Caine carefully set his cell phone down on the kitchen table. Despite the wolf snarling in his head, he refused to lose control of his temper—no matter how idiotic the male he’d just spoken to was.
The front door opened down the hall. There was a pause, then hushed voices. A forty-something, blonde human woman in a sparkling navy evening gown looked down the hallway at Caine as she hurried past to the curved stairway. A look of distaste twisted her pretty, yet bland, features. He didn’t react. What did he care if a human found him repugnant? It’d require no effort at all to snap her skinny neck. Someday soon, when she’d outlived her usefulness, he’d probably get to do just that.
Arms crossed over his chest, he waited. Quiet footsteps sounded on the tile floor. “You seem annoyed,” his employer and pack leader, Holt, said as he entered the kitchen. It didn’t matter that their pack didn’t have a defined territory they could mark on any map—there was no one else Caine would call Alpha. He’d kill for many reasons, enjoy it while he did it, but bare his throat to anyone else? Never. It wasn’t a matter of dominance or fear, or even love. He’d never loved anything, except the hunt, in his life. No, with Holt, it was vision. Caine wanted to live in the world Holt was creating. For that, he’d take orders.
Dressed in a tuxedo, Holt strode through the room, loosening his bow tie as he went. He opened a cabinet, retrieved a glass and held it up. “Drink?” When Caine nodded, he got another glass and filled them with Armadale vodka from the freezer. He passed one over, then took a long sip. “Generally speaking, people die when you’re annoyed. So, who are we killing today?”
“It’s Montana.”
Holt sighed. “What is it now?”
“Our associates”—Caine curled his lip at the word—“are concerned the land acquisition transactions won’t hold up to scrutiny.”
A subvocal growl Caine felt more than heard raised the hair on his neck. The evidence of Holt’s temper ended almost immediately. “Why? I thought the developer was in their pocket.”
“He is, but the Alpha there is much more involved and determined than we were led to believe. His Luna is lobbying the state government in Helena so hard, she’s practically a fixture in the legislature’s offices. Apparently, Branson, the developer, is under pressure from the state department of Environmental Quality. He’s getting cold feet.”
“Then they take care of it. We provided the financing, the government connections, and the bribes. They’re supposed to be able to manage their own damn pack.”
“I expected them to take control of the pack several months ago. They haven’t. When questioned, their answers are”—Caine’s voice sank into a growl—“less than satisfactory. All I get are excuses.”
Holt took another sip of his drink. “I know you wanted to handle this yourself when we began the project, but I was assured our associates would make their Alpha and Beta’s deaths look like an accident. Instead, they were obviously murdered and the idiots’ attempt at covering it up was so clumsy as to be childish. I should have let you handle it. You would have crippled the pack leadership without anyone knowing what had happened to them.”
Caine inclined his head in acknowledgment of the compliment and drank. The chilled vodka burned as it slid down his throat. “They eliminated the county clerk tonight, a human. They were afraid he’d speak to Wyland. They said they took forensic countermeasures, but—” He spread his hands out to the sides.
“But, you’re not confident it was done right.”
“No.”
Holt ran a hand through his short red hair. He sighed again. “Fine. It’s time for you to take an active role in our Montana problem. I trust you to handle the situation as you see fit. Caine?”
“Sir?”
“We’re at a critical juncture. I know you hate the subterfuge, but we cannot afford for our involvement to be discovered. We’re so close to reaching our goals. Apex must go on, at all costs.”