Page 52 of A Wolf's Treasure
“Now that her job is done, most likely.”
“And Bitsy. Bitsy is alsona maithe.”
“Who is Bitsy?”
“The Faerie mate of Keegan, the Texas and Colorado alpha.”
“The wolf who has the Faerie rodeo?” she asked. Colors flashed in her eyes. “Yeah, that was a bad idea.”
“He no longer has it,” Cedric said distractedly. “So, what yer telling me, is th’ prince has been mating wolves and Fae for what? Tae keep us under control?”
“Exactly,” she told him. “We all know how wolves are with their mates. You would die for them.”
“So, if we are mated, we will no’ give him any trouble when he reveals his plans,” Duncan said as Cedric nodded.
“Or so he believes,” Cedric ground out. “I do no’ like being taken for a fool.”
“You’ll help me, then?” Ryanne asked.
Cedric cocked his head and studied her. To her credit, she didn’t so much as flinch under the intense stare of those cold eyes as he assessed her. “Aye,” he finally said. “We will help ye, lass. What do ye need us tae do?”
Ryanne smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, and Duncan felt a shiver pass over him at the sight.
As though she felt his unease, she took his hand in hers and held on. “That’s something we will need to discuss. My original plan was to come here, find out where my father was and what he was doing, and then catch him at a weak moment and kill him. It didn’t involve anyone else except to get information.”
Cold fingers crept up Duncan’s spine.
Memories flashed through his mind. Ryanne spotting him in the woods. Spying on him. Following him. Studying him like the specimen of a science project.
Is that what she’d been doing with him all this time? Using him for information? Is that what she’d been about to tell him before Cedric interrupted them? Again?
The devil take the lass. She’d given him back his virility only to make a fool of him.
The wall around his heart, the one she’d ripped down brick by brick with her strategic seduction, began to reform. Only this time, the bricks were thicker and stronger, the mortar holding them together near impenetrable.
Duncan felt her eyes on him, as though she could sense the turmoil inside of him, but he would not embarrass himself any more in front of his alpha.
Cedric glanced at his phone. “Th’ others will be back soon. I dinna think we should tell them anything until we have a plan. And maybe no’ even then. If, as ye say, Prince Nada can pull things from our heads, it might be best tae keep those things tae as few o’ us as possible. Namely ye, Duncan, and myself.”
Duncan nodded. “I dinna ken if even I can be trusted, Cedric. No’ right now.” He didn’t go into more detail. Obviously, with everything that had happened between him and Ryanne, his emotions were anything but un-chaotic.
“Aye,” Cedric told him. “Ye are probably right. We’ll need tae keep ye away fromhis highness.” Then he turned to Ryanne. “Can ye come back here tomorrow evening? Th’ others will all be out on patrols. Duncan, I can pull ye from yer shift if ye would like.”
“No. No. I’ll take my shift.” When Cedric looked at him in confusion, he added, “We dinna want th’ rest o’ the pack tae think it’s anything but an ordinary night.”
“Och, aye. Yer right.” Cedric nodded. “So, tomorrow then?” he asked Ryanne. “At this time. We should meet here again. Yer father has a tendency tae…show up…at my place whenever he feels like it.”
“I’ll be here,” she told him. “But we should have a back-up plan. If for any reason things change, you can find me at a little cabin not far from here, in the mountains where I first saw you, Duncan.”
Surprised, he said, “Yer stayin’ at Lucian’s cabin? That’s yer ‘rental’?”
“Lucian has a cabin?” Cedric asked.
“Aye,” Duncan answered distractedly. “I will show ye where it is if ye need tae go there. We should be able tae take a run in th’ woods without th’ others thinking much aboot it.”
Cedric nodded, and stuck out his hand. “It was nice tae meet ye, lass. And again, my apologies for barging in th’ way I did.”
Ryanne smiled. “Not to worry. I’ll see you tomorrow night. How long do I have before I need to leave?”
