Titus held my gaze as he sank onto one of the couches again. “I’m releasing your funds.”
“What?” I sat on the sofa across from him. That wasn’t what I’d been expecting.
“I’m releasing your funds. I have that authority, as the executor. I’ve already bought you a ticket.”
“A ticket.” And suddenly I understood. “You want me to run? No. I’m not going, Titus. Not without Kaci.”
“You don’t need to run. The tribunal is going to rule in your favor, in absentia, the moment they have confirmation that you’re out of the country.”
“How do you know what they’re going to do?” And, more important, “Why would I need to leave, if they’re going to acquit?”
“Because that’s part of the deal I made. In a few years, after Kaci—” He had the decency to look uncomfortable with whatever he was about to say. “—has married and given birth to at least one child that isn’t yours, you can come back. Live a normal life. Still a member of the South-Central Pride, if you want. Or you can come to the Mississippi Valley. You’ll always be welcome at home.”
“But not until Kaci marries someone else.” This can’t be happening. This makes no sense. “Not until she has someone else’s kid.” Rage made my vision go dark around the edges. “She won’t do that. You can’t make her do that. How the hell could you make a deal like that? We’re not toys for you to play with Titus!”
“Of course not.” To his credit, he looked distinctly uncomfortable with the deal he’d struck. “I made no promises on her behalf, and no one’s going to make her do anything. But you won’t be welcome back until and unless they’re sure Kaci won’t be handing the keys to the kingdom to a stranger, for lack of a better analogy. That’s the only way this will work, Justus. The only way I could guarantee that they’re not going to execute you.”
“I don’t need your help! Kaci was working on the vote. We only needed one more. And if I don’t get that, she’s coming with me.”
“Grow up, Justus,” Titus’s voice had gone hard, his gaze narrowed and impatient. “That’s not how the world works. If she goes with you, they’ll hunt you both down to get her back. She’s not old enough to defect. And there’s nothing you can do to get that extra vote, now that Blackwell is dead. The Taylors will vote together.”
“You don’t know that.”
“In fact, I do.”
“Because you made your deal with them.” I sounded as stunned as I felt with that realization. “Without even talking to me. That’s why you don’t want to redraw names for my trial! You want Robert Taylor on the tribunal.”
He shrugged. “They called me and made an offer. They’re using you to get to me—to get me to cooperate—and they will vote to execute you if I don’t give them what they want. I’m trying to save your life, Justus.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that! Kaci’s already married. To me. And I’m not leaving her.”
“You have to. That’s part of the—.”
“I’m not taking your deal.” My jaw ached, as if my teeth no longer fit in my mouth. I stood, and the urge to rip into something—to destroy something—was so strong it was all I could think about. My fingers cramped. They curled up, as if they were grasping for something.
I knew what was happening. The rage storming through me was familiar enough by then that I understood exactly what my inner cat wanted. As far as feline-me was concerned, I would be with Kaci, or I would rip the world to shreds to get to her. There were no other options.
Kaci, or the utter destruction of everything and everyone who came between us.
“Justus…” Titus stood. “Your hands.”
I looked down and discovered that I had claws. I ran my tongue over my teeth, and one of my incisors drew blood.
“Walk it back,” he ordered, his voice low and calm. “Reverse the shift. You cannot lose control in here.”
“I’m not losing control.” Kaci had said the partial shift was normal. Useful, even. I didn’t have to worry unless my skin started to itch or my bones started to ache, which would indicate that my entire body was about to shift. “What do they want, Titus?” I demanded. “What is this deal you made? What is so important that you’re willing to tell a girl who loves me that she has to be with someone else. Someone who thinks she’s a monster. Who will only ever use her for the children he can—”
My bones started to ache at the thought of someone else touching her. Someone who might not recognize the vulnerability in her eyes when she took her clothes off. Someone who might not recognize the responsibility and the fucking honor that went along with—
I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw shut to keep my teeth in check. To keep the bones of my face from reforming—though it was actually the willpower behind the act that made that possible. And when I was sure I had it under control, I opened my eyes. I pinned my brother with my gaze.
“What on earth could be worth that, Titus? What do they want from you?”
“My vote.”
“What vote? You don’t have a vote.”
“But I will. Blackwell was the last holdout on officially hearing my petition. On setting a date. Now that he’s gone, the Taylors are willing to push it through. Immediately. And they’ve agreed vote in my favor and in yours—to accept the Mississippi Valley Pride and to find you innocent—if I vote to help them oust Rick Wade as council chair.”
“What? Why?”
Titus shrugged. “All the usual reasons, I suspect. Power, mostly. They’re working on an alliance, and they know that as a swing vote, I’d be against them on most issues. So they want the chair position as a concession. To maintain the balance of power. We have the majority on most issues, but they’d have the tiebreaker on anything close.”
“That’s bullshit. That’s not how a democracy works.”
“This isn’t a democracy, Justus! It never was. Deals are made before the votes are ever cast. No one comes to the table until all that is worked out beforehand. That’s just the way it goes.”
“This isn’t for me. It’s for you,” I growled. “This is for your fucking Pride.”
