Page 9 of To Keep A Wolf
“He wants to know if you’re going to keep your word.”
“Why should I?” I snap. “He broke his.”
She sighs, and when she speaks again, her voice is quiet. “He’s up to something.” She looks over at me, and an obvious apology is written across her features. A weighted exhaustion that’s full of remorse—and worry. I’ve never seen her look so unsure.
“I know,” I say, and, for once, my words are not infused with anger. Not for her, anyway. For a single second, we’re not on opposite sides.
“He’s trying to use you. Against the pack, sure, but it’s more than that, and I don’t know what.”
“Jadick’s not the only one.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re just as bad as him. No, worse. You’re just like Kari. Pretending to love me and then betraying me.”
Her cheeks flush red. “You might not agree with what I’ve done, but it’s hardly a betrayal. You would have died after Levi… I protected you. The only way I could under the circumstances.”
“And the people who tried to kill me?” I snap. “Where were you when it came to protecting me from them?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, no one told you? That’s right, you left to run off and track down Jadick’s mommy, so how could you have known?” I can’t help the sarcasm that twists my tone. But her confusion turns fast to anger. She clearly had no idea.
“Who tried to kill you?” she asks.
“Which time?”
I’m probably taunting her, but I can’t bring myself to stop. She hurt me. And this is the best I can do.
“Relax. I’m still standing. And you’re still the mother of the bride.”
She doesn’t answer right away, and when she does, I’m not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that she’s already moved beyond the fact that I was nearly killed. “Jadick’s planning something. We need to find out what.”
“You’re the one who wanted this. You figure it out.”
“I did what I had to do for our survival. But this… he’s keeping secrets. I just can’t figure out what his goal is anymore.”
I recognize her tone. It’s the one she uses when she’s puzzling out a mark. A bounty she can’t find or a problem she can’t solve. And for a moment, I’m tossed right back into that space too. Riding shotgun in her Jeep, helping her track down the creatures of our world who don’t want to be found.
I might hate her methods, but my mother always triumphs in the end.
“You want me to keep playing his game,” I say.
“I want to know what he’s really doing.”
“Then find out.” I lean forward, tossing back the covers. “Use my time with him as the distraction you need. Find out everything you can. Because I have no intention of going through with this marriage.”
“His new security won’t talk to me,” she muses, forehead creasing in thought.
“Then find someone who will.”
My words are clipped, my patience exhausted. She doesn’t argue as I climb out of bed and stride to the bathroom. By the time I emerge from my shower, she’s gone.
* * *
The guard outside my bedroom is new. He grunts more than he uses words, and the air of hostility clinging to him never fades despite the fact that I follow him willingly through the house like I’m his prisoner. Outside the door to Jadick’s study, my guard pauses and glares.
“The alpha will see you now.”
