Page 25 of Mortal Mate (Shadow Shifter)

He flipped to another report and came to an old photo. His eyes blazed with red fire.

“What is it?” Raine asked.

Colton pointed to the man standing behind Steele.

The edges of the picture were cracked and faded. The two men wore dark suits. Steele sat in a chair while his older brother stood behind him with his hand on Steele’s shoulder. The distorted nature of the photo on microfilm had Raine leaning closer. It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at. “Shit.”

Dannika peeked at the photo. “What’s wrong?”

Raine leaned back in his chair. “The reason we hadn’t heard of Reid is because he changed his name. He goes by Killian now.”

CHAPTER11

Dannika sucked in a breath. “What?”

Colton put his hand to his forehead. “He lied this whole time. His own brother is leading the reaper clan. This has nothing to do with Dannika. Steele is aiding his brother.”

Raine shook his head. “We don’t know that. Maddock may have used this information against Steele. Your clan has had strong leadership until now. Steele has attacked the reapers on multiple occasions. He has killed them. I find it unfathomable that he could lie to the entire clan unnoticed. Shadows detect lies. We need more information.”

Colton’s eyes blazed. “He will tell me or I will kill him and take over the clan. Like you, I am the next alpha. I won’t let his blood ties ruin us.”

Dannika shook her head. “We need more time. More information. Keep this between us until we are sure. If Darwin is investigating this, we need to convince him to keep it to himself. We need more information before we confront Steele.”

Waves of black rolled off Colton’s shoulders. “We have assumed that Maddock instigated this merge. What if Steele is trying to divide us? Make us weak before the reaper’s attack. Maddock’s thirst for power made it easy to divert suspicion.” He ran his hand through his hair. “How do I keep this quiet? Pretend that my entire life in the shadow shifter world wasn’t a lie? That the man I trusted above all others isn’t out to destroy us.”

Raine glanced at the photo. “Because if you don’t, your clan will rip itself apart.”

Dannika put her hand on Colton’s arm, ignoring Raine when he stiffened beside her. “We can’t jump to conclusions. I know this looks bad, but we should talk to Steele privately before we make any assumptions.”

Flickers of red sparked in Colton’s black eyes. “We need to do it soon. If he’s sacrificing the cougar clan to protect his brother, he must be put down. This can’t wait.”

Raine glanced at the black-and-white report. “Were missing something. This report is incomplete. All I can confirm is that Steele isn’t a reaper.”

Dannika glanced up at Raine. “You think Maddock found out about Steele’s connection to Killian, but why would Steele keep it a secret? From what I understand, many shadows turn reaper. Why is this different?”

Raine focused on Colton. “That’s the question. No one would hold Steele accountable for his brother turning reaper. Why protect Killian now?”

Colton shook his head. “You’re right. It makes no sense. Even though Killian’s the reaper leader, his turning would never have been blamed on Steele. There is more to this. Perhaps we will get some answers from Darwin.”

Misty black script appeared in the air in front of Colton, the cool air becoming a message board between one shadow to another.

Dannika pointed at the swirling black letters. “What is that?”

Colton used his finger to write in the air. Black smoke rose from his fingertips as his words appeared to float above them.

“Colton is a receiver. He can send and receive messages. It’s one of his gifts.”

“What does it say? I didn’t understand the writing,” Dannika asked.

Raine put his hand on the small of her back. Warmth radiated from his touch, and she cleared her throat. “It’s shadow script. We have our own language. You will learn it in time. There has been a reaper attack. More information will be sent shortly.”

Dannika leaned toward him. “Who is he talking to?”

“Another receiver in his clan,” Raine said.

“Does the wolf clan have receivers?”

Raine nodded. “We have a set of twins with the gift, but they’re young and work from the sanctuary. Ryder also has several receivers. There are a few receivers per generation in every clan.”

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