His gaze looked sad, but firm. “That’s not true. I gave up the Pride to protect you.”
“And now that you have it back, you’re trying to make me give up Kaci to protect your Pride.”
“No. The Taylors came to me. They told me they’d vote to convict—to execute—unless I vote for Ed as council chair.”
“That’s why they took Kaci. They were trying to lure me into the territory so they’d have me in custody when Ed Taylor called you.”
“Sounds about right. They’re calling an emergency meeting, and when they have my vote, they’ll move to drop the murder charge against you. Then, when you’re out of the country, they’ll drop the infection charge. Tit for tat. Once piece at a time, until everyone has what they want.”
“Everyone except Rick Wade. And Kaci and me.”
“Yes. Rick is collateral damage. But he’ll accept that like Vic evidently accepted the broken arm you gave him—it’s an occupational hazard.”
“And Kaci? How will she take this?”
Titus sighed. “Okay, you’re looking at this all wrong. What you’ll be doing—it’s for Kaci too. You two just met.”
“We met four months ago.”
“Four whole months?” He rolled his eyes. “Well then obviously it’s true love.”
“Don’t be an asshole. How long did you know Robyn before you were willing to go to war over her? War, Titus. You were willing to risk other people’s lives.”
“That wasn’t just for Robyn. That was for sovereignty over our own territory. To protect my men. To keep the council from invading.”
“To keep them from taking Robyn back,” I spat at him.
“It’s not the same, Justus. You two are kids! It’s young love. It’s first love. You can’t know that’s real until you’ve lived a little more. Gained a little experience. She’s hardly out of high school. You’re probabl
y her first boyfriend.”
“She’s eighteen, not eighteenth century. I’m not her first boyfriend. And you’re full of shit. This is just as real as you and Robyn, and you—” My mouth snapped shut, and my newly feline teeth didn’t fit well into my human mouth.
He knew. He knew everything he was saying was utter crap, and but he was saying it anyway because he was…scared.
That’s what I was seeing in his eyes. Fear. For me.
I wasn’t going to talk him out of what he’d decided. Not with it coming from a place of fear. But that didn’t mean I had to do what he wanted me to.
“Does Brian know?”
Titus frowned. “Who’s Brian?”
“Brian Taylor. Faythe’s enforcer, and Ed’s son. Does he know his dad and uncle are trying to sell out Faythe and Marc’s closest ally?” I sank onto the couch again as the connection finally hit me. “This isn’t just about power. This is also revenge. Titus, they’re unseating Rick Wade, because his daughter picked Jace over Ed Taylor’s son! Abby Wade and Brian Taylor were supposed to get married. Someday Brian would have inherited Rick Wade’s territory. That would have put two Taylors on the council.”
“Three.” Titus groaned. “Robert Taylor’s been waiting for Paul Blackwell to step down for decades. Jace told me that any other Alpha would have retired more than twenty years ago, but Blackwell’s been putting it off so long that he has great grandchildren.”
“Then this is actually a play they’ve been trying to make for at least four years.”
Titus frowned. “How’d you come up with four?”
“That’s how long Abby and Brian were engaged.” I leaned back on the couch, one hand over my forehead as another connection fell into place. “Oh shit.”
I wish I didn’t know what I know about Kaci, because someone’s gotta make a mom out of her.
The memory of Brian Taylor’s words sent chills marching across my skin. “They want to pair her with Brian. He said something the other day, and I didn’t really process it, but that has to be what they’re planning.” I leaned back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as I followed the logical breadcrumb trail to its end. “When Abby ran off with Jace, Rick Wade lost his heir, and soon he’ll have lost his leadership of the council. Eventually the council will have to place a fertile tabby in his territory, and Kaci’s the only one without a home of her own. If they can pair Brian with her before that happens, he’ll get control of Wade’s territory and his seat on the council. Right?”
Titus frowned. “From what I understand of the council’s origins and procedures, that does seem to be a possibility. Every Alpha gets a seat on the council, and traditionally, an Alpha must be married to a tabby and must father her children. Faythe and Marc’s partnership being the obvious exception.”
I nodded. That was my understanding too. “So when Rick Wade retires, if the council gives his territory to Brian and Kaci…” I let my brother draw the obvious conclusion for himself.
“The Taylors will have taken everything from the man they blame for letting Abby break her engagement to Brian.”
“And they’ll have used us to do it,” I told him. “They’re playing us like chess pieces.”
Titus exhaled, and he seemed to still be processing. Then he looked me in the eye. “When did you get so smart?”
That seemed to be a serious question.
“It runs in the family.” I huffed. “Though I wasn’t so sure, for a minute there.”
“Are you calling me stupid?”
I shrugged. “You were saying some pretty stupid shit. If they’re willing to wait that long, to put that many pieces into play, and to threaten to execute me to get you to go along…you have no way of knowing they’ll stick to their word, Titus. You could do what they want, and they could still hunt me down and bring new charges.”
“But once they have what they want, why would they bother?”
“Because they know what my own brother doesn’t seem to have figured out yet. Executing me is the only way they’ll be able to keep me from Kaci.”
