Studying her closely, Damara nodded slowly. “You have it. Now talk.”
“I overheard Zane and the alpha talking, as he said. And I learned that Ian is actually Kian’s half-brother.”
What? Stunned, he stared at Farrah, but he’d been listening closely, and he’d heard the notes of truth in her voice. They were subtle, but they were there. Glancing over, he looked at Kian who was looking just as stunned as he was.
“Go on,” Damara said, impatience coating her voice.
“Because of my decreased rank,” Farrah said, “I was not allowed to have money or a vehicle of my own, so I borrowed Zane’s. I did not have a plan at first. I made my way close by, but after the first night. I knew Zane was following me, so I began moving around. At first, I was angry. It coated my every thought. Ian had given me a deformed baby, and I’d lost my revered spot in the clan, and now—he was one of our royalty? I just wanted him to pay, to make him suffer. So when no one was home at Rocky River, I weakened the supports for the roof. I didn’t care who got hurt, or even if no one did. I just wanted to make him feel a tiny bit of what I’d been feeling.
“But after that, it occurred to me—if Kian were no longer in the picture, Ian could take his place. One day, he could rule the War Cats. Ian and I have a child together, and I’m already a member of the tribe. Of course he’d come to me for help, and then we could rekindle our romance, and I would rule by his side. So I set out to make that happen. I paid a girl at the diner to slip something into Kian’s food. He always eats the same meal. But when two of the same meals were ordered for the shifters, the idiot girl put the poison in both. I thought, surely they would both die, but luck was on my side and they lived. After that, I decided if I wanted it done right, I needed to do it myself.”
Silence descended on the clearing as Ian looked at her in disbelief. She had a little smile flirting on her lips, and she truly looked pleased with her story. She was more mentally unbalanced than he’d known, and he thanked God all over again that he had Shelby with him and out of Farrah’s clutches.
“You tried to kill our prince?” Karis demanded, outrage coating his voice and etched in every line of this body. He started stalking toward Farrah, some of the tigers following, but halted abruptly as Blake and Liam stepped in front of them, arms crossed and feet planted wide.
“Trust me, you don’t want to do that,” Liam said mildly, looking almost bored.
“We’re not enforcers only because we’re strong and excellent fighters,” Blake continued, lips quirked up. “We all have gifts that make us the best at what we do, and you do not want to get on the wrong end of that. Just look at your friend over there after feeling Luke’s gift. And I assure you, that was mild in comparison to what some of us can do,” he said with a nod to where Vyn
n was still unconscious on the ground.
Glaring at Farrah, the War Cats reluctantly backed down. Ian glanced at Kian to see if he was going to speak, but he was still frozen, his face set in a mask. Concern welled up in Ian, but he couldn’t think about that, or the revelation of them being brothers, just yet. He needed to get the rest of the story from Farrah.
“And that was you who vandalized Holly’s car?”
Eyes narrowing, she glared daggers at him. “I saw you with her one day, and I watched her as she talked to our daughter on the playground at school. That whore was trying to take what’s mine. You and Shelby belong to me, and she had to go. So yes, I did that, and had more still planned, but you brought her home with you. How dare you. Giving her yourself is bad enough. But men cheat, this I know. But giving her my daughter is unforgivable.”
“Oh get off it, Farrah,” Ian replied, beyond disgusted. “You never wanted Shelby. She brought you shame, remember? And you sure as fuck never wanted me.”
“You are both mine until I decide otherwise, and I had not done so,” she hissed out, eyes flashing with her tiger.
“This is all so very fascinating,” Damara drawled out. “But can we get to the end of this? I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to go home.”
“The arrow yesterday—Zane’s arrow—that was you, as well?” Kian asked, speaking up for the first time.
Ian glanced at him in surprise. He’d figured Kian had recognized the arrow yesterday, but he hadn’t thought it was Zane’s. Although he really should have, considering all the grief the prince’s second had given the fighters over time.
“It was,” Farrah replied, bringing his attention back to the present. “I found Zane’s bow and a quiver of arrows in the trunk. I’ve been practicing, and I got pretty good. But obviously not good enough, because I missed yesterday. And then I saw Ian heading this way today and I followed. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I thought I could come and tell him how much I missed Shelby, try to get in his good graces by using our daughter. That’s obviously how that whore did it.”
Gritting his teeth, Ian resisted his tiger’s urge to attack the person talking about his mate like that. For thinking their—no, his—daughter was a pawn to use at her whim. Woman or not, his tiger wanted to tear into Farrah, but she wasn’t worth it. Besides, the enforcers wouldn’t let him get very far anyway.
Farrah squealed in fury, trying to break away from Luke’s hold. “What the hell are you doing, you idiot?”
Luke snapped a pair of handcuffs around her wrists, and Farrah thrashed in anger. Mood instantly improving, he felt his lips curl up as Farrah stomped her foot in anger.
“They’re unbreakable,” Luke told her as she tried to use her shifter strength to break them open. “All you’ll do is hurt your wrists.”
Panic crossed her features as she turned to Damara. “Why is he cuffing me? You promised you’d protect me if I told the truth.”
“And what better place to protect you than shifter prison? Come on, Farrah, you didn’t actually think you were going to get away with this, did you? You’re not stupid. Unhinged, but not stupid.”
They all watched as Luke drug Farrah, kicking and screaming, from the clearing. No one spoke until the racket faded away, and then Blake cleared his throat.
“I think it’s time for us to get out of here. We’ve been on the road for a while, and we’re ready to get home. Although I know all of the enforcers genuinely regret not being able to test our skills on each of you fighters. Some other time, though.” Looking at the War Cats, he said, “Let this be a warning to you all. You came dangerously close to starting a shifter war, and you didn’t even have all the facts. Your tribe is too willing to jump into fights at a moment’s notice. And we don’t care how old and esteemed your tribe is. We won’t hesitate to put an end to it if you all push the boundaries one more time.” Glancing at Kian, he said, “Keep that in mind going forward.”
Kian nodded stiffly, gesturing at Vynn. “And my tiger? Will he be okay?”
“He should be fine in an hour or two. I used too much power in my voice, and I apologize for that.” Glancing at Ian in admiration, he said, “I don’t know how you remained conscious. You must be very strong.”