Lure of Oblivion
Page 42
Derren looked at Gwen. “Huh. Didn’t see that coming.”
Zander gave him a look that said, I told you that you’d gotten her all wrong. The Beta inclined his head.
Cain turned to Gwen. “Now, explain why you have Mercury wolves guarding you.”
“Well, it all started with a bunch of delinquent assholes.” Gwen told him everything, starting with the assault she witnessed and ending with the goshawk attack.
Cain scraped his hand over his jaw. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—you’ve got some balls, Miller. Not a lot of people would be so determined to see this through to the end.”
“How many people know you’re an informant?” Ally asked her.
“In my life? One,” replied Gwen.
Ally lifted a brow. “Marlon?”
Gwen shook her head. “No. No one here knows, and it needs to stay that way. If they knew, they’d be in danger.” And likely try to talk her out of helping the group.
“Your secret’s one hundred percent safe with us,” Bracken vowed.
“Do you think the goshawk flock was hired by Moore?” asked Cain.
“Yes,” said Zander as he absentmindedly toyed with Gwen’s braid. “It’s a smart way to target Gwen. People would never link a shifter attack with him.”
Cain turned to Gwen. “I don’t like this. I can set you up in a safe house.”
“I appreciate the offer, Cain,” she told him. “I do. But I won’t let them chase me away from my own home. Nu-uh. Besides, my leaving won’t stop them coming here.”
“So bring your family with you.”
“Donnie won’t leave. He’s more likely to rig the place and blow them all to pieces, sacrificing himself in the process.” She sighed. “My point is that a safe house isn’t the answer.”
Zander nodded. “I agree.”
Cain snickered at him. “Of course you do—you’ve marked her, and your scents are all over each other. You want her where you can see her.”
“Yeah, I do,” Zander admitted. “I respect you, Cain, but I don’t trust you or any of your people to protect her better than me.”
“Really? Then why do you feel that you need Bracken, Ally, and Derren here as backup?”
Bracken bristled. “I’m here because I want to be.”
“Nick sent me and Derren,” said Ally. “Zander didn’t ask us to come or to stay.”
“So why are you still here, knowing shit is going down?” growled Cain.
“Because Ally wanted to know if the damn place was really haunted,” said Derren.
Bracken gave the Beta male a daring look. “And you’re bored.”
Derren sighed. “And I’m bored.”
Done with the conversation, Zander opened the door. “I need a minute alone with Gwen. We’ll meet you downstairs.” One by one, the wolves filed out. Zander closed the door, waiting for the sounds of footsteps to disappear down the hall before he spoke to Gwen. “Geena passes you information about what Kenny is getting up to with the extremists, and then you pass it on to Cain.”
Gwen rubbed her nape. She’d hoped he wouldn’t guess, but there was clearly no such luck. She supposed it wasn’t a big leap to make.
“Does she know that you feed Cain information?”
“I’m trusting you not to repeat this.” Which was a big deal for her, because trust didn’t come easily to Gwen. At his nod of reassurance, she said, “Yes, she knows. Geena’s not a saint. She is involved in Kenny’s business, but she has morals. She’s firmly against the extremists, and she doesn’t like that money from the business is funding their shit.”
So Geena’s motives were partly selfish, Zander mused, because she was protecting her money. Still, she was also risking her life, because if Kenny discovered what Geena was doing, he’d probably kill her. “How long have you been in contact with her?”
“Since I was fourteen. She found out about me and wanted to be sure that I was okay. I think she’s just surrounded by so many jaded people who she can’t trust or relax with that she just wanted someone in her life who didn’t want anything from her. Someone who wouldn’t judge her for where she came from.” Gwen could understand that. “She’s not all bad. She keeps up the cold-bitch reputation because, in many ways, it protects her. For all her faults, she isn’t prejudiced against anyone or anything.”
“Have you two ever met in person?”
“Sure. Kenny knows. He doesn’t care. He’d never guess that she tells me stuff.”
Zander settled his hands on her hips. “Does he want contact with you?”
“No. He’ll be glad I’m not coming to him, looking for money.”
“She doesn’t pass on anything that can shut him down and put his ass in jail?”
Gwen shook her head. “She loves him, in her way. She wants Daddy’s approval. Unless he does something truly horrific, I don’t think she’ll ever move against him. For now, this is enough.”
Zander twisted his mouth. “If The Movement is repeatedly crushing the extremists’ plans, he must be considering that there could be a leak.”
“Too many of them work together for anyone to have a specific idea of where the leak is. According to Geena, Kenny thinks some of the extremists are having their calls monitored and being watched constantly. He’s too arrogant to think he’s the weak link.”
Zander caressed her hip bones with his thumbs. “You could have told me all this.”
“You know why I didn’t.” She was protecting her sister.
“If he finds out you two are working together like this . . .”
“We each have our reasons for taking that risk.”
Zander rested his forehead on hers. “I want to spank your ass for putting yourself in the line of fire this way, even though I appreciate everything you’re doing. I don’t like the idea of you in this kind of danger.” Hated it, in fact. His wolf didn’t like it. He was pacing, agitated.
“You can’t tell anyone what I told you, Zander. Not about me. Not about Geena.”
He combed his fingers through her bangs. “I can’t guarantee that my pack mates won’t guess some of it, but I won’t confirm or deny any theory they run by me. I won’t repeat anything you’ve told me.”
