by Juniper Hart
A deep sorrow filled Cruz’s bones.
“Cruz, what’s wrong?” Jo demanded. “I have to get to work, but if you need something, I can call in and stay with you.”
He shook his head quickly. “No,” he assured her. “I don’t need anything. Just… keep it between us, okay?”
Jo laughed and turned back to the mirror where she was applying her make-up. “I already told you I would, silly. You don’t need to worry about me. It’s Lily you should worry about.”
His eyebrows shot up and he stared at her.
“What? Why?” he demanded.
Jo sighed and turned back to him. “I guess you didn’t hear what happened on the night of the full?”
He shook his head. “I heard she finally shifted, but that’s all.”
Jo shook her head sadly.
“She took to the downtown streets in form. She was shot, and if it wasn’t for our brothers, she would have been captured. Who knows what would have happened or what she would have said if she was.”
She turned away from the mirror and stared sadly at Cruz. “I hate to say this about my own sister, Cruz, honestly I do but she’s a danger to the pack. She always has been.”
Cruz felt his jaw tighten, but he did not respond, waiting for Jo to continue.
“We’ve tried our best to protect her, but she just makes it harder and harder. Sometimes I wonder if it just won’t be better for everyone if…”
Jo didn’t finish her thoughts, but Cruz found himself incensed.
Lily didn’t exaggerate. Her own sister wants her banished. I have never seen anything like this!
He bit back the desire to snarl at her for her blatant disloyalty.
“Yes,” he heard himself say. “It certainly seems that way, doesn’t it?”
He watched as her eyes brightened, and another wave of sick washed over him.
“You agree?” she breathed, rushing toward him. She put her hand on his arm and smiled alluringly.
“I think the pack must be protected, yes,” he replied, his mind whirling.
Jo leaned in and kissed his cheek. Cruz suppressed the urge to shudder.
“I knew you would see my side on this,” she sighed happily. “I have to go, but we’ll talk later, okay?”
Cruz nodded.
She is a danger to the pack, he realized. But just how much of a danger?
As he descended the stairs, he quietly exited the Benz property.
It’s true. Jo wants Lily gone. Is that why we slept together last night? Was that part of Jo’s plan to help her get rid of Lily?
He wished he could remember how it had happened, what had been said.
Cruz could not imagine wanting to touch another woman after what he and Lily had shared. Lily consumed his thoughts. He’d been avoiding Amber and any of the others who had texted and called him. And yet, it seemed he had slept with another woman after all.
And her sister no less. Dad is right about you.
He knew he needed to walk away from the Benz sisters and stay off the radar until the hurt of what he had done wore off, but Cruz could not shake the feeling that Lily was in danger at the hands of her sister.
I need to find out what Jo is up to exactly, he thought. Maybe if I can do that, Lily will be able to forgive me for what I’ve done.
He still could not believe it had happened. He had less hope in the thought that Lily would forgive him than his father would name him successor.
Chapter Nine
It took Josephine until she arrived at work to understand the meaning behind Cruz’s unexpected visit.
He thinks we slept together, she realized with a start. That’s why he was so upset. He can’t remember what happened last night.
The idea tickled her greatly.
Whatever feelings he thinks he has for Lily I can overcome, she thought.
Jo didn’t know what had transpired between her sister and Cruz, but she was sure it was nothing more than a passing fancy.
Cruz doesn’t want a nerdy mouse. He needs a real woman, someone strong and able to stand at his side.
She didn’t remind herself that Lily was coming into her own with her newfound power.
Lily is no threat to me, and she’ll be even less of one after she’s been banished from Pierre. I just have to keep Cruz on my side, and he’s halfway there already. He just needs a little push.
She had no intention of setting the record straight with him.
If he already thinks we have a connection, he’ll be more apt to help me, she told herself as she locked the car and hurried into her job at the call center. She grimaced as she opened the door. I hate this place.
She had been employed with the company since graduating from college, and each day seemed to be an eternity. She had a degree in finance, and yet she was answering calls from irate credit card customers, disputing charges she had no power to overturn.
But if I play my cards right, I won’t have to work anymore. I’ll be the pack leader’s mate. Everyone will wait on me hand and foot.
The notion pleased her greatly.
“You’re all smiles today, Jo,” her supervisor greeted as she sat at her desk.
Jo smirked.
I am counting the days until I can tell you to stick this job up your fat ass, Linda, she thought caustically.
“Things are starting to look up for me,” she replied sweetly. And she meant it.
When Cruz called at dinnertime, Jo had almost been expecting to hear his voice.
I can already sense when he’s thinking about me, she thought when she answered the call.
“Hi, Jo. It’s Cruz. I wanted to know if you would meet me after work, maybe go for a drink?”
Her heart fluttered with excitement.
“Sure!” she cried and was immediately embarrassed at her over-eagerness.
“Great. Can I pick you up?” he asked, and she nodded eagerly, knowing he couldn’t see her.
“That sounds good. I’m done at nine.”
“I’ll be there,” he replied.
They said their goodbyes, and Jo sat back, staring at the desk before her, a slow smile forming on her lips.
