Never Cry Wolf (Night Watch #4)(51)
Author: Cynthia Eden

If he fought to the end, either he killed the alpha . . . or died trying.

“Does she go up, too?” Dane asked, voice still flat.

Sarah tried to jerk back. “What? I’m not pack. I get that you guys are pissed over the control thing—but, dammit, I’m not pack!”

“But you came to us for protection. We took you in.” He didn’t let her go. Couldn’t. Because she hadn’t just deceived him, she’d used, controlled the whole pack. And the pack wanted their justice.

He had to give it to them.

“Does she go up?” Dane repeated.

Lucas nodded. The man couldn’t make this choice. The alpha had to lead the pack. Protect the pack from all enemies.

Even those from within.

“I’m sorry, Sarah.” He was.

“They’ll kill me.” Were those tears in her eyes? “You’d really let them—” She broke off, shaking her head, sending that thick mane flying. “You’d make love to me and then, not ten minutes later, you’d let them kill me?”

Dane’s footsteps thudded down the hallway as he left. But he was still close enough to hear every word they said.

Who could he trust these days? Suddenly, Lucas just wasn’t sure.

So he didn’t speak. A teardrop streaked down Sarah’s right cheek. Just one drop because she didn’t let the other tears swimming in her eyes fall. “You’re really not so different from Rafe, are you?” she whispered.

The f**k he wasn’t.

Her shoulders straightened. Her eyes narrowed. “Your mistake. You’ll regret this, Lucas Simone.”

Maybe.

She brushed by him.

When he was sure Sarah was gone, he finally unclenched his fists. His claws were out. They’d dug into his flesh. His blood dripped on the floor.

That wasn’t the only blood that would spill. Not even close.

Pack law. It was the only law they had. Human rules didn’t mean a shit. They were too easy to break. But pack . . . it was more than skin deep. They all had to follow the law. All.

Even the alpha.

She wouldn’t let them see her fear. Sarah went into the back courtyard, her steps slow but sure. She kept her chin up and her gaze focused straight ahead. Those wolves wearing the bodies of men wouldn’t see how scared she was.

Sure, they could probably smell the fear. Sweat trickled down her back as the group closed around her. And she was sure they could hear the frantic beat of her heart.

Didn’t matter. She’d stare them down. She’d be ready for what came.

“Easy.” Dane’s whisper in her ear. His shoulder bumped against her. He was on her right. Piers on her left. Jordan stood in front of her. Two more wolves, she didn’t even know who the hell they were, had come up behind her.

“I hear that you’ve got some secrets,” Jordan murmured. The sun beat down on them. They were protected from prying eyes by the thick walls that surrounded the back of the compound. So if they wanted to shift and attack out there as wolves, no one would see.

No one would stop them.

Did I really think I’d be safer here?

“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.” Sarah’s voice was clear. “I sent the order out to stop him, but I didn’t consider the risk to you.” She hadn’t anticipated the guy would fly through a freaking window. The power of suggestion. Too strong. She’d remember that.

For next time.

Warm, hard fingers curled around her shoulder. Sarah didn’t look back. No need. She’d know Lucas’s touch anywhere. The bastard.

“Caleb first.” His command.

The other wolves eased back.

What? A reprieve for her?

Jordan turned and stalked toward the small guardhouse in the back. The guy didn’t even seem to be limping from his injuries today. The power of the wolf. If only she had some of that power right then.

Jordan shoved open the door. Piers went in first. Then Dane. Sarah hung back. Tried to, anyway, but Lucas pushed her forward.

Caleb was on a bed. Michael stood guard near him. Caleb’s eyes were open, the smoky stare on her. Blood had dried on his chest and near his mouth. “Little . . . charmer . . .” He murmured. “Still . . . alive, too?”

His voice rasped at her, so weak. But his injuries didn’t look that bad. And as a shifter, he should have healed by now.

Lucas stepped in front of her. “Why.” An order.

She tried to slide around Lucas. He shoved her back, keeping her away from the injured shifter.

“I f**king trusted you, Caleb. I brought you in when you had nothing.” Lucas lunged forward and grabbed Caleb, jerking him out of the bed. “Then you turn on me. Try to kill me.” He shook Caleb, hard. “Why?”

Caleb laughed, but Sarah heard the edge of desperation in the sound.

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Piers asked her, his breath blowing against her ear. “You can control us—why the hell didn’t you just stop him?”

She saw Lucas freeze. He dropped the still-laughing Caleb and turned to lock his glittered eyes on her. “Yes, Sarah . . .” He drew out her name slowly. “Why didn’t you stop him?”

“You controlled me easily enough,” Piers said.

“Me, too.” Disgusted, from Dane.

What? Now they thought she was working with Caleb? With Rafe? Jerks. What did a woman have to do to prove her loyalty? Other than risking her life for them. Been there, done that. So she’d lied, more than once. But she’d also fought for their sorry asses, and she’d gone to the damn edge to save Lucas in the mambo’s house. “He has a shield,” she gritted from between clenched teeth. “I couldn’t get past it. I couldn’t get to him.”

“But you could get to all of us?” Piers pressed.

Now she was getting scared and pissed. “With barely a thought.”

His eyes slit at that. What? What was he going to do? Force her to face the pack in a life-or-death battle? Already doing that.

Caleb had finally stopped laughing. Now he was wheezing. Wheezing?

“Something’s different about him,” she said, voice thoughtful, her eyes drifting to Lucas. “I couldn’t control his beast.”

“Caleb’s a hybrid,” he said.

“Like Rafe?”

“Not quite.” Lucas’s gaze watched her so carefully. “Half wolf,” Lucas murmured, “and half demon.”

Wow.

Silence. The thick, hard silence that pressed down on a woman.

“You . . . knew?” Whispered from Caleb.