30. Aleks
Aleks
For some reason, there was little fallout from the disastrous night of the challenge.
Oh, Grant continued to whine about how Giselle had been his only true ally, which was funny, since I thought at least two or three of his goons would put themselves between him and any danger, whether he deserved it or not.
Giselle certainly hadn’t been the type to jump in the way of danger, not even for Grant.
She’d always done what she had done strictly for self-preservation.
Maybe that was it. Maybe he’d seen her as a kindred spirit, since everything he ever did was the same. All for Grant, only for Grant.
I couldn’t imagine thinking that way. Not putting my family above myself. Never thinking of how my actions affected others. Even strangers didn’t deserve to be dismissed so thoroughly. Like the woman Giselle had locked in the pantry. What had she done to deserve death?
Exist, and leave Wildwood?
Bullshit.
But we stayed in San Francisco. Mama said the challenge would simply be pushed to the next full moon, and Grant could technically push it further, since he was “mourning” a pack member, and I supposed in the only way he was capable, he was mourning Giselle. Not that he’d shed a single tear.
I doubted he was capable of that.
It seemed fitting, that even the only person who was sorry she was dead would never cry for her.
Some people didn’t deserve to be mourned.
Certainly, no one would mourn Grant. I doubted anyone had mourned my father, least of all Mama or me. Just as we hadn’t mourned when my grandfather had died fighting soldiers. We’d been frightened of what would come next, but it had never crossed anyone’s mind to be sad he had died.
I’d spent years thinking that was the way of alphas. To be the person in charge, you had to be hard. Distant. Separate.
I’d spent years thinking that I could never be a successful alpha because I knew I could never be as remote and untouchable as the men I knew who had held the job.
I had emotions that weren’t anger, and I’d never been able to hide them entirely.
I loved my family with a ferocity that sometimes made me nervous, and sometimes made me rage—the only times I showed the kind of anger my father had been prone to.
If someone hurt Mama, I wanted to tear them limb from limb.
When I’d thought Grant had killed Cash, it had been all I could do to keep from attacking him, even though it had been a terrible idea.
But . . . it had been a terrible idea. I had retained enough of my mind to know that, and so I had kept my calm.
I’d thought that kind of thing a failing.
But then there had been Ajax Fyse. Who clearly hated all of us from the Wildwood.
Who hated all we stood for. Who wanted to tear Grant apart.
But who had only ever been at all violent in the moments of the actual challenge fight.
Who had swallowed down his irritation even when I’d openly flirted with his mate in front of him.
Sure, he’d been protective and territorial, but he hadn’t so much as bared his teeth at me.
And his pack all seemed deeply loyal to him.
Well . . . all but that one. I hadn’t been able to pinpoint who the traitor was, and wasn’t sure what I’d have done with that information even if I’d had it, but in the end, it didn’t matter.
Because well before the second full moon, Ajax and Dakota showed up at the door to the house we were staying in.
The alpha looked somewhat rumpled and almost sleepy, but also, angry. He didn’t make me nervous, since again, he hadn’t shown any inclination to be violent, but I was genuinely curious why he would let himself be seen in this state, so I asked. “Are you well?”
Ajax only glared at me, and it was Dakota who spoke. “We’re going to need to see Grant. He’s tried another stunt to take Jax out of the equation.”
Again. First burning the house down, and now . . . now what? “Was anyone else hurt this time?”
Dakota gave me a ghost of a smile, like he was pleased I was asking. He shook his head. “No.”
At the same time, the alpha spat through gritted teeth, “Yes. One of my pack was also poisoned.”
Dakota didn’t look so sure about that, glancing back at his alpha, and then at me, a cute little scrunched expression on his face. “Barely. He was fine. He wasn’t even unconscious for half an hour.”
Jax growled and waved him off. “It doesn’t matter. They tried to poison me, and poisoned Kent as well. It has to stop.”
Poison? What wolf would use poison as a weapon against another wolf?
The stories of my father’s declining health in the year before Grant took over washed over me, and I considered. What wolf, indeed.
I just nodded to them. “Poison is no way to win pack war.”
