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Bill raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a big fucking change of heart.”
“Well, it’s one that only I seem willing to accept,” Eric said, frowning. “Loreck isn’t a fool, but he’s suspicious of anything dealing with your Alpha, even a rogue. He will require hard evidence to change his mind. Nothing less.”
“He might have good reason to be suspicious,” Bill said. “According to your intel, Loren’s mother was a Scolera, and someone conspired to erase Loren’s memory and compel her to suppress her lycan side. Do you have any idea why they might go through the trouble?”
The man went quiet for a long while. Finally, he cocked his head, but Bill couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Do you know how insane that sounds?”
Bill nodded. “Nowhere near as insane as the culprit’s identity, but that is a detail I won’t reveal until you come clean. No more fucking games. You suspect who Loren’s father is, don’t you? Who?”
From the corner of his eye, he saw her sit forward. Even without the mating bond tethering them, he could sense her interest. A tendril of protectiveness took root within him, spurring him onward to get her answers.
By any means necessary.
“I suggest you start talking,Eric.”
“Now, it’s my turn to play coy,” the man replied. “First, I need to confirm your suspicions.”
Bill didn’t like the sound of that. “How?”
“I can’t stay away from the pack for long, but I’ll direct you to an address not far from here. Go. Meet with the person waiting there, and they will be able to confirm without a doubt if she truly is a Scolera.”
“Why not bring them with you during your last little visit?” Bill demanded. “Or here now?”
He looked around, spotting no one out of place.
“They’re a recluse,” Eric said, his brow furrowed. “Paranoid. The fact that they’re willing to meet you at all is due to no small effort on my part. Go there. Confirm it. Then we talk.”
“No.” Bill slammed his hands onto the table. As a testament to the Eislander’s skill with compulsion, none of the nearby diners so much as flinched. “We start now. Why dredge up relics from the past in the first place? I want answers.”
“You mentioned it yourself,” the man replied cagily. “Twenty years ago, a spate of attacks forced the Eislander and Black Mountain lycans to work together. You might have been young, but I’m sure you can remember the time?”
“I do,” Bill admitted. Though his recollections were hazy at best. He mainly remembered how tense Lukas had been during those volatile few weeks. Like the world weighed on his shoulders. “Tell me more.”
“There was a rogue wolf, terrorizing nearby mortal towns. Their carnage brought unwanted interest to our region, and was directly responsible for multiple deaths and a slew of unintentionally made lycans.”
“Like Fred Connors,” Bill suspected. “May the bastard rot in hell.”
“Yes,” Eric said. “Our packs joined forces with the goal of tracking the rogue down.”
“Why?” Bill felt his eyes narrow. Now that he thought about it critically, it sounded like overkill. “TwoAlphas couldn’t track one rogue wolf on their own?”
“Not in this instance.” The man sat back, crossing his arms. “The problem wasthisrogue was a Scolera. Part of a wayward band roaming the East coast.”
Now, things were beginning to fall into place. A band of Scolera with a member that coincidentally had the same name as Loren’s mother. Two Alphas, tracking a dangerous rogue from the same clan.
“Go on,” Bill spat. “This is getting interesting.”
“Do you see now? Once that detail was made clear, it suddenly became apparent why the mad wolf was so hard to track and able to cause so much damage in the meantime. That breed is known for their cunning and stealth.”
“Even while leaving a trail of bodies in their wake?” Bill countered.
Eric’s lip twitched into the shadow of a smile. “Yes. Even then. You yourself have already been fooled by their tricks. They are notorious for masking their scents and blending in with their surroundings. Some call them ‘ghosts,’ a rather cliché nickname.”
“I’m guessing they taught you a thing or two,” Bill suspected. This man had managed to fool his senses not once, but twice. For that matter, so had Loren. If a bloodthirsty rogue was just as adept—or better—who knew what damage they could cause?
“The only way the wolf was found in the end,” Eric went on, “was due to a tentative alliance between Loreck Eislander, your old Alpha Lukas, and the remaining members of the rogue’s cell. It was a tricky endeavor, mind you. By that point, there were rumors of hunters in the area. We had to work quickly to contain the fallout.”
None of his tale seemed like a lie. Bill decided to press for more.
