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It's the not knowing that sometimes kills me. When I thought I was dying from a mysterious illness, I cursed the fact that I’d buried my head in the sand about who my birth parents were. I didn’t know my medical history, if the illness were hereditary and could have been prevented, treated or cured. Then it had felt like my ignorance was killing me. If I was going to don an investigator’s hat, maybe I needed to look into that too.
Step one: find out who killed Mark. Step two: rain some vigilante justice on their heads. Step three: stay alive to accomplish steps one and two. Step four: discover the identity of my biological parents. I didn’t even admit to myself that there might be a step five: meet them.
I pulled myself back to the present. Wallowing wasn’t helping Mark, and no matter how much of an asshole he’d been, he wasmyasshole. I was responsible for him and I’d failed him. Woefully. ‘So his ex-wife didn’t want to adopt. That hardly makes her crazy.’
‘No,’ Steve agreed. ‘It was more the stalking, shouting and drinking that gave that impression. There were a lot of drunk-and-disorderly incidents. At first Mark didn’t file charges, but then she refused to accept the divorce. She still saw Mark as the love of her life and being married to him elevated her in the pack. Even though she was only thirty-something in the ranks, she was the mate of the number two. By divorcing him, she was losing more than her husband and she struggled to cope. Eventually Mark got a restraining order against her, which is why you won’t have seen her at the mansion. Rumour was that he took up with a much younger model, someone else in the pack, though I don’t know who yet. Marissa was surprisingly close-mouthed about that. The point is, Mark had moved on and Cassie hadn’t.’
My money was on doe-eyed Seren being the new love interest; she was the only one I’d seen smiling at Mark. He may have been number two but, despite the apparent outpouring of grief, he hadn’t been popular.
I think most of the pack were scared about who’d been capable of murdering him in such a horrific manner. And whether they were finished…
‘Gouging out the love of your life’s eyes is quite a leap from shouting and stalking,’ I said.
‘Cassie might not be the main suspect but she’s in the mix. I agree, though. The gouging and slashes seems a little more organised crime than spurned wife.’
‘Who do we know locally that’s so ruthless?’
‘There’s a number of shadowy organisations in these parts, but not as many as you’d get if we were up in Liverpool. There we’d have a plethora of suspects. Down here, we’re nothing but small fry, and the sharks in the pond are correspondingly small.’
‘Baby sharks.’ I hummed the tune.
Steve shook his head at me. I was being irreverent again. Oops.
‘I’ll tackle the organised crime element,’ he suggested. ‘That’s going to be beyond you. But there’s no reason why you can’t investigate the pack, the drugs and the ex. At least then the pack will think you’re doing something.’
‘Why are you helping me? Why aren’t you forbidding me to investigate this crime and telling me to keep out of your way? That’s what happens on all the crime shows.’
‘I’m only one man, and I’m the only cross-over detective in the area. Unless they can call someone else in… Well, I can only do so much.’
‘Cross-over?’ I asked dumbly, hating my ignorance.
‘I work the same job in both realms – I’m a police detective in the Commonandin the Connection. I have resources in both worlds but, to be honest, I’m spread thin at the best of times. Plus, you need to investigate to solidify your position as alpha and save your life. It seems like it’s win-win for us to help each other. And I don’t doubt that Greg Manners will be helping you out.’
‘What’s Manners got to do with anything?’
‘He’s a force to be reckoned with. What do you know about him?’ Steve asked.
I shrugged. ‘He’s on my side and he used to be brethren.’
‘He still is brethren,’ Steve warned. ‘He’ll always be brethren. It’s as ingrained in him as breathing. Manners and Smith are the Prime Elite’s right-hand men, and the Prime is not to be messed with. His reputation is formidable, and Manners and Smith always stand behind him. They should be seen as less because they’re brethren – a Prime should have dragons behind him – but he always chooses Smith and Manners. They were born and raised by dragon shifters, but they are only human.
He explained some more. ‘Instead of being discarded, the brethren are trained from a young age to help and protect their dragon family. They are supposedly in a subservient role, but without them the dragons’ whole ecosystem would collapse. The brethren force across the United Kingdom answers to Smith and Manners. So yeah … Manners isn’t a man to mess with. Rumour is there’s not a weapon he can’t use. He was deadly before he was a werewolf, and with werewolf strength, speed and rejuvenation…’
He trailed off and gave me a warning look. ‘He has a military background – special forces. He’s used to giving orders. He’d make a helluva alpha.’
I swallowed hard. Manners had been myright-hand man since he’d been changed, and he’d never given me a moment’s impression that he wanted to do anything other than help me. Of course Emory, the Prime Elite, was dating Jess and it would create all sorts of mess if Manners killed me to take over my alpha role. Emory had ordered him to protect me, but I hadn’t appreciated that he was still under Emory’s rule rather than mine.
Steve went on. ‘By all accounts, Manners was born to a dragon high up in the Prime Elite’s court. He was born to privilege, but he’s still brethren and that will always make him a second-class citizen in the dragons’ eyes. Perhaps even in his mother’s. It’s given him a need to prove himself time and time again. He’s got a reputation – his name may be Manners, but he’s not polite and he won’t hesitate to get his hands dirty. If he’s sworn to help you, I’m confident he’ll support you through this. The brethren down here fall under his command, rather than Smith’s. He’ll keep you safe.’
I glared indignantly. I didn’t need to be kept safe. I was a modern woman, I kept myself safe. I’d taken self-defence classes and I had a rape whistle. More importantly, I had Esme.
Damn right,she murmured.
I sent her a mental hug and she basked in it.
However, the truth was that I didn’t have the best track record for keeping myself safe. I’d almost been killed by a succubus, and then I’d killed an alpha werewolf and elevated myself to one hell of a tricky position. But I was done being a damsel in distress; from here on, Esme and I would be self-reliant.
Chapter 6
