CHAPTER THIRTY
Grayson stared at the three she-wolves impassively. Alexa, Dannika and Holly lowered their heads, refusing to look at him. They had their hands bound behind their backs, and Scott was pointing a gun at them.
“They're behind this, Alpha,” Scott snarled, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Grayson nodded and stepped forward. His lieutenants, Ari among them, surrounded the three women and all looked like they were ready to tear those three traitorous she-wolves from limb to limb.
Grayson regarded Alexa, Dannika and Holly for a long while. These three females had been the Betas of the Silverfangs pack. They had wielded absolute power and authority within the Silverfangs pack. Grayson had taken them to subdue them and spare their lives. But now he rather wished that he had just killed them outright. His old friend, Asher Ronski, was wrong. These she-wolves weren't worth saving.
“Where is the body?” Grayson said.
Alexa and Holly turned away, but Dannika met his gaze squarely. She said just two words. “Blair Morgan.”
“Blair Morgan?” Scott spat. “No one has seen her in years!”
Ari frowned and spoke up. “I've heard of her, but I can't recall what exactly happened to her.”
Grayson glanced at his sister and said, “You were only a teenager when it happened.”
Ari's eyes flared. She hated it when anyone brought up her youth. She was the youngest lieutenant, but she had earned her stripes. She hadn't taken any shortcuts. She wasn't given any privilege or special treatment just because she was the Alpha's baby sister. “So what happened?”
Scott glanced at Grayson and saw him nod once. “Blair Morgan was the oldest and arguably the most powerful witch in Wolves Hollow. She lived away from the rest of the town. No one could find her cottage. It was in the middle of the woods, but the location seemed to change all the time,” Scott said. “When remains of wolf shifters were found in the woods, everyone suspected that Blair Morgan had lured the wolves into the woods and killed them. More and more wolves disappeared over the years. The wolf packs decided they had to put a stop to the murders. They managed to find her cottage but it was empty. Her cottage was razed to the ground but they never found the witch. This happened about twelve years ago.”
“And no one has seen Blair Morgan in twelve years,” Ari said.
Dannika smirked. “Oh you've seen her. You just don't recognize her.”
Scott pressed his gun to Dannika's head. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Grayson pushed Scott's gun down. “Take us to her.”
“Sure. And then you'll kill us,” Dannika sneered.
“No.” Grayson stared at the three she-wolves and said quietly, “I will let you leave. Leave the pack, leave town. We won't hunt you down.”
Dannika exchanged a glance with Alexa and Holly. Alexa gave a quick nod.
“Go to The Quill,” Dannika said. She gave a crooked smile and went on, “No, The Quill isn't just a dusty old second-hand book store.”
Grayson frowned. That was exactly what he thought it was. The owner of The Quill was a young, wealthy widow who had set up the bookstore as a hobby. She didn't seem interested in selling books, and the store was closed most of the time. There were very few customers, and Grayson only had a brief glimpse of the reclusive owner. Madam Betty Morg kept to herself and didn't cause any trouble. The Sentinels had no business with her at all.
Grayson inhaled sharply. “Madam Betty Morg is Blair Morgan, the witch.”
Scott's eyes widened and he cursed under his breath. “Why didn't I see that?” he muttered.
“No one saw through her glamor. It's a very powerful glamor spell,” Grayson said. He turned to the three she-wolves and saw a trace of fear on their faces. “How long have you been working for Blair Morgan?” he said.
Dannika, Alexa and Holly cast furtive glances at one another and looked away. Finally, Holly sighed and said, “We might as well tell him everything. She won't let us off.”
Holly looked up at Grayson and said, “Blair Morgan saved our lives many years ago. We were just junior lieutenants in the Silverfangs pack then. During a mission, we got lost in the mountains. No matter which way we went, we seemed to be just going round in circles.”
Scott narrowed his eyes. “A looping diversion.”
Holly nodded. “When Blair Morgan found us, we were literally hanging on to the very edge of the precipice by our nails. The terrain was terribly difficult to navigate and we'd slipped on some loose rocks.” Holly winced at the memory.
“Blair Morgan saved our lives, but not before extracting a blood promise from us,” Alexa said. “We had to do her bidding.”
“At first, her instructions were simple enough. Work our way up the hierarchy of the Silverfangs pack.” Holly swallowed. “She seemed so nice at first. We thought she was just a nice, grandmotherly witch who wanted us to fulfill our potential and what not. But that wasn't what she wanted.”
“She wanted...something much more sinister,” Dannika said. “She wanted the heart and brain of an Alpha wolf. But before we brought her the Alpha of the Silverfangs pack, we had to destroy him.”
She paused and stared Grayson straight in the eye. “What Blair Morgan really wanted, was the maddened brain and tortured heart of an Alpha wolf.”