Page 2 of Alpha Games
I nodded.
This was a big ole pile of scat. I knew Ranger was a walking red flag, but Clara confirmed my worst suspicions. Lester Norman was a cold-blooded killer with a rap sheet a mile long.
And Ranger was related to him.
Strong bloodline. I like it.
Will you please shut up?
“Does he know where Lester is?” Trenton whispered the question, making me feel a little less crazy in thinking the walls could hear us.
It was still a stupid question. “Everyone knows where Lester is. It was national news when he got busted.”
I was young when it happened, but I remembered the ten shifters it took to get Lester out of the van. They say half his victims in the government bureau he targeted still hadn’t been fully recovered. In middle school, the rumor was he ate them. I still got shivers when I walked past themaximum-security door cells, thinking of the wolf shifter held within.
“How did he keep this out of the press?” Trenton was still blinking as he processed it all. I didn’t blame him for being a little slow. It’d taken me almost two days to come to terms with what Clara said.
“I don’t think he claims that side of the family.” If Clara’s sources were right, Lester was related to Ranger’s mother. And there were rumors of distant cousins with mafia connections. I wouldn’t want to associate with that side of the family tree either.
“Wait. This is good.” Trenton’s gears started turning as if they’d been greased. “We’ve got some dirt on him.”
Goddess, he was stupid. “This isn’t the kind of dirt you hold over someone unless you want it sprinkled on your gravesite.”
“We don’t have to tell anyone, yet.” Trenton scratched his jaw, still thinking.
I grabbed his arm and dragged him into Stefanie’s old room, not sure how much else I should reveal. Clara said the rumors were that Lester was getting retribution for something that happened to Ranger’s mother when he got busted. There was more. Ranger grew up fighting circuits on the underground shifter rings. But speaking about his childhood seemed more personal than explaining he had literal psychopaths in his family.
It felt like a betrayal for some reason to tell everything to Trenton and possibly the rest of the world though.
Maybe the quiet was making me paranoid, but I swore the rooms were bugged. I figured if the producers were listening to the contestants then Stef’s microphones would be turned off by now.
And I really didn’t want anyone to hear what I had to say because we were already powerless enough compared to the larger packs. I closed the door behind us, ignoring Trenton’s confused expression. I probably could have spoken through our pack link, but my head wasn’t on straight anymore. Besides, what if Alpha Derek could hear us somehow?
Yep. I was officially off my rocker.
“I’m worried about you during the Alpha Games,” I whispered.
Trenton looked around, lowering his voice too, “Why?”
“Because, you big moron, we don’t know what they are going to be like this year.” I rolled my eyes as he puffed out his chest. “And you know how after Stef left, Ranger tried to get me to go home?”
“Okay,” Trenton drawled.
I seriously didn’t remember him being this dumb.
I did.My wolf laughed.
“What if he wanted you to be alone?” I cried. “What if he asks for a challenge or whatever it is the guys are doing during the Alpha Games and itinvolves something with the prison? He could kill you, Trenton.”
And then where would I be?
Alpha Derek would never sign my release. My papa would waste away on Nuva Pack lands.
“Seriously? I thought you were smart. This isn’t like the old days with Alphas killing each other to take over more territory.” Trenton shook his head. “He’s obsessed with you. That’s all it was.”
“Obsessed with me?” My jaw dropped and my wolf purred her approval.
Trenton was delusional.