We didn’t get it on yesterday, but we will tonight, she vowed silently. And after that happens, I will make sure that Lily knows all about it. Whatever high horse she’s perched herself on is about to be shot down into smithereens.
Jo could not wait to see her sister’s face.
That will be the expression I hold onto when I care to think about her in the future, Jo chortled silently.
Jo wondered who she was kidding. She knew that once Lily was out of her life for good, she would never think about her sister again.
***
“Hi Cruz, it’s Lily. I sent you a text because you said you wanted to get together later, but you didn’t reply so I thought I would leave you a voicemail. I guess your phone is off though. Um… I don’t know. I guess call me when you get this if you still want to hang out. I mean it’s late so…” Lily trailed off, wondering why she was babbling. “Just call me.” She hung up and tossed her cell aside, annoyed with herself for sounding so desperate.
After their lunch, any doubts Lily had felt about Cruz had vanished completely. She was sure that he felt exactly the same way about her as she did about him.
They had made plans to see each other that night for tutoring, something which had filled Lily with exhilaration as she recalled what had happened the last time she tutored him.
But now his phone is off and it’s nine-thirty. Something tells me he fell asleep. He was in rough shape today.
Lily forced herself not to be irritated by the brush off.
You’ll see him tomorrow, she thought, shrugging off her annoyance. She turned back to the book she was reading, but she found it difficult to concentrate.
She was filling with that restlessness again, and she needed to move. Bouncing from her bed, she made her way to the ground floor.
Draven and Klein were playing a game of ch
ess at the kitchen table.
“Hey kid,” Draven called. “Everything okay? You look antsy.”
Lily shrugged and nodded.
“Yes. I was just waiting to hear back from a tutoring student, but I guess I got stood up,” she replied. “Now I’m climbing the walls.”
“I didn’t know you were tutoring. Anyone we know?” Draven asked, moving his knight to put his father in check.
Klein grunted. “Your sister distracted me,” he grumbled, and Draven rolled his green eyes.
“Sure, she did,” he retorted. He turned his attention back to Lily who pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge.
“Lily?”
She glanced at him. “What?”
“Who are you tutoring?”
She was reluctant to answer the question. She wasn’t sure she was ready to announce her relationship with Cruz to the family yet, but if she didn’t respond, they would be suspicious.
They already aren’t giving me any space, she thought. The last thing I need is them breathing down my neck even further.
She wondered how long the babysitting would last.
“Cruz Aube.”
Draven’s dark head shot up, and his eyes narrowed.
“Did Josephine arrange that?”
The question confused her.
“Josephine?” she repeated. “Why the hell would Jo have anything to do with who I’m tutoring?”
“Language, Lily!” Klein snapped, but Lily ignored him as she continued to stare at her older brother.
“Why would you ask that?”
A shiver of apprehension coursed through her as she studied his face.
“I don’t know. Cruz was here looking for her today,” Draven replied.
Lily began to laugh, thinking her brother was joking, but the chuckle died on her lips.
“You’re serious?” she gasped. “Cruz was here today? What time?”
“A little after noon. It was just before Jo went to work.”
After he and I had lunch, he came here to see Jo. Why?
“I think he and Jo have been seeing each other,” Klein volunteered, startling both his kids.
“What?” they chorused.
“What makes you say that?” Lily almost yelled. Klein glared at her.
“Lily, watch your tone!” he snapped. “Don’t make me tell you again.”
“Dad, why do you think they’re seeing each other?” she pleaded, her emerald eyes wide.
“I stopped by Epact on the way home from work for a beer. Vern mentioned they were together last night, and Jo just texted me to say they’re out… Oh, sorry, Lil.” Klein seemed embarrassed. “I guess he blew off tutoring for a girl. Not surprising with his reputation though, is it? I hope it’s not serious with Jo. He’s too much of a ladies’ man, even if he is going to be pack leader.”
Lily no longer heard anything coming from her father’s mouth, and she turned slowly to walk back up the stairs.
“It’s just a study session, Lil! Charge him for it anyway!” Draven yelled after her, sensing her discontent, but Lily did not acknowledge him.
He is sleeping with my sister. He never had any interest in me at all. This has all been a vile, disgusting ploy.
The realization was crushing and humiliating.
I wonder if they are laughing at me together. Cruz probably ran right to her after our lunch to tell her how I was crying about how she treated me. He couldn’t even wait. Why would they do this? There is no reason to go through such a sick plan except to hurt me. I understand why Jo would do it, but why would Cruz agree to it?
Bile filled Lily’s throat as she walked into her bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed.
Maybe this is a trick, she tried to reason. Maybe Josephine found out about Cruz and me and is trying to sabotage our happiness. She has always hated me. It wouldn’t be farfetched.
But that didn’t explain what Vern saw. Vern had no reason to make up a story about seeing them together. And Cruz made no mention of running into Jo last night.
It was no mistake.
She had been played for a fool by two people who were supposed to care about her. Instantly, she wanted to throw the covers over her head and curl into a ball.
