by Lisa Oliver
Con’s shrug had a touch of bitterness about it, and Ven wasn’t surprised. “To be honest, that’s the one thing I don’t understand about this whole mess. Why did this happen now? My brother was an addict when he and Megan bonded. She pretty much ran the pack anyway. Why kill them all off, including her bond mate, when she had everything she wanted anyway.”
“Because of the pups.” Ven soothed the lines on Con’s forehead, running his hands across them, and rubbing softly against his temples. His beloved was worn to the bone, bringing out a caring side Ven didn’t know he had. “Don was an addict, but he had periods when he was lucid. Once those pups were born, and they didn’t smell of him…”
“He’d kick her out, dissolve the bonding, and refuse to have anything to do with the pups. Donny was lax about a lot of things, but he couldn’t stand liars and cheats, same as me.” Con closed his eyes, sighing as Ven’s massage worked its magic. “Why did she do it? Why get pregnant at all, when she knew she stood to lose everything? An affair could be hidden, but the pups?”
“We’ll ask her,” Ven said quietly. “When you’ve had some rest, and feeling more like yourself, we’ll ask. Together.”
“You’re not fair,” Con pouted, as his shoulder’s slumped and his breathing slowed. “I wanted to be buried in your sexy body and celebrate us instead of all this shit.”
“We have a hundred lifetimes to celebrate us, beloved,” Ven crooned as he slid off Con’s lap, still massaging Con’s head as he mentally called for Mosh. Con wouldn’t find any comfort, sleeping in a chair.
Chapter Thirteen
Megan’s dress didn’t look as ethereal or pretty in the harsh light of day. She didn’t bother to stand when Ven, Mosh and Con entered her room just after nine the next morning. But her features were twisted into a snarl and the spit she aimed at Con came close to hitting him. Sidestepping, Con didn’t even favor the mess with a glance.
“I can see you’re not happy about being questioned,” he said, keeping his hand on the small of Ven’s back as he led his mate to the only other free chair. “It doesn’t make any difference. I will get my answers today, one way or the other.”
“That’s just typical of you,” Megan sneered. “Hiding behind your bloodsuckers, not even trying to save your twin’s offspring. Donny would turn in his grave if he knew how badly you’d turned on him.”
“I prefer to believe otherwise.” Con stayed standing by Ven’s chair, Mosh a silent but imposing figure beside him. “Donny would have been overjoyed I’d found my fated mate. It’s all he ever wanted to find for himself, after all. Now, thanks to you, he doesn’t have that chance.”
“Me?” Megan’s voice rose. “You’re blaming Donny’s death on me? Why, if I weren’t pregnant…”
“Con’s brother would still be alive, and so would forty-two other innocent men, women, and children.” Ven’s voice was like a whip, cracking across the room. “For as long as we are in this room, you will be silent unless asked a direct question, in which case you will answer fully, without censorship. Is that understood?”
“I wouldn’t…” Con watched as Megan’s eyes glazed over. She looked as though she was staring into space. “I understand.” Even her voice didn’t sound like her own – more of a robotic version with no tone or inflection at all.
“I’m sorry, beloved,” Ven said quietly, patting the hand Con had left on his shoulder. “But I refuse to spend the next hour listening to her slander you and your late brother. You need answers. Mosh has the recording equipment set up. Let’s get this done. I don’t want to stay in this room with her for a second longer than necessary.”
“Appreciated. Thank you.” Con wasn’t sure what else to say. He didn’t know a lot about vampire thrall, but he’d always imagined it would involve Ven touching the subject in some way and gazing into a person’s eyes at the very least. Mind you, his wolf was positively dizzy with the power Ven exuded without even trying.
“Megan.” Ven’s voice snapped again. “Where were you when Donny Donel was shot and killed?”
Megan’s head turned in Ven’s direction, her eyes still glazed. “Standing in the dining room by the door.”
Con’s jaw tightened so hard his teeth were grinding together.
“Where were Brian and Jonny when Donny Donel was shot and killed?”
“Brian followed Morty into the basement. He wanted a blow job, but Morty ran from him and hid down there. Jonny was by the front door acting as look out.”
Poor Morty. Con made a mental note to go and talk to him next.
