Despite everything she’d gone through, she still looked beautiful. Her hair was a mess, but it was free of mud. The nurses had scrubbed her skin clean. Her eyes were bright and lively. Rather than looking broken and drained, she appeared poised.
Her smile faltered a bit, and something like anxiety flashed in her eyes. Uncertainty, maybe? She was probably thinking about our fight and how I’d left the same way I’d been a few minutes ago. I wished I could go back in time and change that, but like Sophia said, there were no time machines.
“Nate, have a seat,” JC said. “I was about to start telling Cameron all that’s happened since she made that initial call to me.”
I rolled a stool over to the other side of the bed, then sat and took her hand. The heat of her speared right through me. Gently, I ran my thumb along the back of her hand. To my relief and delight, she didn’t pull away. If anything, she clutched my hand even tighter.
“So,” JC said, and from the tone of his voice, I could tell some pretty important things were about to come out. “We’ve found Rick Masters. He’s in custody.”
Cameron and I both gaped at him.
“I’m sorry?” Cameron said.
I was less tactful in my response. “You’re shitting me.”
“I shit you not,” JC responded. “The human police took him in. We put the word out that he’d shot a cop. That got him thrown in jail within an hour.”
“I’m sensing abutcoming,” I said, a bitter note to my voice.
“A big one,” JC said with a nod. “Lincoln Masters flipped out. Called his high-priced lawyers and had his baby boy released on bail within the hour. The guy spent less than forty-five minutes behind bars.”
“That’s bullshit,” I grumbled. “He tried to kill Ollie. He tried to kidnap Cameron. How the hell can he get out of jail that fast?”
“It’s the benefit of being rich and powerful,” Cameron said bitterly. “I saw it a lot as a reporter. The same stuff that gets an average person thrown in prison for decades ends up being probation or a fine for a millionaire most of the time.” She glanced at me and smiled timidly. “Itisbullshit, though.”
“She’s right about that,” JC said. “Some of my enforcers informed me that Rick is holed up at his daddy’s lavish mansion. We have bigger problems to deal with than Rick getting out of jail.”
I wasn’t dumb. I’d seen enough shit to know when it was about to roll downhill.
“He’s lying about something, isn’t he?” I asked through gritted teeth.
JC pointed at me, running his other hand across his beard. “Exactly. He’s spinning some fairly wild tales.”
Cameron sighed. “Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not,” JC said. “He’s claiming that he’d been trying to break things off with you for a few weeks. Apparently, you’re nothing but a gold digger who wanted to baby-trap him to get yourself some well-manicured claws on his money. Rick is telling anyone in the pack who will listen thatyoustole one of his credit cards and used that to pay off this Lenny Nash to try and turn you, so that you’d have a better chance of having a baby with Rick.” JC glanced at me. “Not only that, but he’s claiming that Cameron paid off you and Ollie to help make it all happen. He’s even saying you all were in on it to begin with, and that Nate’s the lone wolf who’s been killing women all over Toronto to set the stage.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I clenched my fists. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Indeed. Until today, I’d never actually met Ollie face to face.” JC waved a hand through the air. “Toronto-Ottawa is a big pack. But from what I’ve garnered in short interactions and what others have said, Ollie is trustworthy as hell. Nothing about him appears shady. Cameron’s story lines up with Ollie’s, and I get the sense that she’s honest. You,” JC said, pointing to me again, and I braced myself for what he might say, “are a good man who’s had a rough life. You don’t strike me as a cold-blooded murderer, nor do you seem the type who would bend over backward for nothing but money.”
A sigh eased out from my chest. He didn’t think the worst of me. That was something, at least.
“From what our guy is saying, ol’ Ricky boy is only a poor victim,” JC said. “And his daddy is pushing his story as well.”
“Why do I get the feeling you aren’t friends with Lincoln or Rick Masters?” I asked.
JC made a derisive sound. “The Masters have been trying to build their power in the pack forever. It’s an open secret that Lincoln campaigned against me becoming alpha a few years back. Guess who he thought would make the perfect leader of the Toronto-Ottawa pack?”
“Rick?” Cameron sputtered. She pulled her hand free of mine and pressed her palms to the side of her head as if her brain might explode. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” JC said. “To say I have a strained relationship with the Masters family is an understatement. The problem is, Lincoln holds incredible power in the pack. He’s the only person beneath me in the pecking order. He’s one of the elders, and a lot of the other elders are either on his side or in his pocket. My worry—and that worry has only escalated since hearing Cameron’s story—is that he’s preparing to stage a coup,” he said, his eyes growing dark and angry.
I leaned forward. “What? That’s…” I paused, trying to think of what to say. “Well, damn, that’s not possible. The strongest alpha in the pack isthealpha. That’s how it works.”
“Unless someone decides you’re not the strongest anymore,” JC said, a dangerous growl in his voice. “If Lincoln can get enough elders and enough of the lower-level alpha-born shifters in the pack on his side, along with his financial backing, he very wellcoulddepose me. Shove me aside and install Rick or himself as the de facto alpha of Toronto-Ottawa.”
“Holy shit,” Cameron muttered. “But I’ll be part of that pack, right? If he’s alpha, then…” She looked at her lap.
