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“Why?”
“Laird was a crafty man, and in his prime. Not as old as John and me. I wouldn’t have thought Hansen was dominant enough to defeat him.” He shrugged uncomfortably.
“Treachery?” she asked, and that reminded her of Sharon. What was that girl doing?
Trying to survive, she thought tiredly. Scrambling from crisis to crisis, doing the best she can to survive. Jessie knew how that was.
“Maybe,” he said. “And just having the Alpha’s backing would be an asset. Laird didn’t like the partnership with Chen. He didn’t like funneling all these boys through here. Laird and John had fights about it. Laird would come here, vent, ask if there was something I could do, knowing there wasn’t.”
Interesting, she thought. Duncan knew more about what was going on than he’d admitted to. Just because he didn’t talk to his brother, didn’t mean he didn’t talk to anyone.
“They fought in wolf form,” Duncan continued. “And it was brutal. In the end, Hansen killed him, and became the new Second. John placed Hansen in charge of the store too — said he had to have a job in a town this small. I don’t think Hansen was pleased with that. He seemed to think it was beneath him. I suppose John’s plan was for Hansen to marry into the family eventually.”
Duncan gave her a quick glance. Jessie shrugged. Two weeks ago, that would have hurt. Now? She couldn’t give a rat’s ass.
And who had she picked up that ugly expression from? She was going to have to police her language or she was going to start sounding like Ryder’s Wolves.
“So Campbell thinks taking me out would be a good step. And he’s probably sending a team after Ryder. What else would he want to do?”
“He wants to reclaim those young men out there,” Duncan said. “Reclaim them or kill them. They’re a big resource, you know. All that possible man power? If he controls them, he can broker a partnership with Chen’s mysterious partner, and step into John’s intended space. And truth be, if Chen’s partner has ever met John, he’d probably be relieved at the change.”
“Do you know who Chen’s partner was?” Jessie asked idly as she considered that.
“No,” Duncan said. “That’s how he was referred to when John spoke of him at pinochle night. He didn’t want to use his name publicly I guess. But Angus knows. Maybe some of his family.”
She nodded.
“And he probably wants the women,” Duncan said with some difficultly. “It pains me to think our pack has become this, but it’s hard to argue with the evidence.”
Evidence that had to be shoved in your face for you to see it, she thought. She didn’t say it. Maybe there would come a time when those things needed to be said. She thought it might. But it wasn’t today. Today was about the practicalities of survival.
“Let me call Titus and warn him,” she said. “And then I need to find Jason and his security team. But it sounds like we need to prepare for attack.”
Duncan nodded. “What do you want to do about Sharon?”
Jessie shrugged. “She’s 15, Duncan. Her grandfather called and asked her questions. Questions she probably shouldn’t have answered, but I have a hard time seeing what difference it makes. Tell Dennis to wrap things up at the office and come back here. Sharon and I will have a talk. But if you think I’m going to throw her out to her family? Or punish her? Nah. Reassure her, if you would. Tell her to come home —here. This is her home now.”
Duncan stared at her, and she couldn’t read him. “I’ll tell them.”
She nodded and went to find Jason.