Nineteen
NINETEEN
Kaci
“So, this whole thing was Ed Taylor’s attempt to take the council chair position from Rick Wade?” I could hardly wrap my mind around the web of back channel manipulations. The kidnapping. The deal the Taylors had tried to make with Titus. “Just because Abby wouldn’t marry Brian?”
“I’m sure that isn’t Ed’s only grudge,” Faythe said from her perch on the front edge of her desk. “I knew he was upset about the loss of the potential for grandchildren, but I have to admit I never expected him to make a power grab. That doesn’t sound much like Ed.”
Marc shrugged from the couch across the rug from Justus and me. “I suspect his resentment has been brewing for a while, and his son’s broken engagement was the final straw. And we all know how miserable Robert Taylor has been under Blackwell’s thumb for decades. The Taylors probably believe they’re simply claiming what should have been theirs all along.”
“I’m so sorry they dragged you into this.” Justus’s hand tightened around mine, and the leather upholstery creaked as he leaned closer to me on the couch. “And I’m even sorrier that I gave them that opportunity.”
“Oh, please. I did that to myself. But the Taylors are responsible for their own actions.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Robyn twisted out of Titus’s embrace to glare at him. “We drove all this way, and you didn’t say a thing!”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to talk to Justus first.” Titus glanced from one of us to the next while he spoke. “I owe the rest of you an apology as well. I had no right to agree to anything without consulting everyone affected by my decision. Rick Wade has been nothing but kind and fair to me and to my men, and the last thing I want to do is cast myself as his adversary. But all I could think about when Ed Taylor called was saving Justus’s life.”
“I suspect Rick would understand that,” Faythe said. “Not that we need to tell him. Because he would also be very, very angry. So let’s just count this as an impulsive lesson learned. We are all better off counting on one another than taking drastic measures alone.” She aimed a pointed look around the room, from Justus and me on one couch to Titus, Robyn, and Marc on the one across from us. “And we have to be able to count on one another.”
“Of course.” Titus looked both embarrassed by and ashamed of what he’d done. Which was almost enough to make me forgive him for trying to separate me from his brother.
Almost.
Marc snorted, aiming an amused look at Faythe. “This coming from the valedictorian of the ‘I can do it all on my own’ school of leadership.”
“The former valedictorian,” she corrected with a smile. “I’ve learned a lot on the job.”
“Are we sure Brian was in on this?” I asked.
Marc nodded. “We’re pretty sure he at least knew about it. And if he did, that’s grounds for dismissal—as our enforcer, his loyalty should lie with the South-Central Pride, not his birth-Pride.”
“So, you’re going to fire Brian?” I felt guilty for how happy that thought made me, after what he’d said about me to Justus. But only a little guilty.
“Not yet.” Marc stood and headed for the liquor cart on the end of the room opposite the desk. “If we fire him, his dad will know we’re on to him.”
“So then, what’s our move? What are we waiting for?”
Titus joined Marc at the cart and poured himself an inch of whiskey. “Ed Taylor’s planning to call an emergency meeting to vote on my petition.”
“That call went out an hour ago,” Marc confirmed. Then he took a big sip from his glass.
Titus nodded. “This morning he informed me that as soon as I’m an official member, they’re going to call for a new vote on the council chair position, and that if I don’t support Ed Taylor over Rick Wade, he and his brother will vote to execute Justus. But that if I support them, they’ll make all his charges go away…??
? He leveled an apologetic glance at Kaci. “As long as Justus stays out of the country until Kaci remarries and has a child.”
“Bastards…” I hissed beneath my breath.
“Language,” Faythe snapped. “It’s not new information that the council wants women to have children and strays to get lost.”
“But I thought things were changing! I thought you and Marc were trying to drag the other Alphas into the twenty-first century!”
“They have, and we are,” Faythe insisted. “But change takes time.”
Marc drained his glass. “And sometimes a little spilled blood.”
Faythe scowled. “This is not one of those times. The object here is to avoid bloodshed.”
“And to keep Justus in the country. Alive,” I added. “So, what’s going to happen? We can’t let them vote to execute Justus, just to get back at Titus for rejecting their ‘deal.’”
“They won’t have the chance,” Faythe assured us. “We’re going to press for a redraw for his tribunal. But first…” She smiled. “If Ed and Robert Taylor want to help us get the Mississippi Valley Pride recognized, I say we let them.”
* * *
“I can’t believe they were willing to assemble so quickly!”
“Assemble.” Laughing, I wound my fingers through Justus’s in the shade of the apple tree. Beneath us, the bench swing swayed gently in the hot summer breeze. “Superheroes ‘assemble.’ Alphas just convene.”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. But he was smiling.
On the side of the tree opposite the swing stood three headstones, marking the graves of Faythe’s father, Greg, and her brothers, Ethan and Ryan. They’d all died during my first year in the territory, and Ethan was the only one I really remembered very well, five years later.
I still missed him. He would have liked Justus.
“Anyway, it’s not like they had any choice.” I shrugged. “Faythe said Robert Taylor was officially recognized as Alpha of the Southwest Pride this morning, and the Taylors are eager to put their plan into motion before your trial starts tomorrow.” I shrugged. “Naturally, Faythe volunteered to host the vote.”