Forget about Cruz and Jo. I have never belonged here anyway. I will follow through with my plan to get out of Pierre, but I will work faster. I’ll take night classes, a full course load and find two jobs. The fact that I have shifted has not changed anything. I am still an outcast to everyone, and nothing I do will ever change that.
She swallowed her tears and gritted her teeth, but a stab of anger pierced her heart. Sitting up, she dabbed the corners of her eyes.
No, she told herself. No, I am not the same pushover that Jo has been tormenting for years. I have endured enough at her hands. I am not going to allow myself to be a victim to anyone else.
Yanking her computer toward her, she felt an iron rod of determination fuse into her spine.
They are going to rue the day they ever screwed with me, she thought grimly.
***
“I’m so glad we’re doing this,” Jo purred as she placed her hand on Cruz’s arm. “I have always thought you were so sexy. I don’t know why we haven’t gotten together before.”
Cruz forced a smile and nodded.
“I’m glad we’re doing this, too,” he lied. He looked around Epact quickly to see if there was anyone he knew well in the bar.
Content that they were in relative seclusion, he turned his attention back to Jo.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about what you were saying about Lily today,” he told her earnestly. “I think we should discuss more what you had in mind.”
Jo’s beam seemed to light up the dingy interior of the tavern, and she leaned in closely. “It’s been a worry of mine for years,” she confessed. “I have always been concerned that she will be our pack’s demise.”
“Why do you think so, Jo?” he asked, trying to keep the anger from his voice.
Can she be this disloyal, this angry? Cruz wondered, but looking into her shining jade eyes, he could read nothing but malice and desire, entwined in a wicked dance.
“Well let’s be honest, Cruz. She has nothing in common with any of us,” she started. “She’s antisocial, and we never thought she would shift.”
“But she has shifted, and since when is being antisocial a danger?” he pressed.
He didn’t want to warn her that he was baiting her, but Cruz realized that he had little to worry about; Jo seemed ecstatic to have an ear to herself.
“Who knows what goes on in her mind? It’s obvious she’s scornful of the Lycan ways. She never participates in pack activities.”
“Maybe that will change now. Maybe she’s always felt left out.”
Jo’s eyes narrowed. “You sound like you’re defending her. I’m doing you a favor by bringing this to your attention, Cruz. If you want to be pack leader one day, you should know what’s going on in your pack.”
Cruz gnawed on his lower lip, resisting the urge to tell her that he was not about to claim that prestigious title.
She’s come to me because she thinks I have some pull in getting rid of Lily. She’s crazy.
“How does everyone else in your family feel about her?” Cruz asked and Jo shrugged.
“They want her gone too, but they’re too polite to say anything. I mean, she’s weak. They would feel bad about throwing her out, but…” She trailed off as if to say, “too bad.”
“She’s your sister,” he said flatly. “How can you think so poorly of her?”
Jo’s face contorted into a mask of consternation.
“She is not my sister!” she yelled and Cruz glanced about nervously. “She’s a parasite who has been bleeding our family dry since the minute she arrived!”
“Shh!” he hissed. “Keep your voice down. If you want to get rid of Lily, you’ll have to be discrete!”
Immediately, Jo lost the furious expression, and she grinned.
&n
bsp; “Sorry,” she murmured, shifting closer to him. “I got overly excited. It’s just… I can’t bear the thought of Lily bringing us all down.”
“No,” he agreed. “A loose cannon in the pack is a detriment to everyone.”
Slowly, Jo moved her face toward him, rubbing her nose against his.
“We make a good team,” she cooed, closing her eyes as she placed her lips on his.
Cruz braced himself for impact but did not move.
In a minute I will be out of here and I won’t have to deal with this psychopath again, he thought, wincing inwardly as Josephine’s tongue touched his.
She drew back and smiled at him, but her sensual grin turned into a hideous leer as her eyes settled on something behind him.
“Well, speak of the devil,” she murmured.
Cruz sensed her standing behind him even before he turned his head, his heart thudding sickly in his chest.
“Lily!”
She stared at them hatefully, her eyes slits of rage.
“Don’t look so mad, sis. You didn’t think he really wanted you, did you?” Jo called mockingly.
Lily did not respond, whirling away to flee the scene.
Cruz was sure he had never been more devastated in his life, the image of Lily’s agonized face forever etched in his mind.
“Oh well,” Jo laughed. “I guess she knows about us now.”
Cruz turned to face her, a combination of pity and ire surging through him.
He knew what he had to do.
Chapter Ten
“Where are you going?” Jo demanded as Cruz jumped up from the table.
He whirled to stare at her, his face twisted in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?” he growled. “How can you be so cold? You’re the only danger to the pack I see here.”
Josephine stared at him, her mouth parted in surprise.
“What are you talking about?” she hissed. “My sister is a problem. If you can’t see that, you’re not fit to be pack leader.”
Cruz smiled cruelly at her.
“That seems to be the general consensus,” he replied, spinning to leave. “That’s why my father has chosen a different successor.”
His words didn’t make sense to her ears, and she shook her head.
