Chapter 22
I frowned at the new-fangled machine that had been delivered this morning and returned my attention back to the instructions. The silver, wide mechanism with its levers and buttons confused the shit out of me, but I felt guilty not hooking it up.
I made an offhanded comment about one of these, and the next morning, the delivery driver left one the porch. I’d learned my lesson to never mention something to Lucian.
The door slammed from down the hall. I immediately reached for a knife from the holder, placing my back to the counter.
“Josephine?” Alex called softly.
“I’m in here,” I replied, my shoulders relaxing, and slid the knife back into the wooden block on the counter.
He entered the kitchen and eyed the huge espresso machine behind me.
“Don’t ask,” I commented with a shake of my head.
He put his hands up with a smirk. I returned to reading the manual that had only served to confuse the crap out of me so far. I looked over his shoulder, not fully facing him yet. The awkwardness had set in now everything had calmed, and Lucian and I were working on our relationship.
“By the way . . .” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry about—” Kissing you. I couldn’t form the words. I’d done it in an effort to hurt Lucian. “For . . .”
“Don’t mention it.” Alex moved into my space and grabbed my shoulder.
“Like seriously. I want to continue living.” I finally looked at him.
There was no joke in his voice, and he kept looking over his shoulder.
“You are my brother’s mate and my Luna, I will always respect your position as my sister-in-law ,” he added, his eyes a bit too wide.
My face warmed, and I clamped my lips together. There was a red speck on his cheek. I followed the trail of droplets to the front of his shirt.
“Why are you covered in blood?”
“That’s why I came.” His blue gaze gleamed with satisfaction. “Where’s Lucian?”
“Sleeping, now spit it out.” I narrowed my eyes pointedly. He visibly seemed to weigh up his options. “Alex!”
He sighed and scrubbed his palm across the top of his hair.
“I found Duane.”
My smile faded, and the air was vacuumed out of the room.
“You should have said so sooner.” I slipped out of his grip and placed the pamphlet on the dining table. Lucian was sleeping again, so this was the perfect time to receive the news. “Take me to him.” I was already striding past him.
His steps followed mine until he caught up to my shorter gait and matched it.
“Where did you put him?”
“In the shed out back.” I stopped in the middle of the gravel in front of the house. His truck sat parked with the back door open. Blood stained the seat, and an indent of something being dragged parted the pebbles.
“You should have said that sooner, too,” I scowled and careened to the left, taking the path around the house.
The entire time, he kept up with my strides.
“Tell me about Verity?” His abrupt question stopped me mid-step. I gawked up at him, my brain struggling to catch up.
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He watched me with a scowl.
“She’s so not going to go for you, but good luck,” I snorted, swiping the corner of my eye. He was going to be stunned when he found out she was staying here.
“Why?” He scowled, and his eyebrows furrowed hard.
“She likes her men . . . a lot older.” I studied the disappointed slope of his mouth.
“But . . . you might be able to get her to agree to a fling.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
The last relationship Verity had was with the guy twenty years her senior.
He used to send her tons of money. We used to go crazy ordering from the commissary.
Alex frowned, seeming much more serious than I thought he’d be. Did he actually like her? That would be kind of awesome. If Verity joined the family . . . I was getting ahead of myself.
Like, way ahead of myself.
“Go for it, but treat her right.” I narrowed my eyes pointedly.
“Both of us know how to get rid of a body.” Without waiting for his response, I continued to the shack.
The only one that came to mind was the one in the farthest corner of the backyard.
It was adjacent to the houses behind our house.
He remained silent on the rest of the short walk.
The muffled shouting became more apparent with each step.
“He must have woken up.”
I nodded at Alex’s comment, slowing at the entrance. Alex got in front of me to open the door. He froze when Verity came barreling out of the small space, smacking right into his chest.
It was so hard not to burst into laughter. Alex looked like he’d been hit by a train, not a five-foot-and-some-change woman.
Verity gaped up at him. The light from the flood lamp above the shack illuminated us.
A shout echoed from behind her, but she wasn’t paying attention. Her neck was craned, and she looked up at Alex, her hands settled on his chest. Watching them interact made it difficult not to laugh. All they seemed to be able to do was blink at each other.
Alex may have more chance with her than I thought. Did it make me a bad person that I was glad?
I cleared my throat, and Verity snapped herself out of her trance.
“Why were you in there?” Alex asked, finally pulling back and narrowing his eyes at her.
Verity returned his scowl.
“Are you serious? He started yelling so loud I couldn’t enjoy my show.” She crossed her arms, yanking the robe closed and cutting off his view of her skimpy nightgown.
“You’re staying here?”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “You’re a shifter, too. That’s why you were naked that day.”
He only stared.
“Let me out,” Duane screamed, his voice echoing into the night. I didn’t want him to wake Lucian. As I slipped past Verity and Alex, he told her to go back to wherever she was staying; their argument faded into the background.
