The packleader was sitting apart from the rest of the wolves in a large, overstuffed leather armchair. When Paul came in he looked up from the game he’d been playing on his smart phone and nodded casually. “Que tal, Skulls?”
“Not much. Just here to kick Chulo’s ass.” Paul glared across the room at the taller wolf, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable. As he watched, Mercedes came to stand by Chulo and pulled him down to whisper something in his ear. Chulo looked furious and whispered something back.
Paul had suspected that the third wolf was in on the attempt to poison him before and this made it pretty damn clear he was right. Still, it pissed him off that Chulo had resorted to cheating to try to take his place—a true wolf of the Lunas Locas should be above such underhanded bullshit.
“Oh yeah, I did hear that my cousin challenged you.” Angel’s voice broke his train of thought and he looked over to see the packleader pocketing his phone.
Paul squared his shoulders. He didn’t like that Angel had mentioned the blood connection between himself and Chulo but it didn’t change anything as far as he was concerned. “Yeah, he did. So let’s get it over with.” Angel nodded at the door. “Out back. Let’s not trash the place anymore than it’s already trashed.”
“Fine.” Paul led the way, the short hairs on the back of his neck bristling with tension. He could feel the eyes of the rest of the pack on him and hear their whispers.
How many others had known about Mercedes and her Wolf’s Bane? How many had been willing to sit by and watch him die just because he was different? I’m more different than they think. He had another flash of Laurent from the night before saying, Kiss me and tell me you don’t want me as I want you. Paul tried to shove it out of his mind but the image remained as he pushed out the door and went around to the weedy backyard of the Locas bungalow.
“Okay.” Angel stepped out in front once they were all gathered in the surprisingly roomy yard. It was surrounded by a ten-foot-tall wooden privacy fence—the pack’s one concession to keeping humans ignorant of what they did. Not that any of the humans in the neighborhood would dare to look into the Locas backyard, fence or no fence.
“I’m ready.” Paul stepped up to the packleader, wishing his mind were clearer. If he had to fight while his head kept showing him pictures of Laurent, he guessed he could. It was just very fucking distracting.
“Chulo?” Angel looked at the other wolf who shuffled nervously and finally came forward.
“Yeah, okay, packleader.”
“Good.” Angel nodded. “So—fur or skin?”
“Fur,” Chulo said immediately, before Paul could open his mouth. Paul frowned— Chulo was slightly bigger in wolf form just as he was in man form but if he thought size was going to work to his advantage he was dead fucking wrong.
“Skulls?” Angel looked at him and Paul shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll kick his ass either way.”
Angel looked up at the full moon. “All right then—change. And may the best wolf win.”
Paul was already calling the Mother Moon, which was high in the sky, before his packleader said the words. But to his chagrin, instead of the power channeling down like a silver rope, all he could feel was Laurent’s mouth on his. Instead of seeing the pale moonlight, he saw the vampire’s pale green eyes and heard him murmur something soft and sensuous in French.
What the hell? What’s going on? What’s blocking me this time? It wasn’t the Wolf’s Bane anymore—he was sure of that. He no longer felt the sensation of trying to roll a too heavy boulder up a mountain—of straining to do something that couldn’t be done.
Instead, it was like something was interrupting his link to the Mother moon. Like static interfering with a broadcast signal.
It all happened in a split second and before he could try again, Mercedes stepped out in front of Angel and held out a hand. “Stop!” Angel frowned at her, a low growl rising in his throat. “I’m packleader here and you’re not even a real wolf. How dare you interrupt a challenge?”
“Forgive me, packleader, but I have good reason.” She bowed her head submissively but Paul thought he saw a glitter in her poison green eyes. Something was going on—but what?
“Okay, so state your fucking reason.” Angel looked more annoyed than actually angry, which didn’t surprise Paul. The Locas packleader was always low key until he lost it and exploded into rage and violence. The trick was to know how far to push him, and Paul didn’t think Mercedes had the hang of it yet. She was on thin ice whether she knew it or not.
“I just want this to be a fair challenge, packleader.” She gave Angel a big, wide-eyed innocent look. “And I don’t think it will be, because Skulls won’t be able to change.”