there all that
long.
“The driver is the alpha’s brother. He’s
to bring the dead out here and drop them in the hole when they’re murdered. The
brother feels he has nothing left and only helps his brother because he
provides him with drugs to forget.” Phil’s voice was soft, but Connor could
hear him. “Sterling killed his mate some years ago because she wouldn’t submit
to him. So he raped her and then killed her. As punishment to his brother for
mating with a cold bitch he’d made him bury her and their unborn child.”
“And the others? Surely they all weren’t
killed by the same man.”
Phil shook his head.
“Then what killed them? Who did this?”
“Mostly starvation. Some suicide. Harvey,
the brother, makes the rounds once or twice a week to gather them up. He doesn’t
think he can take it much longer. There are a few there that…they aren’t all
from this pack. This morning, Sterling attacked a pack of fifty looking for
Georgia and her cubs.”
Connor took pictures. He couldn’t send
these, afraid that someone else, CJ or Alexis, would see them. He put his phone
away and moved to Phil. He was making a decision that he thought would get his
ass chewed out by his brother, but he needed something, anything to take before
the board.
“Snatch the brother, the driver. Take
him to one of your hidey holes, something that has a steel lining. We need
someone to confirm this. Also…Christ, I can’t believe I’m asking you this,
please don’t let Holly see this. I’m begging you. I know she’s seen a lot of
death, but this…please?”
Keeping secrets between mates was
forbidden. But Phil, as a very powerful vamp, was able to do things that no
other could. He didn’t hesitate to ask him to do this because he loved his
sister and didn’t want something like this, something so heinous, to spoil her
pregnancy. Phil looked ready to say no, but then seemed to change his mind. Connor
was suddenly very afraid he’d done something equally as stupid to have Phil
keep quiet.
“I’ll do it, but you owe me. I need
something from you that I…it’s about Dallas. Stacy is his mate, but she isn’t
going to allow him to mate with her. She finds herself to be unworthy. I want
you to make him so jealous that he takes her.”
Connor agreed. He knew that she loved
his brother and knew that he was going through some very rough times trying to
figure out what was happening. He knew from Alexis that Stacy wasn’t having a
very easy time of it either. He wanted them both to be happy.
Connor sat as far away from the pit as
he could after Phil left. He knew he’d only be gone a few minutes, but it
seemed an eternity. When he returned he was smiling. It wasn’t “a great job” or
“howdy” kind of smile, but one that said “you’re fucked.”
“You’re in such deep shit right now. Austin
wants me to bring you straight to him. I’d be prepared to have my ass kicked if
I were you.”
“If he kicks my ass hard enough, I won’t
be able to return the favor you asked of me.”
Phil frowned.
“And if Stacy waits much longer, I’m
going to sic Dallas on you.”
When they landed—no other way to term
what they were doing when flying like they were through the air—Austin was
waiting. Phil stepped between the two of them and started to explain. “You
should see the pictures that Connor has before you decide to kill him. It might
make what we’ve done seem less stupid.”
Austin growled. “I seriously doubt it. But
come inside. If I have to kick both your asses, I don’t want anyone to see.”
Connor didn’t think he’d be able to kick
them both, but he knew his brother well enough to know that he’d try. CJ came
out on the porch just as they stepped up on it. She looked upset. He asked her
why and she cried as she told him.
“There was a pack attack this morning. Ten
wolves killed and twenty more injured. The council is now in our living room.”
Austin turned to him. “This have
anything