Chapter 12
“They’re ready for you now.”
I spun out of Callie’s arms to find Clyde speaking to Abraham.
“Who’s ready? What’s going on?” I asked.
Abraham turned from Clyde to me, his eyes wary. “I have something I need to take care of.”
I was shaking my head before he’d finished his sentence. “No. Hell no. You’re not going to pull some secretive wolfy hierarchy crap right now. Wherever you’re going, I’m going too. If this has to do with Charlie, there’s no way you’re leaving me out of it.”
My chest heaved as Abraham came closer and grasped my biceps. “El, you’re not in control of yourself,” he said, voice soft enough that unless someone was trying to listen, they wouldn’t be able to hear him. Which was good for me. I didn’t need the whole pack knowing I couldn’t contain my wolf.
What if they found out that I lost control and hurt Abraham? Would the rest of the pack react like Peyton and Beatrice had? I couldn’t risk getting thrown out of the first place that had accepted me in so long.
But, I needed to know what was going on. I needed to know who my enemies were and where they were coming from. I had no chance to defend myself without that information, and I’d already promised to never let Charlie get hurt again.
I jutted my chin out. “I’ve got it under control. I want to know who did this.”
Abraham sighed and ran a hand down his face. “If I let you come with me, you need to make me a promise.”
“Anything.”
“If you feel your control slipping, I want you to walk away. Can you do that?”
Instantly, my body was hot with shame.
He knew he couldn’t trust me like this. I’d proven to him over and over again that I had no control of the wolf that now lived inside me. I was a loose cannon. Someone he couldn’t be confident would act rationally.
But I didn’t want to be that way.
I couldn’t be that way.
I had a job to go back to, a career where things often didn’t go my way and stress and anxiety were a daily thing. If I had any hope of returning to my life in Raleigh, I needed to get myself under control.
And Abraham hadn’t asked me to not shift, he’d asked me to leave the room when I felt it coming on. I could do that, right? All it would take was for me to walk away. To be the bigger person. To practice in real life what I practiced in my professional life.
I needed to let Abraham and his pack deal with the perpetrator in their own way. There was clearly a set of rules and regulations that these wolves lived by or they wouldn’t be able to coexist so peacefully. I needed to sit back and believe that their form of justice would be enough for the person who hurt Charlie.
I could do that.
I could totally do that.
I met Abraham’s eyes. “Okay.”
He pulled me closer until his lips were pressed firmly against my forehead. “I know it’s gonna be tough. Leave whenever you need to.” He pulled away slightly, so he could catch my eyes. “But I promise you, we’re gonna find out who did this, why they did this, and they’re going to be held accountable. Okay?”
Relief washed over me with his words. I trusted in every single syllable he spoke. I knew I could rely on him and he’d never let me down. He hadn’t so far, and he wouldn’t now.
I stretched onto my tiptoes and pressed my lips hard against his for a short moment. When I pulled back, his eyes were bright and glassy like marbles. He reached up to run a hand over his mouth before shooting me a crooked grin. “What was that for?”
I smiled back, loving the sound of his racing heartbeat. “For being you. For being someone I can rely on and trust.”
His eyes intensified as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close enough to feel his quickened heart beats against my chest. “You can always trust me. I’ll always do whatever it takes to keep you happy and safe. You got that?”
My heart.
It was so full, it felt like it would overflow and spill happiness throughout my entire body.
I looked up at him. “I got it.”
Because I did.
I had the utmost faith in him, and it felt good. Warm. Like a nice bowl of soup and a pair of comfy socks on a winter day. It felt safe.
“Let’s go,” Abraham said, pulling me out of my daydreams and grabbing my hand.
Abraham followed after Clyde, who led the way inside, and I heard Wyatt fall in line behind us. Clyde stopped outside the meeting room door I’d been in with Abraham and his sisters just the day before.
“Is this it? Are they in there?” I asked.
Clyde glanced at me for a long moment, his features hard as stone before turning to Abraham. “We have the three suspects in the meeting room. Do you want to talk to them separately or all together?”
“Together,” he answered. “Let’s see what they have to say.”
I watched Abraham’s demeanor transform. Instead of the loving, sensitive man who shared a bed with me, standing before me was the alpha of this large pack. His spine was straightened, shoulders set, and jaw clenched. I’d honestly hate to be on the receiving end of the look on his face at that exact moment.
Clyde opened the door, and Abraham walked in first, followed by me and then Wyatt.
Two men I didn’t recognize stood at the front of the room while three women sat at the conference room table. Two of whom I recognized, and one I didn’t. My blood boiled in my veins and I instantly knew who the culprit was.
On shaky limbs, I took a step forward, only to have a heavy hand land on my shoulder. I turned to find Wyatt, his light brown eyes tense as they raked my face. He shook his head once, and I took a deep breath, trying to remember where I was and for what reason.
My whole body shook as I took a step back to stand beside Wyatt. He leaned down so he could murmur in my ear. “You got this?”
I took another steadying breath, letting it out and forcing the trembling to slow down. When I felt I could restrain myself, I nodded. I turned to find Abraham watching too, and when he saw me get myself back under control, he smiled before his face transformed back into the stony one he walked in here with.
“Ladies,” Abraham greeted them tersely.
Each woman lowered their heads in deference.
“I’d like each of you to tell me why we have rat poison in this house and what your involvement with it has been. Aubrey, we’ll start with you.”
The woman I didn’t recognize sat up straighter in her chair, but her eyes were still downcast. She had light brown hair and medium brown skin. I couldn’t tell her eye color because she wouldn’t raise them above the table in front of her.