That was when Viktor came up behind me, a solid presence at my back. “Poison is an easy way to win a pack war. It’s good for cowards and children.”
That was very . . . Viktor. I winced, but didn’t correct him, because he wasn’t wrong. Hell, I kind of hoped if Grant and his ilk had ever gotten their hands on Evie, she’d have poisoned the lot.
Also, I tried not to think about Viktor being taught to use poison on people as a child, when he’d been taken from us.
I turned toward him and asked, “Would you go get Grant? Tell him the alpha is here. You don’t need to bother warning him what they’re talking about.”
He gave me a hint of a smile, then looked back at the alpha and his mate at the door. “I am sorry for the difficulties we’ve brought upon you. The whole pack is sorry. We would like to return home as much as you wish we would.”
I fucking wished. I wanted to take my loved ones and go home more than anything. The city stunk, and it was bright all the time, even the middle of the night, and so noisy I could barely hear myself think, let alone sleep at night.
A moment after Viktor disappeared into the back of the house, Grant came out.
But he didn’t approach. No, he stood at the back of the main entry hall, fifteen feet away from the door, staring at them with something that looked a lot like trepidation.
“You’re not supposed to be here. Have you come to intimidate me?
Interrupt my time of mourning for a beloved pack member? ”
It took every bit of my self-control not to scoff at the idea of Giselle being beloved by anyone.
“We haven’t come to interrupt your sadness over your dead child trafficker,” Jax said with a disgusted scoff, and I had to roll my lips together between my teeth to keep my reaction at bay.
Suddenly, the scent of magic permeated the air, and I glanced at Dakota, but he was staring at Grant, and only Grant. I didn’t know what he might be casting, but for some reason, I wasn’t worried about it at all.
“We’ve come because someone used the coward’s poison on Jax. So we’re looking for a coward,” Dakota said, and it took every bit of control I had not to bark out a laugh, or react at all.
Fuck, I had to hold my breath to keep my shoulders from shaking.
Silence fell thick in the hall, and no one moved or spoke. It was like an old west movie, two gunslingers standing at opposite ends of a street at high noon. I glanced at the clock. Not high noon, sadly.
“Is that a specific kind of poison?” I asked, and Dakota glanced over at me curiously, watching my mouth like he was reading my lips. “I have never heard of it.”
He watched me intently as I spoke, then smiled and nodded to me. Then he conceded, “Well, that’s what my people call it. I couldn’t say what they’d call it here. It’s made of crystallized dreamroot.”
I had never heard of dreamroot, but . . . was he saying it was actually called coward’s poison? Interesting. Seemed like something Grant would use.
At once, we all looked back at Grant. Before he even spoke, I knew whatever he said was going to be bullshit.
He knew exactly what they were talking about.
Of course he did. Who else would poison the alpha of the pack he was trying to take over?
“I haven’t poisoned anyone,” he said, even though he was obviously full of shit.
“Do you know anything about who did?” Dakota asked, all flat tone and unimpressed expression.
Grant turned immediately to stare at Dakota, sniffing the air. I wondered if this spell was so strong he could smell it, even from that distance. Still, he persisted in lying to one of the most powerful creatures ever born. “It’s insulting that you’d even ask,” he said, scowling.
When Jax spoke, it was through gritted teeth. “This is the second time my pack has been attacked surrounding this challenge of yours. If it happens again, Grant, pack law be damned, challenge be damned, I will know it’s your fault. And I will come here and end you, once and for all.”
The smell of arousal floated through the room as Dakota stared up at Ajax, hearts in his eyes. I did not laugh, but it was difficult.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Grant said, and without looking, I could hear the tremble in his voice.
Dakota snorted even as he turned to the door. “Yeah. Keep telling yourself that. Maybe someday you’ll believe it. Hopefully before you make Jax rip your throat out by attacking us again.”
They left without another word, Jax just growling in Grant’s direction, and Grant backing out of the hallway.
Me? I grinned like a crazy person. Why? Because they had come to the place where we were staying. What was the American saying? Turnabout is fair play.
It was time to pay them a visit, and see Cash.