“Who shot and killed Donny Donel and forty-two of the Donel pack members?”
Megan’s head tilted slightly to one side as though she didn’t understand the question. “Rogue shifters killed Donny, three of them. I paid them a thousand dollars each to do it. They left their guns behind, so they wouldn’t be traced to the weapons. I shot the other pack members with those guns when the hunters left.”
Con swallowed hard, trying to keep his breakfast down. He stared at Megan in horror. How could she…?
“There was no sign of struggle,” Ven said sharply. “When Donny was killed, why didn’t the other pack members run away?”
“They couldn’t.” Con’s urge to vomit increased when Megan giggled but it was more like a monotone “ha ha ha” with no joy in it. “No one could run away. They were all drugged with wolfani. Every last one of them. I put it in the water.”
“Why did she save the six that were left when I arrived?” Con murmured, not sure if speaking would break Ven’s hold over Megan. But to his shock, Megan’s head turned in his direction.
“That was Jonny’s idea.” Con’s fists clenched at Megan’s robotic tone. “Brian likes playing with Morty and it suited my purpose to let him act out his sick fantasies on that simpering idiot. The other three are omegas – sweet and so pliable. Weak puppets to use to control Con when he came. Brian and Jonny were with me. I wouldn’t kill them. They love me.”
Ven’s shoulder went hard under Con’s hand. “About Jonny and Brian, are you in love with them?” Ven’s tone was as crisp as before.
“Love is for idiots.” Megan slowly turned her head back in Ven’s direction. “Men are fools. Even an alpha can be brought to his knees by a sniff of pussy. Weaklings. All of them.”
Tell us how you really feel. The facts were out. Con now knew how Donny died. But he still didn’t know why, and it seemed Ven was thinking along the same lines.
“Who is the father of your pups?”
“I don’t know.” The robotic tones were getting on Con’s nerves. “Could be one of a dozen wolves, but I made sure they were all alpha born so at least one of my pups will be the next alpha.”
Not Brian or Jonny then. Con didn’t feel any better for knowing two of Donny’s closest friends hadn’t shafted his bond mate behind his back. Donny was dead, but clearly any loyalty Brian and Jonny had for their alpha died a long time before that.
“Why did Donny Donel have to die?”
“He found out about the bastards I’m carrying.” Megan slowly raised her hand to her cheek. “He slapped me, even when I begged him not to hurt me. I told them they were his. He slapped me. Yelled at me – shouted really loud. Said he knew the bastards couldn’t be his.”
“How many times did he slap you and how badly were you hurt?” Con knew what Ven was doing. If Donny proved to be abusive, Megan could plead for restitution from the Donel estate for her pups at the very least; she could even get off for murder.
“Once. He slapped me once. It didn’t hurt. Just shocked me, that’s all. But I begged and cried and made out I was hurt more than I was. Donny always gave me what I wanted when I cried. Silly fool. Never could stand to see tears running down my pretty face. I got my own way so many times just by pinching my leg so the tears would fall right along with Donny’s pathetic resolve.”
Con turned his head. Donny had always had a kind heart, and Megan was right – he hated to see anyone cry. If a child stumbled in
the playground, it was him who was more likely to pick that child up and wipe the little face, handing the child some sweets and pretending to steal the child’s little nose until the kid laughed. To know one of Donny’s only redeeming characteristics had been played on… I want her dead.
“The crying worked. You were still bonded to Donny when he died.” Ven sounded angry, too. “What deal did you make with him?”
Megan did that strange tilt of her head again. “There was no deal. I told Donny the pups were a miracle. They were his. He believed me. But I knew he’d scent the lie when they were born. Donny had to be dead before then and he was.”
“Why did you call Conroy Donel the night his brother was killed? He would know the pups didn’t belong to his twin.”
“I’m not an alpha. Packs always have to be run by an alpha.” Megan inhaled and then exhaled long and slow. “Con was a means to an end. Weak and useless. Brought to his knees by his twin’s death. I just needed him to run the pack long enough for my sons to be born. When one of them proves to be an alpha, Con will be dead, I will be declared my child’s regent. The Donel pack, all that land, and all that money will be mine. No one will be able to stand in my way then.”
