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CHAPTER31
JUSTINE
Resources and shifterswith tactical experience were divided into two groups, those who would stay to protect the vulnerable members of the pack and those who volunteered to go on the mission to Illinois. Clover and her mate were among those who had volunteered to fight.
Not that Joshua wanted his mate joining us. But every time the big cougar tried to push his alpha energy at the supposedly beta wolf he had married, she pushed it right back.
“That was weird, wasn’t it?” Mosa said as the two of us sat at the small table in Mallory’s cabin.
“What?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t been listening.
“At the end with Joshua and Clover. He was trying like hell to push his alpha at her. I could feel it. But it was like she had a fly swatter—or a tennis racket.” Stopping, she laughed. “Yeah, a tennis racket and she served his ass to him each time.”
When I frowned, Mosa hurried to soften her words.
“I mean, not in a way that would embarrass him as an alpha…at least, not a sane, reasonable alpha, and those seem to be in good supply around here.”
She smiled as she finished, but tried to hide it. I understood why as her cheeks flushed.
“So, should I be planning a formal bonding ceremony?” I asked, a smile of my own breaking free despite the swirling chaos of our situation.
“Oh, you and dad should totally have a formal bonding ceremony,” she shot back, her smile quickly fading. “Except I’m not sure that’s what you want.”
If she was asking me, she’d have to be more direct. For decades, I had longed to be able to talk candidly with my child, to have her confide in me. Now, I didn’t know how.
I swallowed hard, then carefully schooled my expression as I sensed the return of Mallory and Doone from their trip into the woods. The door swung open a second later, Mallory strolling through, a duffle bag slung over his right shoulder. Doone had stopped to store a similar duffel bag in the truck he drove.
When Mosa didn’t move, Mallory lifted one brow in her direction, silver hairs beginning to crowd out the jet black I remembered from our youth. Mosa looked from her father, then to me, then to her father again, then…
“What, Mosa?” I asked, a tinge of impatience to my voice.
“You’re both okay if I go with Doone tonight?"
“You’re free now, and an adult,” I began, but fear nagged at me. Uncertain about the area, I looked at Mallory. “Is the location safe?”
“In terms of the structure’s integrity,” Mallory laughed, “who knows. But Clover thinks we’re safe from any attack at the moment. Unless they outgeniused her on the virus and are feeding us false information, the wolves around Chicago are too busy making war plans against the leap. And Henric is trying to figure out if it was someone from the leap who actually killed the big wolf.”
Mosa sighed as she met my gaze. “Did Clover figure out who actually did the deed?”
Mallory nodded. “That Kitka…”
He chewed at his bottom lip, his entire face flushing.
“Bitch,” I finished for him as a phantom pain shot through my eye. “How do we know that if Henric doesn't? I’m surprised anyone would discuss it in a text, even one they thought was secure.”
“They didn’t,” Doone grinned as he came through the door. “Clover can take control of the microphones on their cellphones and computers…basically any tech the virus has spread to. So even their fancy televisions are listening in—even when the device is turned off because those damn things are never really turned off, just waiting on standby for a signal from the remote or a voice command."
Mallory nodded, then took over where Doone had left off. "We've got a bunch of people sifting through all the audio coming in. Taron caught one conversation between a woman named Lydia and her mate about seeing Kitka slipping into the woods dressed all in black. Mate told her to keep her mouth shut. Then Buzzsaw caught one from a border guard apparently pep talking himself into telling Henric about Kitka being off leap land dressed in black riding a black motorcycle the night of Kalchik's assassination.”
"How does the guard know?"
"Authorized supply run," Mallory answered.
I nodded my understanding, a small flush of triumph running through me. With the leap's comms completely compromised, it just might be possible to oust Henric and restore the leap to some kind of sane leadership without excessive bloodshed.
If there was anyone left in the leap worthy of leading.
“First things first,” Mallory said, his hand landing softly on my shoulder. “We take down Henric and his inner circle and we find a way to placate the wolves without exposing the part we played in Kalchik’s death.”
