Page 60 of Oakheart

And his pack all seemed deeply loyal to him.

Well... all but that one. I hadn’t been able to pinpoint who the traitor was, and wasn’t sure what I’d have done with that information even if I’d had it, but in the end, it didn’t matter.

Because well before the second full moon, Ajax and Dakota showed up at the door to the house we were staying in.

The alpha looked somewhat rumpled and almost sleepy, but also, angry. He didn’t make me nervous, since again, he hadn’t shown any inclination to be violent, but I was genuinely curious why he would let himself be seen in this state, so I asked. “Are you well?”

Ajax only glared at me, and it was Dakota who spoke. “We’re going to need to see Grant. He’s tried another stunt to take Jax out of the equation.”

Again. First burning the house down, and now... now what? “Was anyone else hurt this time?”

Dakota gave me a ghost of a smile, like he was pleased I was asking. He shook his head. “No.”

At the same time, the alpha spat through gritted teeth, “Yes. One of my pack was also poisoned.”

Dakota didn’t look so sure about that, glancing back at his alpha, and then at me, a cute little scrunched expression on his face. “Barely. He was fine. He wasn’t even unconscious for half an hour.”

Jax growled and waved him off. “It doesn’t matter. They tried to poison me, and poisoned Kent as well. It has to stop.”

Poison? What wolf would use poison as a weapon against another wolf?

The stories of my father’s declining health in the year before Grant took over washed over me, and I considered. What wolf, indeed.

I just nodded to them. “Poison is no way to win pack war.”

That was when Viktor came up behind me, a solid presence at my back. “Poison is an easy way to win a pack war. It’s good for cowards and children.”

That was very... Viktor. I winced, but didn’t correct him, because he wasn’t wrong. Hell, I kind of hoped if Grant and his ilk had ever gotten their hands on Evie, she’d have poisoned the lot.

Also, I tried not to think about Viktor being taught to use poison on people as a child, when he’d been taken from us.

I turned toward him and asked, “Would you go get Grant? Tell him the alpha is here. You don’t need to bother warning him what they’re talking about.”

He gave me a hint of a smile, then looked back at the alpha and his mate at the door. “I am sorry for the difficulties we’ve brought upon you. The whole pack is sorry. We would like to return home as much as you wish we would.”

I fucking wished. I wanted to take my loved ones and go home more than anything. The city stunk, and it was bright all the time, even the middle of the night, and so noisy I could barely hear myself think, let alone sleep at night.

A moment after Viktor disappeared into the back of the house, Grant came out. But he didn’t approach. No, he stood at the back of the main entry hall, fifteen feet away from the door, staring at them with something that looked a lot like trepidation. “You’re not supposed to be here. Have you come to intimidate me? Interrupt my time of mourning for a beloved pack member?”

It took every bit of my self-control not to scoff at the idea of Giselle being beloved by anyone.

“We haven’t come to interrupt your sadness over your dead child trafficker,” Jax said with a disgusted scoff, and I had to roll my lips together between my teeth to keep my reaction at bay.

Suddenly, the scent of magic permeated the air, and I glanced at Dakota, but he was staring at Grant, and only Grant. I didn’t know what he might be casting, but for some reason, I wasn’t worried about it at all.

“We’ve come because someone used the coward’s poison on Jax. So we’re looking for a coward,” Dakota said, and it took every bit of control I had not to bark out a laugh, or react at all.

Fuck, I had to hold my breath to keep my shoulders from shaking.

Silence fell thick in the hall, and no one moved or spoke. It was like an old west movie, two gunslingers standing at opposite ends of a street at high noon. I glanced at the clock. Not high noon, sadly.

“Is that a specific kind of poison?” I asked, and Dakota glanced over at me curiously, watching my mouth like he was reading my lips. “I have never heard of it.”

He watched me intently as I spoke, then smiled and nodded to me. Then he conceded, “Well, that’s what my people call it. I couldn’t say what they’d call it here. It’s made of crystallized dreamroot.”

I had never heard of dreamroot, but... was he saying it was actually called coward’s poison? Interesting. Seemed like something Grant would use.

At once, we all looked back at Grant. Before he even spoke, I knew whatever he said was going to be bullshit. He knew exactly what they were talking about. Of course he did. Who else would poison the alpha of the pack he was trying to take over? “I haven’t poisoned anyone,” he said, even though he was obviously full of shit.