Zander gave him a look that said, I told you that you’d gotten her all wrong. The Beta inclined his head.
Cain turned to Gwen. “Now, explain why you have Mercury wolves guarding you.”
“Well, it all started with a bunch of delinquent assholes.” Gwen told him everything, starting with the assault she witnessed and ending with the goshawk attack.
Cain scraped his hand over his jaw. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—you’ve got some balls, Miller. Not a lot of people would be so determined to see this through to the end.”
“How many people know you’re an informant?” Ally asked her.
“In my life? One,” replied Gwen.
Ally lifted a brow. “Marlon?”
Gwen shook her head. “No. No one here knows, and it needs to stay that way. If they knew, they’d be in danger.” And likely try to talk her out of helping the group.
“Your secret’s one hundred percent safe with us,” Bracken vowed.
“Do you think the goshawk flock was hired by Moore?” asked Cain.
“Yes,” said Zander as he absentmindedly toyed with Gwen’s braid. “It’s a smart way to target Gwen. People would never link a shifter attack with him.”
Cain turned to Gwen. “I don’t like this. I can set you up in a safe house.”
“I appreciate the offer, Cain,” she told him. “I do. But I won’t let them chase me away from my own home. Nu-uh. Besides, my leaving won’t stop them coming here.”
“So bring your family with you.”
“Donnie won’t leave. He’s more likely to rig the place and blow them all to pieces, sacrificing himself in the process.” She sighed. “My point is that a safe house isn’t the answer.”
Zander nodded. “I agree.”
Cain snickered at him. “Of course you do—you’ve marked her, and your scents are all over each other. You want her where you can see her.”
“Yeah, I do,” Zander admitted. “I respect you, Cain, but I don’t trust you or any of your people to protect her better than me.”
“Really? Then why do you feel that you need Bracken, Ally, and Derren here as backup?”
Bracken bristled. “I’m here because I want to be.”
“Nick sent me and Derren,” said Ally. “Zander didn’t ask us to come or to stay.”
“So why are you still here, knowing shit is going down?” growled Cain.
“Because Ally wanted to know if the damn place was really haunted,” said Derren.
Bracken gave the Beta male a daring look. “And you’re bored.”
Derren sighed. “And I’m bored.”
Done with the conversation, Zander opened the door. “I need a minute alone with Gwen. We’ll meet you downstairs.” One by one, the wolves filed out. Zander closed the door, waiting for the sounds of footsteps to disappear down the hall before he spoke to Gwen. “Geena passes you information about what Kenny is getting up to with the extremists, and then you pass it on to Cain.”
Gwen rubbed her nape. She’d hoped he wouldn’t guess, but there was clearly no such luck. She supposed it wasn’t a big leap to make.
“Does she know that you feed Cain information?”
“I’m trusting you not to repeat this.” Which was a big deal for her, because trust didn’t come easily to Gwen. At his nod of reassurance, she said, “Yes, she knows. Geena’s not a saint. She is involved in Kenny’s business, but she has morals. She’s firmly against the extremists, and she doesn’t like that money from the business is funding their shit.”
So Geena’s motives were partly selfish, Zander mused, because she was protecting her money. Still, she was also risking her life, because if Kenny discovered what Geena was doing, he’d probably kill her. “How long have you been in contact with her?”
“Since I was fourteen. She found out about me and wanted to be sure that I was okay. I think she’s just surrounded by so many jaded people who she can’t trust or relax with that she just wanted someone in her life who didn’t want anything from her. Someone who wouldn’t judge her for where she came from.” Gwen could understand that. “She’s not all bad. She keeps up the cold-bitch reputation because, in many ways, it protects her. For all her faults, she isn’t prejudiced against anyone or anything.”
“Have you two ever met in person?”
“Sure. Kenny knows. He doesn’t care. He’d never guess that she tells me stuff.”
Zander settled his hands on her hips. “Does he want contact with you?”
“No. He’ll be glad I’m not coming to him, looking for money.”
“She doesn’t pass on anything that can shut him down and put his ass in jail?”
Gwen shook her head. “She loves him, in her way. She wants Daddy’s approval. Unless he does something truly horrific, I don’t think she’ll ever move against him. For now, this is enough.”
Zander twisted his mouth. “If The Movement is repeatedly crushing the extremists’ plans, he must be considering that there could be a leak.”
“Too many of them work together for anyone to have a specific idea of where the leak is. According to Geena, Kenny thinks some of the extremists are having their calls monitored and being watched constantly. He’s too arrogant to think he’s the weak link.”
Zander caressed her hip bones with his thumbs. “You could have told me all this.”
“You know why I didn’t.” She was protecting her sister.
“If he finds out you two are working together like this . . .”
“We each have our reasons for taking that risk.”
Zander rested his forehead on hers. “I want to spank your ass for putting yourself in the line of fire this way, even though I appreciate everything you’re doing. I don’t like the idea of you in this kind of danger.” Hated it, in fact. His wolf didn’t like it. He was pacing, agitated.
“You can’t tell anyone what I told you, Zander. Not about me. Not about Geena.”
He combed his fingers through her bangs. “I can’t guarantee that my pack mates won’t guess some of it, but I won’t confirm or deny any theory they run by me. I won’t repeat anything you’ve told me.”