“I noticed it in the cleaning closet last week. I don’t know what it’s there for. I didn’t know we had a rat problem. I figured one of the groundskeepers were using it and storing it in our closet. The only time I touched it was to pick it up and move it out of my way.” She tucked a lock of wavy hair behind her ear but kept her eyes glued to the table.
Abraham watched her carefully before nodding slowly and turning to Ms. Elsie.
“What about you? Do you know why there was rat poison in the cleaning closet?”
The older woman shook her head, white hairs that had escaped her bun flying around her face. “No, Abey, I have no idea. Just like Aubrey, I thought it was someone else’s. I have no business with rat poison. If my scent’s on it, it’s because I bumped into it a day or two ago when I was in there looking for the duster.”
He dismissed her faster than the first girl and turned to the last person sitting at the table.
“Peyton. What’s your excuse for having your scent all over the rat poison?”
I’d already discounted the other two suspects, even though I hadn’t even met one of them. It was clear to me who out of these three women hurt my cat. My limbs started to shake, and I tucked my hands under my arms to hide the tremors.
Peyton shrugged a single shoulder. “I don’t know, Abey. What was a cat doing here in the first place?”
The shaking got more violent, and I took an unsteady step forward. The heavy hand on my shoulder was back, and it took everything in me to not shake it off. I stopped moving forward, but I refused to back down. This bitch hurt my cat, and she’d admit it to my face or I’d drag it out of her.
Abraham folded his arms across his massive chest. “Who or what lives or stays in this lodge is none of your concern, Peyton. Answer the question.”
She shrugged again and pulled a hand in front of her face to examine her nails. “I just gave it a little bit. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.”
I took another shaky step forward; this time Wyatt’s heavy hand did nothing to stop me. “You didn’t think it’d be a big deal to poison my cat?” I asked, my voice low and deadly.
Peyton rolled her eyes and looked toward Abraham. “Why is she even in here, Abey?”
Abraham slammed his palms against the table hard enough that I swore I heard the wood groan. I was thankful I couldn’t see his face because I was scared just looking at the back of him.
“You will stop questioning me. I am your alpha. I do not need to explain myself to you. Are we clear?”
Peyton was wide eyed when she nodded.
Abraham straightened and crossed his arms over his chest again. “I’m going to ask you one more time to explain to me why you thought it was acceptable to feed a cat rat poison.”
Peyton dropped both hands to the table. “I did it to get rid of her!” she yelled, pointing a black-painted nail in my direction. “I thought if her cat got sick, she’d stop coming out here and things could go back to the way they were.”
“The way things were? What’s changed, Peyton?”
She leveled me with a narrow-eyed look. “Before she came around, you were more concerned with the pack, and now it’s like we don’t even matter to you. Like I don’t matter.” That last sentence was said softly and almost like she didn’t mean to admit it.
I watched Abraham’s shoulders inflate with a huge lungful of air before he let loose. “Let me make one thing clear to all of you,” he said, taking in each woman and every man in the room. “Elizabeth is my mate.” He paused for a moment while that sunk in. “She will be here indefinitely. I don’t want to hear anything about this ever again, do you understand?”
Peyton, clearly not one for letting things go, sat up straight in her chair. “How is she your mate when she wasn’t even born a wolf?”
Abraham leaned over until he could place both fists on the table in front of him. “She is my fated mate. There is no denying that. Accept it, or you can leave.”
Peyton gasped loudly and slapped a hand against her chest. I barely concealed an eye roll. “You’d kick me out of the pack? Over her?” She was back to pointing at me, and I was seconds away from breaking that finger of hers, the need to shift almost unbearable.
“Peyton, you’ll be lucky if I allow you to stay in this pack after what you did to the cat.”
She threw her hands in the air. “It’s just a cat!”
He leaned closer to her, and if I wasn’t a werewolf, I’d have to struggle to hear what he said next. “No. He was a guest in my house. Who you deliberately hurt. Who you almost killed. Consider yourself lucky it seems he’ll recover from what you did otherwise I’d have no choice.”
Peyton’s jaw fell open, her dark eyes wide. “You wouldn’t.”
Abraham’s voice was lethal and gritty when he responded. “I swear to you, I would. Do not test my patience again.”
Peyton’s mouth snapped shut audibly, and I smothered a satisfied grin.
Abraham turned to the other two women and nodded toward the door. “You’re both free to leave. I’d like you to start interviewing for another housekeeper immediately.”
“Wait, what?” Peyton squawked.
Abraham waited until the two women left the room before he turned to address Peyton again. “Effective immediately you no longer work here.”
“But, Abey–”
“And you are banned from this lodge. I don’t want to see you step foot in here again.”
“Don’t you think this is a little much–”
“And you’ll be receiving a fine. When I figure out how much, you’ll get an official notice.”
Peyton jumped to her feet and placed both hands on her hips. “Abey! All this because of a cat? This is ridiculous. Beatrice will never let you do this–”
“Beatrice,” he yelled loudly over her, “is my beta. She does what I tell her. And if I were you, I’d stop arguing with me. I have half a mind to excommunicate you still.”
Her eyes got wide again, and she slumped back into her chair. “You’re really serious.”
“As a fucking heart attack.”
He turned to Clyde then, dismissing her all together. “I want two of you to help her collect her things from here and then escort her out of the lodge. Clear?”
Clyde nodded once. “Clear.”
Abraham turned to me. “Let’s go. We’re done here.”
But it didn’t feel like we were done. In fact, it felt like we were just getting started.