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All eyes turned to Olivia, and Mal’s wolf bristled. He placed his hands on her shoulders, instantly on the defensive.
“Chill, Mal.” Anders grinned. “She’s yours, but she’s pack now. No one’s going to turn on her.”
“Besides, if we had to pick between you and her, I’d go with her. She’s sure as hell easier to look at than you are,” Dante added.
Olivia covered his hand. “I think he’s hot.”
The rest of them laughed. Hell, even Hollis smiled.
“We’ll have to agree to disagree.” Dante winked at her. “So your brother knows something?”
“Yes.” Olivia nodded. “My family’s company is in import and export—high-end, expensive. Mostly rare collectibles, pieces with history.”
Mal squeezed her shoulder. “Her brother screwed up whatever shipment Cyrus was waiting on. They came after Olivia as collateral.”
Mal grinned at the number of insults and expletives that filled the air.
“What the hell does a werewolf collect?” Anders a
sked.
“Dolls?” Olivia said.
The room fell silent again.
“Bullshit,” Dante said, sitting back.
“We can all agree on that.” Finn paced.
“My brother isn’t a good person.” Olivia’s voice wavered. “I know that now. He kept me out of the business. He kept me out of the way.”
“Bad or not, I think he was trying to protect you from the cluster he’s made of his life.” Mal looked at Finn. “What do we know about Cyrus’s businesses?”
Finn shook his head. “Not much. He’s good at covering his tracks with front men. On paper, he doesn’t exist.”
It hurt him to say it, but he knew there was no choice. “Would she know?” Mal asked.
“She who?” Dante asked.
“Ellen?” Hollis understood. He nodded. “Probably. But that doesn’t mean she’ll tell us.”
“Can I ask how she got here?” Olivia asked. “I know I’m new, and there’s a lot I’m behind on. I don’t know how this works, exactly.”
Finn smiled. “You can ask anything, Olivia. I’m sure you have questions.”
She always had questions.
Her, “Mal’s answered a lot,” turned all eyes to him. “I’m just curious about Ellen’s presence here. And the risks of Jessa’s pregnancy.”
“Cyrus took Jessa to get to me. But when they found out she was pregnant, the plan to kill her changed. Ellen has shared that the Others can’t reproduce. No live child has been born in decades. And those Cyrus has turned are dying about seven years after the bite.” Finn ran a hand over the back of his neck. “We know that’s not the case with us. Oscar is alive. We were infected ten years ago. And while we can control our shifts and our bloodlust, the Others can’t.”
But Finn’s words troubled Mal. He’d turned Olivia, not Finn. Would that somehow put her in danger?
“Ellen took care of Jessa, protected her.” Finn looked at Mal, clearing his throat before he went on. “The Others had locked Jessa in a building and set it on fire. I left you so I could get to her. Ellen was there—she’d been beaten and left to burn with Jessa.”
Mal’s heart was thumping, but there was no anger. Finn had left him to protect his mate. If it had been Olivia, he’d have done the same thing. He nodded, finally able to let go.
“Jessa made us bring her.” Finn shrugged. “And so I did.”
