact thing he probably expects right now: strategizing. In the end, I give him what he wants, though. Because it can only help me get what I want too.
“What do you need me for?”
His grin is a slow, victorious thing. Like I’ve just fallen into the center of his web. “Come on, Mac. Walk with me.”
He reaches over and slings an arm around my shoulders as if we’ve just become besties. Then he angles me back toward the hangar and starts walking.
I don’t resist when he leads me back toward Levi’s little camp. Mostly because I’m curious about Jadick’s plan, but there’s a part of me that needs to see this place for what it really is.
To understand.
Levi gave up everything, his home, his life, his mate—for this. A fresh start with people he clearly cared more about than he ever pretended to care for me. I need to know why. Even though I’m pretty sure whatever I learn is going to make me hate him—and myself—even more than I already do.
“Thiago has always been blinded by his own ego,” Jadick says as we walk.
I snort. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“All right. Did you know he had my mate killed?”
Sympathy tugs at me. “I heard. I’m so sorry.”
“My brother has always seen me as his biggest threat. And he’s spent his life punishing me for it. Unfortunately, he didn’t limit his ire to just me.”
“Kari,” I say.
“Yes, and our parents.”
“You think he killed your father.”
“Don’t you?”
“I have my suspicions,” I say. “But what about your mother?”
“My mother’s death is unexplained to this day. A rogue tracker found her in the woods, yet no contract existed for a payout of her death.”
