Page 96 of To Hunt A Wolf
He’s sitting in a camp with my mother and Tripp and the rest of the Jades who trusted him enough to follow him here.
And I won’t sacrifice them.
Not even for Levi.
Not even for myself.
“You’re all monsters,” I say, glancing at Kari.
The Kari I knew would wince. She’d be hurt at the accusation. But this one merely rolls her eyes and turns to Thiago. “If she isn’t going to give us Jadick’s location, we’re done here.” She turns to the security team waiting in the hall. “Dispatch more teams. Keep scouring the woods. Widen the perimeter. He’s out there, and I want him found. Today.”
Her voice is cold and demanding.
“All this time, you were helping him,” I say. “Not a prisoner. A willing participant.”
Kari turns to me, impatience dripping from a sour expression I barely recognize on her face. “I’m my father’s daughter, Mac. What did you expect?”
“You were my best friend.”
Something passes over her face. Regret? Sorrow? I try to identify it before the darkness creeps in again, but I can’t read her like I used to.
Actually, I never could, I realize now.
“That’s the thing, Mac. I was never the girl you thought you knew.”
The truth of this moment—of Kari’s deception—is a knife in my back. It hurts so much worse than anything I’ve been through up to this moment.
“I won’t help you,” I say, my chin lifting in a resolve that’s unnecessary. They’ve already realized they’ll get nothing from me. Not willingly, anyway. But I have to take a stand against the pain of Kari’s betrayal.
“You don’t have to be willing in order to help,” Thiago says. “Remember the warehouse?”
My eyes snap to his. “What about the warehouse?” I demand.
Kari sighs.
“She can still offer information,” Thiago tells Kari, ignoring me. “There are other ways of taking what she doesn’t want to give.”
Torture.
Kari pauses, and my throat constricts as I realize how quickly the tables have turned. Now, she holds my life in her hands. And I wait while she decides whether I’m worth saving.
Finally, she shakes her head, flicking a dismissive hand in my direction. “Turn her loose. Maybe she’ll lead us to Jadick, though I doubt she’s stupid enough to fall for it.”
“And the mate?” Thiago asks.
Levi.
Kari looks me over, still considering. “Hang on to him. He is the leader of a rebellion, after all.” She looks at me. “You’re going to leave and never come back, do you understand me? Because if you do, you’ll collect your mate in pieces, limb by severed fucking limb.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
My gut feels as if someone’s punched a gaping hole through it. I can’t wrap my head around what’s happening. Kari has betrayed me—betrayed us all. Everything I thought I knew about her—about all of this—is a lie. She isn’t in need of saving. Hell, she isn’t worth saving. She’s the villain in this story. I can see that now as I stare between her and Thiago. He’s a monster; there’s no question about that. But he’s following her lead. That means she’s in charge here. A Clemons, through and through, considering the lengths she’s gone to try and lure Jadick out. To manipulate me into bringing him to her.
Out of all the siblings, Kari’s the one I should worry about.
And I’ve just delivered Levi right into her hands.
The one person she knows she can use to control me.
