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“There were a few hiccups along the way,” Zen said. “If Cullen hadn’t fucked up the way he did, maybe we could figure shit out, but he just had to overstep. Fucking asshole.”
I frowned. “Cullen?”
Wesley had killed Cullen because he’d turned against him, running the group of rebels that tried to overthrow Wesley.
“Yeah, the asshole was my second in command, but he kept wanting to do more, to be the first. He didn’t understand the way a hierarchy works, and that shit gets you killed.”
I tried to figure out what he was saying. “You were with us when we were attacked, though,” I said. “You fought against Cullen for us, didn’t you?”
“Someone had to keep the fucking front. Cullen had already screwed up, so I had to lay low.”
“Were you and Cullen working together?” I asked, confused.
Zen rolled his eyes. “He workedforme. I don’t work with anyone. I’m the leader around here, and that’s not going to change, no matter how many of them try to take over.”
“You’re the leader of the Rogues,” I said, the pieces falling into place.
Zen grinned at me as if he was proud of his involvement.
“But you’re one of Wesley’s betas,” I argued.
“And that’s going to change soon. I’m over being treated like I’m nothing more than just a beta. I’m alpha material, and Wesley’s about to realize that his rule is coming to an end. As soon as you and I are mated, everything will change. Rune and Wesley will both see their end, and I can do what I was made to do in this city.”
Mated? To Zen? What in theactual fuckwas he talking about? And he was going to throw Rune under the bus?
I frowned. “Rune is your brother.”
Zen rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and that whole thing about blood being thicker than water is bullshit.”
The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,I thought, remembering where the saying had initially come from. I wasn’t going to educate Zen on that, because that just made what he was saying true, but he had it backwards.
So, that was why Wesley hadn’t been able to find out who was after him and what was going on. He had the leader in his midst, and Zen had done everything he could to cover it up. How many times had Wesley asked Zen to take care of business? It must have been the perfect opportunity for him to cover it up.
It was the perfect betrayal, and my heart ached for Wesley, who had already been so torn up about Cullen, who had been nothing more than his general manager.
Another word stuck in my mind after his little speech.
Mate.
“What do you mean, once we mate?”
“Oh,” Zen said with a grin. “Thought that bit went over your head. Not as dim as you look, huh?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re a Rosenberg,” Zen said. “You’re a descendant of one of the most powerful dragons in the world. Pity you’re just human, but that doesn’t matter, your power and your bloodline will become mine as soon as we’re mated, and then I’ll have the power I need to finish the job.”
My ears started ringing. There was no way in hell I was becoming Zen’s mate. I couldn’t be with him.
I’d come to understand the shifters a little better after I’d spent so much time in Wesley’s penthouse, realizing that just because the man could turn into a beast didn’t mean that he was defined by it. Clearly, that didn’t apply to everyone.
Zen and his beast were one and the same—it was what I would have imagined it meant to be a shifter. Zen was a monster.
“I’m not mating you,” I said firmly.
“You don’t have a choice,” Zen snapped.
“I’m pretty sure I do,” I said.