“Out,” Mosh suddenly shouted as Con and Ven growled in unison. “Out now, my Lord before you break your vow, and take your consort with you.”
Con felt his arm gripped tight, and he snarled as he fought against it. “Out.” Con saw Mosh had Ven held in the same way. “Get out. I will not have your new mating marred by killing an expectant mother.”
“Mosh,” Ven warned holding up his free hand as if to strike.
“Don’t you dare. You’ll thank me later.”
Con found himself pushed out of the door, Ven by his side, as the door slammed behind them both.
“Damn and fucking hell, when did he become my conscience.” Ven thumped the door hard enough for it to rattle. Con bent over, breathing hard, trying to push back his wolf. All he could see in his mind’s eye was the blank eyes of his brother with two holes drilled between them. To know the whole thing was a ruse, a means to an end for one sociopathic beta wolf with ideas above her station… Con knew he couldn’t kill Megan, and being out of the room helped, but he still strode along the hallway, until he found the scent he was looking for. Smashing the door off his hinges, he snarled, “We have to talk, Jonny.”
Chapter Fourteen
Ven was idly picking a bit of dirt out from under his immaculately shaped fingernail, leaning on the hallway wall outside Jonny’s confinement room when Mosh appeared from out of Megan’s room, slamming the door behind him. Ven was pleased when Mosh didn’t back down from his stare.
“She all right?” Ven flicked a thumb at the room.
“Weeping and wailing one minute, shrieking she’s been framed by parasitic bloodsuckers the next.” Mosh leaned on the wall beside him. “We good?”
“Always.” Ven tilted his head towards the shrieks and thuds coming out of Jonny’s room. “My consort will feel better when he’s finished dealing with this one.”
“He’s making a bit of a mess of things, that consort of yours.” Mosh winced as a large squelch was heard. “You two have more in common than you think.”
“That’s why I pay the cleaning crews the big bucks.” Ven sighed. “It’s fucking gutting what some people will do to others for a perceived increase in power and money.”
Mosh quirked a brow in reply.
“I’m not that bad, and I’ve never killed an innocent in my life.” Ven bristled at the implied criticism.
“You’re still messy.” Mosh lowered his voice. “The consort, he’s not like you and me. How’s he going to handle all this, do you think? Mentally, I mean.”
“No idea.” Ven moved his shoulder as a loud thump sounded on the wall behind him. “The way things are going in there, today’s going to be the date of his first kill, and that’s hard on anyone, no matter how justified the reasons behind it. Add in Megan’s treachery and her ridiculous reasoning behind his twin’s unnecessary death…”
“It’s going to hit him hard at some point.” Mosh nodded. “What are we going to do about her and the other pack members the consort brought with him?”
“She’s going to drop those pups of hers any day. I’d prefer if she was in the shifter council’s hands when she does it, but…” Ven closed his eyes as a loud howl sounded from Jonny’s room. “I’m guessing that’s their alpha’s decision.” He strained his ears, but as the howl ended on a mournful note, there was nothing but silence. Opening his eyes, he pushed himself off the wall.
“Get the shifter doctor in to check on Megan’s pups, see if he can’t give us a definite date for when they’re due. If she has no clue who the father is, then it’s likely she hasn’t got exact dates either. And call the cleaning crew for this room but tell them to wait twenty minutes before entering. I’ll go and see what my beloved has been up to and take him up to our suite.”
“I’m surprised you weren’t in there giving him a hand,” Mosh commented as he strode down the hall, phone in hand.
I wanted to be, but Ven had felt instinctively killing Jonny was something Con had to do on his own. Peering around the shattered door, Ven held back a whistle as the scent of blood flooded his nose. It was everywhere – the bed, the walls, there were even splatters on the ceiling; a trickle of blood drying as it slowly flowed down the cracked light shade.
There were no recognizable human-shaped lumps in the room, just bits of one, and sitting in the middle of it all, his head down and his shoulders hunched, was Con’s massive wolf. Filthy, his fur matted with blood. A quick sniff let Ven know none of it was his beloved’s.
