“You just couldn’t face it,” she said. “You know what he did. You don’t hate Bill for Emma’s death. You… You hate him for—”
“Stop!” Kyle threw her off, scrambling to his knees. “Just stop!” His throat corded with the force of the shout, but he didn’t make a move toward her.
“No.” As she found her balance, Loren shook her head. “It’s the truth. You hate Bill for leaving,” she continued, swaying with the effort it took to remain standing. Somehow, she did, though Kyle slumped, his face downcast, body trembling. “For leaving him alive. The man truly responsible for your sister’s death.”
He said nothing, but he didn’t need to. A connection still lingered between them, weaker than what existed between her and Bill. It wasn’t powerful enough for her to touch his emotions, or sense them clearly.
Though, she knew that she’d spoken the truth. And he knew it, too.
“If you still want to honor Emma, you know how you can,” she told him. “Because he expects you to help him, doesn’t he? Lukka?”
It was getting harder to grasp his thoughts clearly. She could only glean fragments of their plan—though it seemed as twisted as any Bill might have feared.
Kyle flinched and lifted his head. His eyes blazed, but with a different, colder intensity.
“Even if I don’t, someone else will,” he rasped.
“Not if you beat them to it,” Loren countered. “And if you truly want to honor your sister’s memory, you won’t have a choice.”
39
Of all the places he might find himself on the road to redemption within the pack, little did Bill think he’d wind up here—in a circular room in the heart of a building far less ornate than any found in Black Mountain. Still, his entire body prickled with awareness and a grudging sort of respect only an Alpha could inspire.
One with several decades to his tenure, at least.
Why he’d followed the Eislanders into their territory, he had no idea. Either way, it was too late for doubt.
Here he stood, facing down Loreck Eislander himself.
“You heard me,” he began, his voice hoarse. “If you doubt anything that I’ve said, then let me know now so I won’t waste my time asking for your help.”
He took a step, fully prepared to leave. The funny thing was…
Loreck didn’t look doubtful, smug, or even enraged by the convoluted tale involving him, a rival, and a daughter he’d never met. Instead, the man frowned, his gaze fixated somewhere in the distance where no one else could follow.
The other man, Eric, cleared his throat, stepping forward from the corner he’d stood in before now. For once, his probing stare lacked the hostility Bill had become accustomed to. He merely seemed curious.
Though if that was a good development or not remained to be seen.
“What exactly do you want us to do?” he demanded. “Send our men to the border? That could trigger an outright war, and I’m sure your Alpha would love to use a distraction from your challenge.”
“He would,” Bill admitted. “But I don’t need an army. I just need protection. Yours—” he addressed Loreck, who finally inclined his head to face him. “I’m sure Lukka has a trick up his sleeve. Be there as a witness. Make sure this unfolds fairly.”
The man’s expression was unreadable, and Bill felt a pinch of recognition in his gut. If he still didn’t believe in a connection between this figure and Loren, one similarity put all doubt to bed—their eyes. They shared the same piercing intensity, boring into him before he could even think to guard against the intrusion.
Where Loren gazed at him with only that haunting earnest hope, this man harbored anything but.
“And why should I?” he countered, raising his chin. “You forget rogue—if what you claim is true, I should have every right to go for your throat.”
For mating his daughter, of course.
Bill gritted his teeth, uncomfortable with the thought. Rather than cower, he raised his head, holding the leader’s stare.
“I thought I was protecting her,” he explained. “But, as it turns out, she’s more than capable of protecting herself.”
He explained the events leading up to Fred Connors’ death and selected snippets of what happened after—some things, however, such as his genuine attraction, he held back.
Still, by the end of his tale, Loreck looked conflicted between disbelief and confusion.