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CHAPTER9
Colton’s alpha snarled in his head as his body bulked out and his claws extended. His anger was a little living flame of rage that surged through his blood. Each accusation directed toward his mate eroded his confidence in his clan leader and infuriated his beast.
While he acknowledged he should have more control, he was traveling a lone road he had wanted to avoid. This fight was inevitable. Steele’s alpha emerged in a rage that matched his own.
“You would challenge me, when every indication points to a demon within our clan?” Steele growled.
“Riley is not a traitor, and if it takes your head rolling across the ground to prove it, so be it.”
Riley held up both hands. “Stop this. This is exactly what the demons want.”
Riley turned to the priestess for help, but she was looking toward darkness. “Anaisa?”
The priestess turned around slowly. “We are being watched.”
Ferguson followed Anaisa’s gaze. “By who?”
“I don’t know, but I feel their hatred.”
Ferguson disappeared in less than a heartbeat. Colton growled at his leader, but turned in the direction the priestess was looking. “Have the demons found a way to trespass on our land without detection?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
The alphas remained ready to fight as the clan held its breath. Part of Colton knew he should back down and accept that Steele was in pain from the loss of two members of the clan, but his anger, the feeling of betrayal, blistered in his blood. He glanced at the faces of the clan surrounding them, and knew none wanted this fight. They weren’t ready to lose Steele, and part of him didn’t want to lose his chosen father. The other part. The part that acknowledged Riley was his mate, refused to allow the lies and betrayal to remain unanswered.
Ferguson returned in a flash of dark smoke. “The priestess was right.”
Colton allowed his human form to resurface. “What happened? Who was out there?”
Ferguson’s gaze met Steele’s. “Demons. I killed one, but Breck got away thanks to the three others with him. I have no idea how they arrived in your clan undetected, but they were watching us.”
Anaisa shook her head. “Not us. Riley.”
Steele’s alpha receded. “Why do you think they were watching her?”
“They need her for something. Something more than we realize. There is more going on here. We are missing something,” she said.
Colton’s eyes flickered. “I hope you’re not suggesting she is in league with them.”
She shook her head. “Not at all. I believe they were concerned these events would put her in danger. They were well aware of the murder.”
Colton ran his hand through his hair. “We need to find their new hideout.”
Steele nodded. “I agree. What do you suggest?”
His anger hadn’t abated, but he would postpone this fight until his mate was no longer under suspicion. “I think we should return to the clinic. We know they are abducting women from there. If we watch them, we will be able to figure out where they go.”
Anaisa turned to Colton. “The clinic?”
Ferguson shot Colton a hard glance. “I have not had the opportunity to explain the clinic to the priestess.”
Riley touched Anaisa’s forearm. “I’m sorry, but Hakim funded the clinic for background tests on the women of Graydon County. Specifically, those with ties to the Haitian village. Leah visited the clinic before she was attacked at the winery. Her file listed her grandmother at the village.”
Anaisa wrapped her temple with two fingers. “The Bokor’s treachery knows no bounds. Just when I think his duplicitous nature has finally come to an end, I find another level of his depravity. His name is the stain upon my culture. My family. We will not rest until his actions have been accounted for.”
Colton frowned. “You are not responsible for what he did. He let his pain turn him into a monster. His choices, were his alone.”
She dropped her hand. “I wish that were true, but his betrayal could bring about the destruction of our entire world. Like it or not, we must atone for his deception.”
