Page 6 of Cruel Alpha: Season Two
“So, what you’re saying is that Elizabeth is in the wind, and we have exactly zero leads.”
There’s a glint in Dimitri’s eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t sayzero.”
He has my full attention. “Explain.”
He reaches into his back pocket, hands over a swatch of fabric, staring as I unfold it.
“Look familiar? You should recognize the symbol.”
He points toward the center of the piece as I focus on the printed dagger with a snake head as the handle. I nod once. Unfortunately, he’s right. Ihaveseen the symbol before. On more than one occasion, actually. Most recently, it was stitched on a piece of fabric just like this one, tied around the arms of the degenerates I executed at the civic plaza following an attempted bombing.
“I sent a small crew out to retrieve the body of the wolf you killed near the scene of the accident. The guy had the same symbol tatted on his shoulder blade.”
“Damn it.” My frustration deepens, and I begin to pace. It’s unnerving to hear how widespread this movement has become.
“Archibald and Creed are waiting downstairs. With any luck, between the four of us, we can come up with a solid plan and put this issue to rest. Sooner rather than later. And while we have you, we’re also hoping to discuss a more…sensitivematter that’s come up.”
I can feel the tension spreading in my brow.
“Whatmore sensitive matter?”
“I think it’d be best if we stick to the plan and move our discussion to the study. There, we can talk a bit more freely and strategize with the others.”
“And whose plan will we be discussing, exactly?”
“Mine,” he shoots back firmly, and I’m reminded why coexisting under the same roof has become increasingly difficult with age.
Dimitri pushes the boundaries of respect on an almost constant basis, but his loyalty, his devotion to this clan, has never been in question. And while those attributes may be priceless, as he stands before me today, I still want nothing more than to kick his stubborn, ornery ass.
My wolf has an even lower tolerance for insubordination thanIdo. A fact made clear when a low growl rumbles deep within my chest.
“Whatever you need to say, you say it here.”
The harsh command has Dimitri’s jaw ticking with anger, but as my beta, he has no choice but to submit.
“I’ve been informed that the boy we executed in the plaza was a former suitor of Annalise.”
“Informed by whom?”
“Her aunt, Geneva,” he reveals. “When asked if she or her husband had any other known affiliation with defectors, she reluctantly shared this information.”
“But with them being Annalise’s guardians, they were the ones responsible for selecting her suitors. So, if this information putsanyonein the hotseat, it’s the Larks. Not Annalise.”
“Possibly,” Dimitri says with an overly-confident glimmer in his eyes. “But I’m guessing Annalise hasn’t mentioned anything about this to you. Am I right?”
I sense the accusation in his tone, and I hate that I can’t readily defend Annalise’s choice to keep this secret, but I give nothing away when I shake my head. “She hasn’t.”
Dimitri smiles, and I’m tempted to remind him why he shouldn’t think sharing the same bloodline affords him protection from my wrath.
“Figures,” he scoffs. “That places two defectors, two threats to the clan, in her circle.”
“What you’re suggesting is absurd. Annalise was just attacked.”
“No, denying what’s right in front ofyour faceis absurd. For all we know, the accident was just a distraction, something to throw us off her scent.”
His words have an image of Annalise flashing in my head, seeing her nearly being burned alive inside that car. Then, I can feel her lifeless body limp in my arms as I carried her up the stairs, desperate for Jezebel to fix her, desperate for her to live.
“Now, I’m not sure what picture this paints for you,” he says, crossing both arms over his chest, “but for the rest of us, in the very least it marks Annalise as a threat. A threat sleeping right under this very roof.”