The shack was illuminated by a single light bulb hanging in the middle of the room.
Duane stared at me from his spot on the chair bolted to the ground. His wrists and ankles were in cuffs attached to the seat.
His eyes clashed with mine, and they immediately shuttered.
“Duane,” I murmured.
He studied me and grunted. Now that I’d heard his voice, there was no doubt it was him. I stepped closer, and his shifter scent, mingled with menthol cigarettes, pushed the memory to the forefront.
There was no doubt he was the one. I’d seen him around before, but he was always in the background, never speaking. Now I knew why. He was hiding.
If Stools helped hide the crime, he was the one who drove my dad and me off the road.
I stepped forward.
“Now you’re quiet?” I murmured. His eyebrows twitched. “Coward.”
His eyes thinned, and his lip curled up.
“Fuck off,” he hissed. I could only sneer. Yes, this was him. Without thinking, I lashed my hand across his face. His head jerked to the side. The clap rang through the shack, and the arguing behind me cut off.
Duane slowly turned back to meet my eyes.
“Is that all?” He raised an eyebrow. The smug look . . .
Not only my dad, but he’d placed Lucian in danger.
I slapped him again, this time using my nails. He grunted and jerked under the force. Blood bloomed across his cheek in thin lines.
There was no need for me to ask questions. Stools had answered everything. All I needed to know was that this man worked with Cierra to kill me. I didn’t give a fuck what kind of relationship they had, but he would know her location.
“Where’s Cierra?” I stretched my neck to the side, trying to warm up for the exertion. I knew how to throw a punch, and I’d use the underhanded skills I’d learned to their full extent.
His lip curled. He thrashed against the binds keeping him on the chair without saying a word.
“Joey, is he the one who drove you guys off the road?” Verity shoved into the space, pushing past Alex, who was trying to block her way. Her steps thumped on the wood. She rubbed her eyes, her hair a messy halo around her head.
Alex inhaled audibly, and I looked over at him, sniffing with his eyebrows furrowed.
I met Verity’s eyes and nodded tightly.
She ran at him, drew back her fist, and slammed it into his nose. A loud crunch echoed off the walls. She gasped and clasped her hand.
“Fuck, your face is hard,” she whimpered.
Alex very obviously became tense. He gripped her shoulder and forcibly pulled her back.
“Get out of here,” he said harshly.
Duane was too busy whimpering with blood dripping down to his mouth. Good.
“You little bitch! You broke my nose,” Duane hissed. I socked him in the stomach. He groaned, his body hunching forward with a grunt.
“Yes, harder,” Verity crowed, breathless as she tried to slip past Alex.
“Why is a human outsider hanging around the Alpha’s house?” Alex snapped. I could tell he wasn’t going to focus until Verity was gone.
“We’ll talk later,” I said to Verity pointedly. She stopped struggling against Alex and huffed, yanking her arm out of his hand. With a quick jerk, she closed the robe again. She seemed put off by Alex. She strode to the door and left. Alex watched her, his head shaking.
Duane spat, and blood spattered on my shirt. I stiffened, turning back to him. A bit of his bloody saliva hit my cheek. Everything went still, and I didn’t move my gaze off him. He kept dropping his and returning it to mine.
“Where’s Cierra hiding?”
He only stared.
“Fine,” I spat and lashed my fist out, connecting with his nose. Duane’s head jerked back, and he straightened again, lifting his chin.
“Why did you send Lucian to Gideon Drake’s land?”
“Is he dead?” Duane jolted and looked at me, eyes wide. “Did he kill him?” I wasn’t sure if there was more concern or bitterness in his tone.
“Is that why you sent him there, to break pack law?”
“I didn’t think he’d trespass . . .” Duane’s mouth pinched. He shook his head, and his eyes kept flicking like nothing made sense to him. “For a fucking worthless girl, he turned his back on everything.”
He sounded personally offended. His words also confirmed that he had offered Alex the information and thought Lucian would leave me to die at Drake’s hand.
“Why would he want you?” Duane sounded almost lost.
I needed to get this back on track.
“Where is Cierra?”
He took a moment, eyes lowered. Finally, resolve entered them.
“I’m fucked anyway. I’m not talking. You may as well kill me.” Duane looked over my shoulder at Alex.
“No,” I said, lifting my chin. “You’re not dying. Yet. You need to pay for what you did to Lucian.”
I slapped my palm on the back of his chair and leaned forward, hovering over his face.
“You caused my mate a lot of agony,” I whispered. His nostrils flared, and his eyes flitted to the side.
With my hand gripping the back of the seat, I pulled back my other arm and threw it into his temple.
Again.
And again.
He jolted with each connection.
“Josephine,” Lucian bellowed. I whirled to look at him, standing framed in the doorjamb.
He came in without his crutch, a slight limp to his gait.
And he looked pissed the fuck off.