“You can’t place it, can you?” He cocked his head a little to the side, reminding me of a curious dog. Only, on him, it was creepy as hell. Because I wanted no part of this creature’s interest. “Well, after you and your friend came in and dismantled my boss’s operation, I was taken by the alpha council to be tried. They subjected me to death. And so I died. Only, I came back.” He waved a hand over his body. “Like this. As a hybrid.”
He crouched in front of me, his muddy gaze radiating fury, the pupils dancing with black flames.
“I didn’t realize the sacrifice I would make to my appearance to survive. I suppose I have you to thank for that, don’t I?”
I blinked at him. “I…” I trailed off, frowning. “Bortex?”
It was a guess.
A suggestion.
An… impossibility.
And yet, I’d recognized his scent. I knew him, even while I didn’t. Was this why? Because Bortex, former alpha of McKenzie Pack, stood in front of me?
A memory of the Bortex I knew slithered through my mind—an image of the alpha wolf standing in the dungeon taunting a female shifter, his broad shoulders bulging and his dark head tipped backward on a vile laugh.
Shit, he lookednothinglike that alpha wolf now.
However…I squinted my eyes, taking in the broken structure of his face, the ashy streaks of his hair, and the disfigured lines of his jaw.
He was like a much more contorted version of Bendy.
“Yeah, I’m reasonably certain that I didn’t have a damn thing to do with that becoming your face,” I said. I’d never punched the guy. The vamps had been my focus that day, as well as freeing the girls. The wolves involved had been taken by their own packs.
“Oh, but you did, Makayla,” he countered, that twisted grin back in his features and in his voice. “You’re the reason I was caught and tried. And therefore the reason I was executed. Being reborn as a hybrid was the only way for me to survive, andyouled me to that situation.”
Well, that was certainly a warped way to look at it. “You chose to traffic girls.”
“And you chose to interfere.”
“I’m not going to apologize for doing my job,” I drawled, some of my confidence returning now that I knewwhomI faced. I relayed the reveal to Alaric and noticed his lack of surprise. Like he’d already come to this conclusion somehow before this point.
“Oh, you’ll apologize soon. In fact, I think you’ll be begging me by the end. But first, I need to make you a little more pliable. Can’t have you breaking out again.” He grinned. “Even if I do get a thrill from watching you work.”
A tremble traveled through my limbs, his gaze too knowing. Too intelligent. Like he knew far more about me than he was letting on.
I was still missing something important.
A link that I couldn’t quite see but sensed that it existed.
I needed more information. A better explanation.
“If you were watching me that day at the lake, why didn’t you take me then?” I asked, thinking out loud and following my instincts. “Why wait until now?” Because he clearly hadn’t realized who I was when Vex had first taken me.Except…“Vex said he thought you were keeping me for yourself. You’ve known who I was from the beginning.” Which brought me back to,why now?
“Yes, but notwhatyou are,” he drawled. “At least not until you explained all those details to Alaric. And as to why I didn’t take you that day, it’s because I wasn’t the one who overheard your conversation. Titanium did. Well, he and another of my men. And they knew better than to try to take you in front of Alaric.”
“Titanium?” I repeated.And who was with him?
Bendy grunted from the hallway.
“Seriously?” I looked at the crooked-nosed shifter. “Your name is Titanium? Not Robert?” It was a taunt. One I really shouldn’t have released but couldn’t help saying. Sarcasm was my friend, my rock, and I couldreallyuse that rock right about now.
Bendy—I refused to call him Titanium—bared his teeth to me.
Rather than respond to his idiocy, I refocused on the boss man. “You sent the little guy to spy on me?” He wasn’t physically small. Just clearly lower on the totem pole.
“Actually, I sent him to deliver a package to Hawk. But he was stopped by the damn beta. His information-gathering on you was a consolation prize used to convince me to spare his life.”
