Yeah, I was doing areallygood job at investigating the murder.
“There are a lot of reasons. Mainly, we’re having issues with our security footage, and one of her guys is probably the only person who could be behind it. Plus, her pack stumbled into some financial issues a few months ago. They made some bad investments, and they didn’t have as much of a cushion as wedo. Mating with me would be an easy way for them to get around those problems.”
“She would get your money?” I lifted an eyebrow.
“Yup. A pack merge would ensure it, and mates are partners in every way. The mental connection between a mated pair is too intense for there to be any other option.”
That would probably encourage a lot more than just one woman to try to mate with him. “I bet you could have your pick in trophy wives.”
“If I wanted a trophy wife, I would have been mated a long time ago.”
“Were you ranked high in the war?”
“Too high.”
I grimaced.
I didn’t think I wanted more details than that.
“If you and I mated, do you know if that mental connection thing would happen?” I asked. “Not that I’m interested.”
He chuckled. “I do know, and it would. The mate bond would patch you in fully, as if you were any other wolf. My blood would be the only thing that could sustain you, the same way it would if you were to mate with another vampire, too.”
“How do you know?”
“This isn’t the first time fate paired a wolf and a vampire.”
He’d said that before. I just hadn’t asked for details.
I wanted to ask, but it looked like we were only a few minutes away, and I knew I should try to get more information about the potential murderer out of him, for the sake of my failing plan.
“The money thing could be a reason for anyone to want to mate with you, but it doesn’t make sense that they’d try to make that happen by targeting your investment firm. If they were going to mate with you, wouldn’t theywantyou to have as much money as possible?”
He nodded. “Unless they thought blackmail was their best bet at getting to me. Which would make sense for her, since nothing else has succeeded.”
“Do all of your ideas depend on everyone thinking you’re a big enough catch to murder a few humans in an attempt to mate with you?”
“Iamthe werewolf king.”
“It would take money to pay a vampire assassin,” I said. “A lot of it. No one in Vast City would want to wreck our reputation even more, so they would’ve had to bring someone in from out of town or convince someone to turn a human to make a temporary assassin.”
“Turning humans was outlawed everywhere when the war ended.” Maverick turned onto a dirt road. “We haven’t found any evidence suggesting anyone in particular, so right now, we’re just guessing.”
“I don’t think you should admit that.”
“Probably not. The alternative is to wait until they come after you, though, which is obviously unacceptable to me.”
“You’re the one who wanted me to be bait, Mav.”
“That was Rhone. And it took a fuck ton of convincing. If he was anyone else, I would’ve killed him for even suggesting it,” Maverick said bluntly.
“If the killer is someone in the office, they probably won’t come after me. The vampire thing complicates it, but everyone likes me overall.”
We passed a few ranch-style houses, and Cassidy’s pack officially had my full attention.
I could definitely see the appeal of rural living. Everything was so quiet and calm. I’d probably get bored at some point, but it would be fun to try.
“There’s one more reason we suspect Cassidy,” Maverick admitted, his focus on the dirt road even though it seemed like he’d been down it at least a few times before. “It was part of the reason I didn’t mate with her.”
