Page 49 of Crimson Heart

“That can’t be helped. That’s why you have to act quickly. I’ll give you all the information I have about Steve and the Leon pack. Maybe it will help you find something that makes an alliance with the Leon pack undesirable, and you can present it to the Werewolf Alliance.”

“I’ll do everything in my power.”

Because he couldn’t risk Danielle’s secret coming out. She had killed her stepfather in self-defense. But the police would never believe her, because according to Danielle’s own words, she’d torn him to pieces, and evidence at the crime scene had instantly classified her justified kill as murder. She and her mother had fled the same night. No jury in the entire country would come back with a not-guilty verdict. They would see her as a brutal, psychotic murderer who was a danger to society—not as the fiercely loyal daughter who only wanted to save her mother’s life.

23

The house had quieted down. Byron had gone for a long run in wolf form. Running always helped him think more clearly. It hadn’t been a surprise that Jude wasn’t happy about his and Charlotte’s relationship. No matter. Rome wasn’t built in one day, either. He would keep chipping away at Jude’s resistance. After all, Jude had married into the Gallagher family. And suddenly the Gallaghers weren’t good enough for his sister?

The little devil sitting on his shoulder made his opinion known: No, not all Gallaghers, just you.

Well, he knew that already. It was true, he wasn’t as good a person as Charlotte. He had done plenty of things he wasn’t proud of. But the dead deer? No, that hadn’t been his deed. He hadn’t laid a finger on that animal. There were plenty of other Gallaghers who could have easily done this. Truth be told, he wouldn’t put it past Eve, given how upset she’d been about the whole situation, even before it had become known that Jude and Danielle had mated in secret.

After his run, he’d showered and poured himself a drink in the living room. Only Owen had been there, watching a game on TV. It had suited him fine, because it meant he didn’t have to make conversation. At some point, Owen had gone upstairs. Byron had waited a little longer, listening for sounds in the old house. He heard the floorboards creak above, doors opening and closing, until finally, there was silence.

He rose and walked to the door, ready to flip the light switch off, when Flora suddenly appeared from the open double doors to the dark dining room, startling him. Had she been there all this time?

“Oh, good, I was looking for you,” she said, glancing past him into the empty hallway.

He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you were still up.”

“Well,” she said, her voice low. “I’m glad I got you alone. There’s something I need to know.”

Knowing that there was no way for him to get to Charlotte’s room unseen, while his aunt was still up, he asked, “Yeah, what about?”

“About Charlotte.”

An uncomfortable pause spread between them. Was she gonna read him the riot act again? Hadn’t she done that already in the afternoon, when she’d cornered him with Violet and Eve? He grunted in displeasure.

“It’s not what you think,” she said quickly and leaned in. “It’s about our talk three nights ago. Remember? When you left pissed off at Jude?”

“So? What about it?”

“I need to know whether you’re playing with this girl, with Charlotte. I mean, you suggested as much before you left. You know, when you thought it would be a good way to get back at Jude.”

Her words annoyed him. “I didn’t say that.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking whether you’re seducing her just to hurt Jude.”

He went toe-to-toe with her, growling.

“She’s a nice girl, and I don’t think she deserves that, no matter how much you hate Jude,” she added, undeterred.

“Damn it, Flora. Stay out of my business. I have no intention of hurting Charlotte.”

Or Jude, for that matter, because it would only hinder him in getting what he wanted: Jude’s consent to mate with Charlotte, and his help in convincing her parents and the Werewolf Alliance to accept him.

“So you’re saying what’s between her and you is real and not just an act?”

“I’m warning you for the final time: stay out of this, Flora. Charlotte and I are meant for each other, and frankly, I don’t care who her family is. It doesn’t matter to me. Is that clear enough?”

Flora’s mouth turned into a slim line as she clenched her jaw tight enough to crack a walnut open.

“I see. Very well.”

She blew past him, her head high, her shoulders pulled back, clearly not happy with his answer. Had she really thought that he would go through with his half-baked idea of how to get back at Jude? He hadn’t even thought about it from the moment he’d met Charlotte until Flora had brought it up again. It was a stupid idea, and he wasn’t even sure whether it had been his idea in the first place. The conversation he’d had with Flora that night was just a faint memory now.

Byron waited until he was sure that Flora had reached the second floor. The opening and closing of a door indicated that she’d entered her room. Finally! After returning from the city, he’d tried to catch Charlotte alone, but she’d always been in the company of a member of the Werewolf Alliance. He didn’t think it was a coincidence. Jude had probably orchestrated this so he and Charlotte couldn’t communicate. Unfortunately, Byron hadn’t asked for the number of the cell phone Jude had given to his sister. He should have thought of that earlier, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.