Page 86 of To Hunt A Wolf
“Hawley pack doesn’t even exist anymore,” I say. “They’re all Lone Wolf pack now. And their alphas are a day’s drive from here.”
“We’ll send teams,” he says. “One to the Lone Wolf alphas. Another to the Mafia pack.”
“We don’t have that kind of time,” I say, frustration mounting. “Kari needs us now. Thiago won’t wait around. We have to respond before the deadline, or he’ll only up the stakes, which means hurting Kari or worse. You have to let me bring you in.”
“I’m not going to just walk into a trap,” Jadick says, condescension dripping from his words. “That might be how you do things, but it’s not smart enough to win this war.”
My hands ball into fists.
Before I can use them on his privileged little face, Levi stands. “I’ll go.”
I stare up at him, confused. “What?”
He looks at me. “Thiago sent you to hunt down who killed his father. He said he’ll let Kari go if you give him that person. Take me in. Trade me for Kari.”
“Levi…”
It’s what I wanted. Or what I set out to do, anyway. But now, after everything that’s happened, I can’t imagine turning Levi over to Thiago. Or to anyone.
“I can’t let you do that,” I say, pain twisting my words.
“We can’t ignore his message,” he says. I’m too torn to appreciate that he actually agrees with my plan—for the first time maybe ever.
“You’re notlettingme do anything,” he says, his words an exact reminder of the ones I’d tossed at him that first night I tried to take him down.
But I can’t find humor in it.
“You’d be walking directly into his trap,” my mother says. “He’ll have snipers ready.”
“Vicki’s right,” Tripp says. “That’s the stupidest move we could make. We need to be smart about this.”
“We need to stop sitting on our asses,” Levi snaps, except that he’s glaring at Jadick as he says it.
Jadick gets to his feet, his air of nonchalance gone. Now, his jaw is hardened, and his eyes are obsidian stones. “I’m the alpha heir, and I’ll say when we go.”
“You’re not an alpha yet,” Levi says.
There’s a tension between them that feels bigger than this conversation. Tripp catches my eye and gives a small shake of his head, basically telling me to stay out of it.
“Are you really going to cut me out of this, brother? After the partnership we’ve had? After everything I’ve done for you.” His gaze flicks to me. “She’s alive because of me.”
“What?” I ask.
Even my mother looks confused now.
“Mac’s not your concern any longer,” Levi says in a hard voice.
“She’s clouding your judgment,” Jadick says. “Distracting you from our real goals.”
“Our goal has always been about saving innocent lives,” Levi says. His voice is rising now. His temper leaking out through cracked edges. “Your own sister is that innocent life in this scenario, and yet you continue to sit around pretending you’ve got everything under control.”
“Watch it, Levi. I’m not one of your Jades you can just order around.”
“That’s right,” Levi snaps. “MyJades.Iam their alpha.”
“You serve at my leisure,” Jadick says.
I can’t help wondering what the hell that means, but Levi’s eyes flash, and he leans closer, getting in Jadick’s face.