Glad I wasn’t wearing good clothes. Ven picked his way carefully through the debris. “Hey, babe. Are you just about finished in here? I’ve ordered the cleaners to come in and they’ll be here shortly.”
Con’s ears flickered in Ven’s direction and his massive head turned slightly. But it was the whine that broke Ven’s heart.
“Oh, babe, you’re going to be all right.” Ven reached the wolf form, wondering what the protocol was for hugging someone with four legs and a tail. Wrapping his arms around Con’s neck, he leaned in close, his keen ears picking up the steady thump of the wolf’s heart. “You did the right thing,” he whispered. “As much as I hate to admit it, Mosh stopped both of us from making a horrible error of judgement; one that we might not have been able to live with. But what you did in here was justice for your brother.”
The big wolf shook his head and Ven cursed his lack of caring gene. “Justice killing never brings back your loved ones, neither does revenge killing or any other term you can think of. But hon, babe, what you did…” Ven hesitated and then said, “It’s the wolf way. Sometimes you just have to go with your instincts, and you did that in here.”
The wolf didn’t look convinced, if a wolf had such an expression. Ven on the other hand, was being affected by the mass of blood surrounding them both, and not in a good way. His protective urges were shouting at him, even though the danger to his beloved was splattered over the floor, and he really didn’t like the way his gums were itching.
“Come on beloved. Let’s get you out of here, and into a nice hot shower, or do puppies prefer a bath?” Ven tugged on Con’s ruff, and the wolf lumbered to his feet. “You know, it’s possible you could fit in the jacuzzi in this form. Does that sound like fun?”
There was no sound, but Con followed Ven out of the mess, down the hall, into the elevator. Con could barely fit, but with a quick swipe at his tail to prevent it getting caught in the door, Ven got them both crammed in and hit the code for his floor. Ven could still smell Jonny’s blood and he held his breath until the elevator doors opened.
“Okay,” Ven said with forced cheer, inhaling sharply. “Straight to the bathroom, don’t you think?” He moved in that direction, expecting Con to follow, but a voice stopped him.
“I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
Ven turned, Con’s naked body setting off every one of his horny mating instincts. His beloved was on his knees, and Ven’s cock rose to the occasion, but a glance at the sheer horror on his beloved’s face proved to be the biggest cock-block ever.
“To desecrate a body…” Con sobbed, his voice muffled by the hands over his face. “I was so angry… I didn’t even think… He was so smug… taunting me that I was weak and worthless, just like Donny. He… He… I never knew such evil could exist, and then I became the monster!”
“Stop it!” Ven’s roar bounced off the walls of their suite. Every urge in Ven’s body was telling him Con needed hugs, love, and support to get over his first kill, and his pack’s treachery, but Ven wasn’t wired that way. “I refuse, I absolutely forbid you to consider a second’s guilt for what you did to that cur. Do you hear me? I forbid it.”
Shock was etched all over Con’s rugged face. “Ven?” Even the tone was hesitant, and that was enough to break Ven’s heart. But he needed to give his beloved strength, or Con would be wrestling with guilt for the rest of their lives.
“Every action you took today was justified,” Ven continued in a harsh tone. “An alpha wolf exacts justice on his terms, and that’s an authority that’s never questioned by any powers. That cur betrayed his alpha – your twin. The asshole probably was the one who opened the front door for the rogues who killed Donny. He stood by, betraying almost every pack member in the Donel pack, allowing Megan to shoot them in cold blood. That cur might not have held the gun that murdered those kiddies, but he was a willing accomplice. You did what an alpha is hardwired to do. You killed a rogue.”
Con got to his feet, his clenched fists better than the despair from a second earlier. “A wolf shifter would never ever desecrate a dead body. I tore that man apart.”
“So what?” Ven knew he had nothing to fear from Con’s anger. “Dead is dead and no amount of wailing or beating of chests is going to bring that cur back. Your guilt over the manner of his death is what will keep him alive well past today – a hovering specter over our claiming and our future. I will not stand by and let that happen. Mourn your brother, yes. Mourn the loss of those other innocents who were caught up in your sister-in-law’s rabid schemes. But I will not allow you to wallow in guilt over a mongrel who had no sense of loyalty to the code you wolves live by.”
