Page 16 of Forbidden Moon
“Good. Colvin, do you want to assign someone from your side as a representative?”
Maya opened her to mouth to protest, but Isaac tapped her hand. Colvin smirked at her, then nodded. “Yes, my nephew Garrett. I’m sure you know him from his time as a Council Enforcer. He’s just returned, so I think he’d be an excellent liaison. He can work with my brother, Shane, and my other nephew, Brandon.”
Simon nodded and stood. “Fine. Let’s get this wrapped up quickly. Every moment we dawdle is a moment those pups are in danger. Charles will coordinate the efforts. Move out people.”
* * *
Charles gestured for Garrett and Maya to hang back when everyone else filed out. His uncle gave him a meaningful look then strode for the door as if he owned the place, as if he had not been smacked down by the Beta of the national pack. Before he could exit, Charles stepped in front of the door.
“I have a few questions for our inquiry, Colvin. Your brother can wait outside.” He pointedly looked at Garrett’s father, who turned red, then slipped out.
Uncle Linc narrowed his gaze, but folded his arms in front of him and drew himself up, making himself appear larger. It didn’t appear to have any effect on the other male, who gestured to the chair. “Please, have a seat.”
“I’ll stand. I assume this won’t take long.”
“Depends on how cooperative you are.” Charles’s voice was quiet but firm.
Uncle Linc studied him for a moment, then chuckled as if he wasn’t bothered, and dropped into the chair. “Ask your questions.”
“In a moment.” The door opened as a couple other males entered the room and stood along the wall. Charles turned to Maya. “Please tell us about the attack.”
Maya took a deep breath and stared at a fixed point on the wall. Garrett had an urge to take her hand, offer her some kind of comfort or support, but he knew she would reject it, not appreciating the sign of weakness. So he leaned against the wall, folded his arms, and listened to the story.
“I was on patrol when I felt something in the pack bonds. A sharp pain, a feeling of terror and death. I knew something was wrong, and I headed for the picnic area.”
“How did you know to go to that area and not somewhere else?” Charles’s voice was calm, even.
Maya swallowed hard. “I knew the wolf that the reaction came from. He was my cousin, Ronin.”
Garrett winced. Shit. He’d met Ronin a couple of times when they were much younger. He’d seemed like a decent male, fun and happy. Judging by the bleak look on Maya’s face, the story wasn’t going to end well for her or her family.
“When I got to the clearing, he was propped against a tree, disemboweled with claws, but he was clinging to life. I knew a healer couldn’t save him, not even a powerful witch. He told me they had just finished eating and were telling stories to the pups when wolves came from the north, against the wind, so the sentries didn’t sense them. It happened so fast, he said. They must have been watching. They took out the guards and the adults, while a couple of the enemy herded the pups. It wouldn’t have been hard. The pups were in one place and probably huddled together for protection, so they made it easy.”
“Hearsay. Not admissible,” Uncle Linc stated dismissively.
Maya shot him a look of utter loathing and Garrett saw his uncle’s hands fist, but he remained in his seat.
Charles interrupted. “Enough. Maya, continue.”
She nodded. “We found one pup, dead.”
She choked and blinked rapidly. Garrett found himself next to her, his hand on her back, rubbing lightly. He gestured to one enforcer, his old partner Caleb, for a glass of water. Caleb exited and came back with a glass, handing it to him. Garrett placed it in Maya’s hand, trying to ignore the push of his wolf against his skin, the howl telling him to protect her and get her away from the males around them.
He risked a glance at the larger room and caught his uncle’s smirk, a gleam in his eye as if he could already see a mating in the future. There was no way he’d bring Maya into the Saranac pack, who would never allow her to be an enforcer or who she really was. It would destroy her, and that would kill him to watch her wither away.
He ducked his head, avoiding his uncle’s knowing gaze. “You okay to continue?”
She sucked in a deep breath and straightened. “One pup had been killed in the attack. The others were gone, including two of our teenagers. Sloane Wyman and Samuel Lancaster. They had just started shifting.” She cleared her throat, her voice coming stronger when she started speaking again. “Ronin passed away moments later. Other enforcers started arriving on scene and we started investigating immediately, putting our best scenters on the hunt.”
She lifted her chin and met Charles and Uncle Linc’s gaze full on. “We have had enough interactions with Saranac to know who and what we smelled. Saranac wolves were all over the place, including Shane Colvin.”
Garrett froze, his hand fisting at his side. His father was involved? No way. His father and uncle hated Dirigo, and they were tough, some could say brutal, males, but even they would never attack pups. He faced his uncle, who sat, relaxed in the chair, a smirk on his face.
“We deny the accusation, of course. It’s ridiculous. Someone is setting us up. They wore our clothes or something with our scent on it.”
“He saw Shane. Ronin said Shane was the one who killed him. I scented him all over the wound.”
His uncle waved his hand dismissively. “You believe the rantings of a dying man over the respected Beta of a pack? He was mistaken, a weak male overcome by a superior force.”