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The problem was I needed him. I needed him, and he knew it, and because of that I would pay whatever price he asked and come back for more.
I hated being here, and I loathed being pressed under his thumb like this. It went against all my instincts. Being a leader meant bowing to no one.
Yet here I was, on my knees.
I was glad no one in the pack could see me sitting here, ready to beg.
But maybe, just maybe, being a leader meant doing what it took, even if it was ugly and unpleasant. That’s what I was telling myself, anyway, to make this more bearable.
The inside of my head felt nice and fuzzy, enough to dampen my anger at Cain for not just letting go of the debt he thought I owed him. I guess if he was in the habit of forgiving debts, he wouldn’t be as feared and respected as he was.
Seems to me like we were two trees planted side by side, neither of us willing to bend, while our roots got more and more entangled.
I’d always need Cain, because there would never stop being reasons for me to come here. And Cain would always need something from me, because there were things he couldn’t get without me.
So it would be, until we tore each other down or simply grew together.
I grabbed the bottle of Glenlivet and topped off my glass. If we were going to do this, I’d need my buzz to last a little longer. The lick of amber courage might be the only thing to get me to say yes to whatever terrible nonsense he asked for.
I needed to say yes.
I felt tired and heavy, weighed down by a burden so ferocious it threatened to pin me to the floor and never let me up again. When I was done here, no matter what tried to stand in my way, I was going home and sleeping.
A tired Alpha couldn’t help anyone.
“I promise not to kill anyone else in self-defense if you want them dead,” I told him. My words weren’t exactly slurred, but the consonants had lost their edge, and the vowels had gotten a tiny bit longer.
“Cheeky.” Cain’s smile was more genuine this time. I wasn’t sure if he actually liked me, but he didn’t dislike me, and that was its own reward.
“I need your help,” I admitted.
“Obviously. We aren’t friends. I can’t imagine you’d come on a social call.” He sipped thoughtfully.
The man didn’t need an ego boost, not with a girlfriend like Delphine, so I didn’t bother coddling him. I suspected my relationship with Cain would last longer and work better if I suspended any kind of bullshit and stayed on topic.
“I have to figure out how to get a demon out of a sorority house before it takes any more girls.” I kept my voice flat and deadpan, hoping he wouldn’t get a sense of how shit-scared I was.
Both of his eyebrows lifted, and he choked on the mouthful of whisky he was about to swallow.
As I live and breathe. Had I just surprised Beau Cain?
“Is that all?” He swiped away a small dribble from the corner of his mouth and straightened up in his seat.
“Yeah. Unless you want to help me find a murderer for free.”
He smirked, then gave a full belly chuckle. For the first time since I’d arrived he looked light and free, as if I’d pushed off whatever weight was hanging on his shoulders.
I’m glad my little demon-possession problem was good for something.
Cain set his glass on the bar and slapped his hands on his thighs with something I could only qualify as giddy excitement.
“Let’s go.” He pulled me off my seat, and all the drinking went right to my head, forcing me to hold his arm in order to keep myself standing.
“Go? Go where?” The room spun. I totally shouldn’t have had that second whisky.
Cain, who was already halfway across the room, turned quickly to face me.
“To get me a demon, of course.
