I picked up my mug of tea, threw it back like a shot of tequila, and stood. “Come on, Fennel. Let’s get Cecil and check this out.”
He stretched, his back doing that Halloween, humped-back thing. He’d curled into a ball on the chair sometime while we were talking and taken a snooze, yet I would’ve bet he’d caught every word of what we’d said.
“Alpha Lydia, you’re welcome to stay and talk with Maya.” I glanced at the half-empty plate of cookies. “And eat.”
The alpha turned to Maya. “Is that all right with you? If not, we can speak another time. I understand you’ve been through a lot.”
I liked that she’d picked up on the other woman’s state of mind and was being careful with her. It made me feel better about leaving.
“Would you stay? I can make another pot of coffee and maybe you can explain more about what an omega does for a pack? I have questions.” The second she finished saying this, herface fell. “What am I saying? I shouldn’t be thinking about myself at a time like this. Betty, I should go with you to find Bronwyn. This is a situation where I might come in handy.”
I couldn’t imagine a worse idea, though Ida had come up with a few over the years.
“Having a rat on board would be great, but remember, Desmond is looking for you. And with the way your whiskers have been cut, I’m worried you might not be able to find your way home if we were separated.”
“The motherfuckercut your whiskers?”
The room went dead still. My heartbeat pounded in my ears. Alpha Lydia’s voice had punch. She was great at playing the part of a regular pack leader, but that voice told me she was anything but.
“He told me not to shift, but I couldn’t help it.” Maya sounded sad and small. “So he cut off my whiskers so I couldn’t go far.”
Alpha Lydia’s hands squeezed into fists, but she said nothing. She didn’t have to. Her rage was all over her face.
I bent down beside Maya’s chair. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ve got my partners. Cecil can squeeze into the smaller places, and Fennel has a way of opening doors that even I don’t understand. We’ll be fine.” I gave her the burner phone I’d used to communicate with Bronwyn and Margaux. “Keep this close. Don’t give out any information on it. It’s strictly a yes/no/thumbs-up emoji device. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“I’d like more coffee,” Alpha Lydia said stiffly. “Would you please make us some? I’ll share all that I know of omegas while we wait for Betty to bring your friend home.”
Maya tucked the phone into her pocket and got up to make a fresh pot. “Thank you. That sounds nice.”
“I’ll walk you to the door,” the alpha leader said. “I need to speak with my rats for a moment.”
We walked out onto the porch. Kale stood to the right of the doorway, Denzel to the left of the porch steps. Both gave a slight bow to their alpha.
“This witch, the one who cut the omega’s whiskers,” she said, staring into the distance. “You plan to kill him like you killed your stalker?”
Holy shit, the woman really did know everything. It made the fact that she didn’t know where Ronan was even more chilling.
“I never plan to hurt or kill anyone,” I said. “I only plan to survive, and sometimes that’s how it works out.”
“Understand this. No one harms a rat in my territory and gets away with it.” She glanced from Kale to Denzel and muttered, “Unless they do something so stupid they deserve it.”
“They attacked me first,” I said hurriedly.
“I know,” she said before lapsing back into the sightless stare into the distance. “You will take some of my people with you tonight. They will assist you.”
Kale jerked stiffly. Denzel’s head whipped around, and the fury in his eyes was startling. It made him seem less like a goofball than he normally did. It made him seem downright dangerous.
“I sent a message to the pack. They now know what that bastard did to the omega. Theyallknow,” Alpha Lydia said. “And they want retribution.”
Chapter
Sixteen
It was eight forty-five p.m. on the longest godsdamned day ever—discounting the day I’d found Mom’s body. The drive out of town had taken a good twenty minutes, and I’d fumed the whole way there.
“You know, I’m pissed about a lot of things tonight, but I think the cherry on top has to be that Desmond took Bronwyn and Margaux to the same place where my homicidal stalker took me,” I said to the occupants in the car. “Feels like a real slap to the face.”
