Page 82 of Crimson Moon Falling

Conall’s voice brought me back. “Riley, will you come with me to British Columbia? I’m taking Owen to claim the child, and we both need to be there to officially accept and bring the infant into our Pack.”

I was in the middle of an active case here. Viggo was still missing, and maybe the answers to my father’s disappearance were here too. The British Columbia Pack was also Anna’s territory. The implant ran the calculations and risk assessment, and informed me that the emotional risks were high and recommended extreme caution.

“Of course I’ll come.” There was never a question. Children intimidated me, and I was inexperienced and wholly inadequate around them, but they needed to be protected at any cost.

He exhaled a long, ragged breath. “Thank you. I’ll have Drew contact Freda with the travel details. Can you leave the hellhounds with Gunnar and Beau?”

We didn’t talk about the photos, the woman in the silk blouse, or the call and text he hadn’t answered that had reopened old scars. Those things were still there, waiting in the dark, but they’d keep. This one wouldn’t. Outside, the geyser basin steamed under a three-quarter moon as I rolled out of bed to find Freda.

Hours later, we walked out on the tarmac at the West Yellowstone Airport and climbed into the Pack’s private jet. Conall stepped out of the plane and hugged me, then kissed the top of my head. I tensed reflexively.

“Fair warning, Owen’s with me and he’s being an ass,” he murmured. The plane’s cabin smelled of leather and jet fuel and thrummed with Owen’s annoyed, combative energy.

Conall sat across from Owen, and I slid into the seat next to my mate. Conall’s jaw was so tight, I could count the tendons in his neck. Freda abandoned us and went to sit with the crew up front.

Owen ignored us and stared out the window. He’d lost weight since I last saw him, and he looked older. His resemblance to Conall was startling.

No one spoke, and my implant worked steadily, regulating my emotions and processing data with cold efficiency. The chip had been unusually quiet since the photos and Conall’s call, as if it sensed the gravity of the situation.

Forty minutes into the flight, Conall finally turned to Owen. “What happened?”

Owen didn’t turn from the window, but his hand fisted. “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth. Why you watched us suffer for months, why you sat across from me at dinner and said nothing, why you let Riley go through withdrawal alone, and why you didn’t open your fucking mouth.” His voice was deadly quiet.

My chest tightened as the implant sent vibrations through my system, as if trying to wall off the memory of those months.

Owen turned to me, his gray eyes were so like Conall’s, but harder and colder. “You want the truth? Fine. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to.” His mouth twisted. “And because it didn’t matter. The baby wasn’t yours. Problem solved.”

“Problem solved?” Conall repeated slowly. “You watched your Alpha endure bond withdrawal. You knew Riley was suffering, and you watched me tear myself apart, believing I’d betrayed her. And you call that a problem solved?”

The bond flared white-hot, a surge of rage so violent it made my vision blur. I pressed my forehead against the cool window and breathed through it.

“It wasn’t about you.” Owen’s voice had lost its edge and sounded tired. “After you banned Anna, she was a mess. She felt so betrayed that you’d pick a Cog over her. We both did. She was crying and desperate, and I was convenient. I didn’t know she wasn’t using protection.”

I wanted to remind Owen that protection worked both ways, but decided that was a discussion for another day.

“Convenient,” Conall echoed.

Owen’s jaw worked. “When Anna told me she was pregnant, I didn’t believe her at first, but by that time the damage was done. Then you cut Riley off and declared an interdiction. Which was fucking stupid, by the way.”

Conall went very still. The gold in his eyes brightened. “Don’t put this on me. You had a responsibility. To your Pack, to your Alpha, and to the woman carrying your child. But you walked away from all of it because what, you were embarrassed? Scared?”

“I knew you’d find out when the baby was born. And I don’t care that your mate suffered.” Owen’s control snapped. His eyes cut to me, hatred and regret bleeding through his energy. “She’s not Pack, not family. She’s a weird, awkward Cog with a government implant in her fucking spine. And she’s turned my brother into something I don’t recognize.”

The words landed like punches as something sharp bloomed behind my sternum. I knew how he and many other Pack members felt about me, and hearing it aloud was just confirmation.

Conall’s hand shot out and gripped Owen’s throat, hauling him halfway out of his seat. The bond went nuclear, a white-hot surge that made my teeth ache.

“She’s my mate,” Conall snarled quietly in his face. “I don’t care if you like her, but if you, or anyone else, hurts her again, I will kill you.”

Owen didn’t struggle. He met his brother’s gaze with that same cold defiance. “I don’t care what bond you share, or what you feel for her. She’s an outsider, and she always will be.”

The cabin went silent. Freda strode out of the crew area and stood next to Conall. Ash appeared in the galley doorway, his dark eyes assessing. He’d probably been co-piloting the plane when he felt Conall’s rage through the Pack bond.

Conall shoved his brother back into his seat. For a long moment, he stood there, his chest rising and falling, the gold in his eyes so bright it cast shadows. Then he turned and walked up to the front.

He didn’t look at me, but his energy roiled through the cabin. Chaos, grief, and maybe wounded pride. His brother rejected his mate, and in shifter culture, I knew it carried significance.