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“HFE convinced the seelie king to give them his prisoners in exchange for who knows what,” I informed Naomi around a bite. “If they can do that, something tells me they might not have any issues convincing an Alpha wolf to hand over a second who was getting too powerful. There are a lot of packs in this country.”
Naomi shook her head, even as a faint line appeared between her eyebrows. “An Alpha wolf is programmed to protect his pack.”
“Really? ’Cause I didn’t see much of that protection when I was speaking with Frederik.”
Nathaniel tensed at the reminder of my little visit with his enemy, and I absently petted his shoulder. He gave me a bemused look.
Tobias leaned against the counter. “We have a responsibility to help those who are being preyed on,” he said softly.
No one argued with him. I took a deep, steadying breath. “I have werewolf DNA,” I said. “Along with a bunch of other things. Basically, I’m a freak.”
Nathaniel went still. I knew that look. He was pissed. I just shook my head at him. “I’m a cute freak, but I’m still a freak. If HFE was playing with werewolves back when my mom was taken, who knows what they’re doing now? We have to cut the head off the snake, or it’s just going to keep regrowing like that fucking hydra.” I scowled at the reminder.
Xander gaped at me. “You fought a hydra?”
“I mostly distracted it. Nathaniel and Kyla did all the work.”
“No, we didn’t,” Nathaniel said. “She used her power to keep the heads from growing back.”
Ryker grinned. “I want to hear all about that.”
“Later,” Nathaniel said. “For now, I want everyone ready. Evie used a tracking spell which will allow us to know when one of the seelie prisoners is in our realm. As soon as we know where she’s being taken, we need to strike.”
“We have to hit all the labs at the same time,” I said. “We can’t risk even a single HFE member getting free.”
“We may be a large pack, but how exactly are we going to do that?” Naomi asked. Interest flickered in her eyes, though, and I knew I had her.
“I’m going to reach out to the demons, the seelie, and the witches.”
“Not the unseelie?” Ryker asked.
Nathaniel growled. “We’ve had enough of Finvarra for a while. If we play this right, we can take down HFE with a little cooperation from our friends.”
Ryker frowned. “Are you sure? Because we could probably use—”
Nathaniel slowly turned his head. “Who is Alpha?” His voice was very soft. “Because the last time I checked, it wasn’t you.”
Something prickled along the back of my neck.Wrong. This was—
“Well?”
Ryker’s expression had turned blank with shock. Rage flickered in his eyes before it was carefully banked. “You are.”
“That’s right.”
Ryker dropped his gaze. The room was silent for a long moment. Obviously, there was some kind of undercurrent I wasn’t aware of. Something that had happened between them recently.
Tobias was staring at Nathaniel as if he’d grown another head. Obviously, Nathaniel was stressed. He was probably exhausted too. I knew I was.
“Eat,” Nathaniel ordered me.
I rolled my eyes but dug in.
Half an hour later, I was moaning around Tobias’s homemade tiramisu. “Of all the perks of living with you, this has to be the best,” I told Nathaniel.
Tobias sent me a grin. The other wolves had filed out, and he’d cleaned the dishes, wiped down the counters, and set the kitchen to sparkling again. He disappeared into the butler’s pantry, and Nathaniel leaned close. “There’s a much bigger perk…”
I choked on my tiramisu and elbowed him, conscious of Tobias just a few feet away.
