Eventually Wolf sighed. “Thisaggresswill not succeed if Nantz alerts his security team to danger. Our best possibility for a successfulaggressis if you are in that room. When we return to Shadow Mountain, we will have him and his hard drive. Through the truth serum, we will learn his secrets. If we fail securing him in his office, we will have neither.” A long pause, followed by a slow exhale. “You can sink into his mind when you return to Shadow Mountain, after theaggress.”
Which they both knew could take days, depending on how fixated the London police were on Embray after Nantz collapsed, and then subsequently vanished.
“About this gift.” Wolf suddenly said, his voice too soft...too quiet. “This is why theTaounahasent you to Petropavlovsk, is it not? To sink into Kuznetsov’s mind.”
O’Neill’s mouth went dry. Regret rumbled through his soul. “Yes.”
“That moment at the door...before the call came to board the Thunderbird. You intended to sink into Kuznetsov’s mind, then, did you not?”
“Yes.” The affirmation about strangled him.
He’d known Wolf would put the pieces together, he just hadn’t expected the aftermath to burn. He’d beenjie'vanbefore this conversation. He’d be an outcast again after. Nothing had changed.
Even if it felt like it had.
“Samuel and I drove you away.” There was regret in Wolf’s voice.
It took a second for Wolf’s words to register. He blamed himself for O’Neill’s failure?
“What? No! I left because I thought Kuznetsov told you what we needed. I didn’t think my gift was necessary.”
But in truth, he’d been a coward, afraid of opening himself to ridicule again. And because of that, Daniel had died.
A regret he’d live with for the rest of his life.
Chapter forty-three
Day 43
Shadow Mountain Base, Alaska
Surrounded by books of every size and genre, some of their covers cheerful, others grim, Muriel settled into a plush loveseat and pulled Olivia down beside her. The settee was in one corner of a cluster of chairs, along with a sofa. The seating arrangement was in the middle of the Book Nook, Mia Steele’s bookstore, where the book brigade held their monthly discussions.
She’d arrived at the shop a few minutes earlier, with Olivia in tow, to find the tiny shop bursting with laughter and lively conversation. Before her and Oliva’s arrival, there were only five women in the seating area, but it felt like more. A lot more. Acoffee table, stuffed with pastries and wine bottles, sat between the chairs.
Muriel reached for Olivia’s hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. Livvy didn’t respond; her hand just lay there, like she’d forgotten about it.
Muriel hadn’t wanted to read the fantastical romance novel Beth Brown had chosen for the book brigade’s March offering. It was about werewolves, for goddess’ sake. Only with a romantic, rather than horrifying plot. She wasn’t a fan of romances, anyway, let alone such unrealistic plots and characters.
Besides, she’d never been much of a reader. Between her busy life as a mother of two, and running the refuge, she barely had time to breathe, let alone read. If she did scrounge up a few hours to enjoy a book, it was always a mystery, with a criminally cute or chaotic pet.
But Olivia needed this discussion. She needed reminding that love could be repaired or revived. She needed reminding that Samuel was not lost to her. Not yet. That the mate bond between them might be nonexistent now. But it could be resuscitated.
Muriel might not believe in the lesson romance novels taught—that love conquered all things—but Livvy did. Livvy’s very soul was wired for love. From her gift of connecting spirit mates to her adoration of Samuel, Livvy thrived on all things romantic. Hopefully, this book—this werewolf romance novel—would give her hope again.
So, Muriel had forced herself to read Moon Touched, solely so she could join in the upcoming book discussion and use the novel to subtly reinforce Olivia’s belief in love and soul mates.
For goddess’ sake, one of the main themes in this book was about fated mates. A soul specifically gifted to each person. Which was remarkably like Oliva’s belief in spirit mates. The timing of this book was almost uncanny. Or...maybe not. Maybe Beth had known about Olivia’s belief in spirit mates—aka soulmates—and hoped this book would revive her hope for a future with Samuel.
Muriel hadn’t planned to read the entire book, just enough to join in the discussion. She certainly hadn’t expected to enjoy it....okay,loveit. In fact, she loved it so much she’d devoured the entire trilogy while waiting for Samuel to agree to see her, or Gracie to lose interest in her exercising.
She could almost hear Daniel’s scoff in the back of her mind. A mixture of pain and humor tangled inside her as she thought of her son, and his scorn toward romance. He’d find Moon Touched laughable. Goddess above, how he’d used to make fun of Olivia for her belief in spirit mates...
“Muriel.” Kait shifted in her armchair until they were facing each other. “How’s Gracie? Cosky says O’Neill is teaching her self-defense. Which got me thinking...we should ask O’Neill to teach a class on self-defense down here in The Neighborhood. A lot of women down here would benefit from learning how to protect themselves.”
The more she thought about Kait’s idea, the more Muriel liked it. Not all the women in The Neighborhood were mated to warriors. Many had no one to teach them how to protect themselves. And while nobody was vulnerable in this idyllic location, beneath Faith’s shield, they become vulnerable once they stepped outside. Native women were disproportionately likely to be murdered or trafficked. Teaching the women here how to protect themselves made good sense.
And O’Neill was a perfect choice to teach the classes. He was so patient with Gracie. Going over the moves repeatedly without irritation, without impatience, until she mastered each move.
