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Ryan licked his lips nervously before he gave a slight nod. Eli gave a sardonic smile. “Good. Tell us who that man is.”
Ryan’s gaze flicked to the slumped man on the floor. “He’s a soldier,” he said quietly, glancing back at Eli. “His name is Sergeant Dave Miller.”
Eli took a sniff and his expression darkened. “He’s a human.”
Ryan swallowed and nodded. “Yes, he is.”
“Why are you working with humans?”
Ryan shivered at the change in Eli’s tone. “It was just an investment at first,” he muttered, having difficulty looking the alpha in the eye. “I work for Silverstreak Motors, but I am also a licensed financial adviser. Dave was trying to raise money for a research project. He struggled to get investors and thought maybe this was the way.” He shrugged.
“What kind of project?”
“Well… a military one,” Ryan admitted quietly, staring down at his hands. “It was a weapons project. It was supposed to… cause less… death.”
“In war?” Eli arched a brow. “Why do you care?”
Ryan finally looked up, his chin jerking as he frowned. “Because my brother was a soldier,” he replied, sounding more confident than I’d heard him this entire time. “And he was killed. An IED. Those kill werewolves too, you know.”
Eli didn’t bat an eye, but I took a sharp breath. I’d been shot, but I couldn’t imagine anexplosive.Without immediate intervention, I’d have died. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I murmured.
Ryan looked over at me for a brief second before looking back at Eli, still compelled by the alpha. “It started as an investment, but I got— Look. I kept thinking… maybe if a different weapon existed, my brother would still be alive. It made me blind to some things. I didn’t realize the secret weapon wasn’t technology. That it waswolves. The second I found out, I stopped consulting for him. I started to try to find if there were any way I could defund the program — or at least injure it. They found out.” His expression went dark. I almost would have called it vacant. “And then Ashley disappeared.”
“Is that why you came here?” I asked, nodding towards Dave’s slumped form.
“Yes.” Ryan nodded. “I thought I could appeal to reason.”
I shook my head. That never worked.Hasn’t he ever read a book?“Why didn’t you tell your pack alpha?”
Ryan snorted. “As understanding as Remus can be, how would he not see this as a betrayal of the pack? Or a personal betrayal?” he countered. “He’s not okay with any of us even serving in the military, much less working with them.” He clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Humans are fine. But the military has all sorts of weapons and surveillance. They could detect us. I don’t blame him for that.”
I frowned. “But you said your brother served?”
“Yes.” His expression went somber again. “Remus warned him. Told him he would be banished; if he ever was discovered, he couldn’t reveal the pack. And Sam was okay with that. He wanted to serve anyway. I was soangrywith him.” The man stopped talking abruptly, looking away for several moments. “We didn’t talk after he was deployed. I didn’t even try contacting him. And…and I never got to speak to him again.”
My heart twisted in my chest. I didn’t have siblings, not by blood, but I could not imagine what it would feel like. Before I could respond, he looked back at me, and then his eyes finally fell on Eli. “But why are you here? How did you find out?”
“Something felt off when we spoke before,” Eli answered quickly, not giving me the chance to say anything. “I couldn’t put my finger on it, but having watched the news releases over the next few days, that feeling only grew. I found it extremely odd that you went back to work when your daughter was still missing.” He shrugged. “So, I followed you.”
I watched him for a moment, my ego briefly rearing up.Is he trying to take credit?But I quickly decided no, no, he wasn’t. He was trying to play this close to his chest. Or our chests, I supposed.Smart.
“Did Dave tell you where they were keeping Ashley?” Eli prompted Ryan.
The man shook his head, the look of despair returning. “No. He just kept telling me, ‘this is bigger than me,’ over and over, in about five different ways.”
Eli made a face and glanced over at me. “Now what?”
I snorted, amused. “I was going to ask you.”
Eli hummed for a moment before looking back at Ryan. “Do. Not. Move,” he growled, eyes flashing one last time. Ryan nodded mutely as Eli turned back to me, pressing his hand to the small of my back as he steered me out of the living room.
We madeour way to Dave’s kitchen. Eli stood where he had a direct line of sight to Ryan, who thus far had obeyed the order given to him. His eyes flicked back to me. “What are we going to do?” he grumbled, mouth pressed in a tight line.
I huffed back at him. “We have exactly two options. We can let them both go, or hold them, but…”
“But?”
I made a face. “I’ve never contained someone before,” I told Eli, raising a brow. “I’m a one-woman show, remember.”
