Page 68 of Shadow of Death

“You aren’t afraid I’ll kill you?” I asked as I settled in.

“I think you would’ve done it already if you wanted to,” he said, smirking as if he’d figured me out.

I smiled, letting him believe he was right. It was certainly better for me if he thought that, but he had no idea. If I could kill him right now with no repercussions, he’d be dead.

We headed out, and I was happy it was too loud to talk easily. This ride would be long enough as it was. It was going to be a monumental task to pretend I liked him when being anywhere close to him almost made me break out in hives.

A couple hours later, we pulled into a quaint little neighborhood with cottages nestled in the hills. The expressions on the residents’ faces as they saw us mirrored how I was feeling on the inside. They might not have had guns pointed at us, but their eyes glared hot enough without them, and they weren’t even attempting to fake it.

We parked our ATV alongside the other two filled with Varic’s men as someone from this pack approached us.

“Petro is waiting for you in the clubhouse,” the male shifter said.

Varic nodded and then signaled for me to follow him. He walked as if he knew exactly where he was going and had been at this pack many times. Every person we passed on the way gave him a glare and then offered me a slightly muted version. They considered me part of Varic’s pack, and clearly worthy of the same disdain. This trip was turning possible allies into enemies, and I might not even be able to deliver on what Varic wanted anyway.

Petro stood in front of a map on a wall when we walked in. He looked exactly like what I would’ve imagined a Viking of old to appear like.

“Petro,” Varic said.

“Varic.” Petro’s gaze shifted to me, with nothing close to appreciation. “Who’sshe?”

He asked it like I was some slug Varic had plucked out of the muck and dropped in front of him.

“You know exactly who she is,” Varic said. I could hear the smile in his tone.

The way Petro’s eyes narrowed, he had heard of me, and none of it had been good.

Saddest part of this was that I had a feeling I’d have liked Petro under other circumstances. Maybe it was only because he hated Varic, but that was a good sign in my book.

“What did you want to talk about?” Petro asked.

“You know exactly why I’m here. It’s why you were staring at that map.”

“I’m not giving you any more territory. We had an agreement,” Petro said.

“If you don’t give it, I’ll take it. My pack is larger and stronger, and I’ve realized that we just need more space to spread out in.” Varic walked over to the map, grabbed the black marker beneath it, and then drew a circle, carving out a small chunk on the northeast corner of Scotland. “This is your new territory.”

“That’s insane. You might have a large pack, but not twice as large, and you want us cordoned off to less than tenth of the land?”

“You’re lucky I’m giving you that. I don’thaveto give you anything. My friend here could finish you in seconds without there even being a fight. No one in your pack will even know what happened to you. So, either take what I’m giving you or you take nothing. I absorb all your lands, and your people.”

The two men were facing off, and I wasn’t sure what I was more afraid of: that Petro would fight and I wouldn’t have any powers to put up a show, or he would fight and I’d accidentallykill a man who surely wasn’t as bad as the one I was supposedly helping.

There was one thing for sure: I wasn’t killing Petro for Varic.

Petro looked my way, his nostrils flaring as if he were trying to gauge my threat level by my smell. All I could do was try to remain calm and pray he’d take the scraps Varic was giving him.

“I don’t know what kind of black magic you’re playing at, but I hope you rot in hell for it,” Petro said.

I was already in hell helping Varic.

I felt the fur of my wolf grazing my hand and then watched as he walked over to Petro.

“I’m not looking to hurt you,” I said. I locked eyes with him, praying he wouldn’t do anything rash. “I think it would be a good thing if we all remained calm. Perhaps take what Varic is offering for a short time and then everyone can discuss it in a month or two?”

I watched my wolf standing beside him.No. Stay calm. We don’t want to kill him. Calm, calm, calm.

My wolf moved its muzzle closer to Petro and did the strangest thing—it licked his hand repeatedly. Petro didn’t move his hand or even glance down, completely unaware of what was happening. But he was visibly relaxing.