Page 64 of To Hunt A Wolf
Jadick shakes his head, not bothered by my doubt. “Thiago’s always been too rash. Too quick to act. He doesn’t think things through. Take Levi for example. Or me. Coming for us only made us fight back that much harder.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Look around you. Thiago thinks he chased us off. Meanwhile, we’ve been building a haven and collecting everyone he’s ever pissed off.” He winks. “Trust me, taking Thiago down will be easy.”
“It would be a hell of a lot easier if we had the numbers,” Levi mutters darkly.
“You worry too much, brother. Do you not have faith in me?” Jadick asks, and I wonder how he can’t see the irony of accusing Thiago of a big ego.
“What do you think it’ll take if not an army?” I ask him.
He ticks them off one by one. “Cunning. Wit. Patience. And you.”
“Me?”
“Thiago expects you to return with a murderer, doesn’t he?” Jadick asks.
“Yes.”
“You are the only one of us who can walk right through the front door without resistance. When you do, bull’s eye.”
“You want me to draw him out and then what? You’ll shoot him from a rooftop or something?”
“You have a better idea?” he asks.
“No, but… the rules of the pack say you can’t become alpha that way. You have to challenge him. Fight—”
“Times are changing, Mac. Aren’t they, Levi?” He looks sharply from Levi and back to me. “You all want change so badly. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get that change.”
Levi says nothing.
“So, you want me to do your dirty work,” I say.
“We all must play a role.”
“And saving Kari,” I say. “Who’s role is that?”
“This is ridiculous,” Levi says. “She’s not an assassin for hire. I told you, this is what the Jades are for.”
Jadick waves him off and smiles at me. “Think about it, Mac. You’d be a valuable addition to our cause.” Before I can answer, he turns to Levi and claps him on the back. “I’m going to turn in, brother. See you both in the morning.”
He strides away, disappearing through the door leading back into the compound.
Then he’s gone. And I’m alone with the guy I came here to kidnap, who actually, it turned out, kidnapped me instead.
Levi looks at me with an expression I can’t read. “You came back.”
“Jadick’s convincing that way.”
Something angry flashes in his eyes.
“Kitchen’s open again,” he says. “For the crew just arriving.”
I think about going back into that crowded cafeteria, facing those people who looked at me like they want to kill me.
“I’m good,” I say. “Where’s Tripp?”
“Probably still eating.”
