Force of Temptation

“Testimonies?” Nick shook his head. “I have something even better. I have photographic evidence.”

Hector did something Jesse would never have expected him to do: He burst out laughing. “Photographic evidence?”

“We have the photos Jerold used to blackmail your father,” claimed Nick. “If you back off and sign over that land behind you to me, these photos will never be shared with the world.”

Hector shook his head. “No, Nick, you don’t have those photos. I know that, because I have them.”

The words were like a bomb.

“You killed Jerold,” said Ally.

Hector smiled at her. “Well, of course. I couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t use what he knew against me the way he did my father.”

“You killed the other boys in those photos too, didn’t you,” she added.

“I can’t have witnesses running around telling tales, can I?” Hector’s eyes sliced to Nick. “I will say you have a good poker face.”

Nick’s jaw tightened. “I can still share what I know. Even without evidence, those accusations could cause many problems for you. Do you really think your business associates will be okay with this kind of attention?”

Hector sighed, as if bored. “I’m on charity boards, I make donations to children’s hospitals, and I have a high standing in society. Do you really think those accusations would be believed? Of course they would bring me negative attention, but that’s better than no attention at all, isn’t it? I have an excellent PR team that could easily spin the whole thing.”

Breathing hard, Shaya said, “Maybe you’re now the one who’s bluffing.” Jesse didn’t believe he was, and he doubted his Alpha female truly believed it either.

“I expected that you wouldn’t fold to my demands easily,” continued Hector. “But I think you now realize you are out of options. I suggest you focus on making arrangements to leave instead of sending my employees to lie for you. The little kestrel paid for her disloyalty. Unlike you, Nick, she didn’t have a good poker face.”

“You killed her?” Something in Shaya seemed to snap, but Nick obviously sensed it because he grabbed her before she could launch herself at a laughing Hector. “You’re dead,” she hissed. “I’ll make sure of that, one way or the other.”

Hector glanced at his watch. “I have somewhere to be. And you have a lot of arrangements to make. Let’s declare this meeting over, shall we? We’ll see each other again soon.” He spun on his heel and walked to his BMW, whistling. His guards followed, weapons trained on the Alpha pair.

Jesse, Roni, and Marcus sidled up to the others, watching as the BMW disappeared.

“It never occurred to me that he’d have the photos,” Eli said, shoving a hand through his hair.

“He always seems to be several steps ahead of us,” Jesse ground out.

“Probably because he’s experienced with this kind of thing.” Ally leaned into her mate with a sad sigh. “I can’t believe the bastard killed Ellie. She was sixteen.”

Shaya’s lip trembled. “We told her to lie for us and now—”

“We’re not to blame, Shay.” Nick sharply twisted her to face him. “Hector is responsible. He would have killed her eventually anyway. He doesn’t like witnesses. As soon as she knew too much, he’d have got rid of her.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Marcus asked, “So what do we do now?”

Everyone looked at Nick, who puffed out a breath. “I don’t know.”

Even before Jesse entered the main lodge, Harley knew something was wrong. His anger echoed through her, vibrating her bones. The moment he returned, he stalked straight to her and hooked an arm around her neck to pull her close. She rubbed his upper arms. “I take it things didn’t go well.”

Resting his forehead on hers, he sighed. “They went to shit.”

While Zander, Roni, and Marcus patrolled the border, Nick held a pack meeting in the living area of the main lodge and explained everything to the others. Some of the pack cried out for war on Hector. Harley didn’t believe that was the answer, but she didn’t comment. Hector didn’t have a pack, but he could hire more loners—many would do anything for a price. As such, a war would equal absolute mayhem.

Nick must have agreed with that, because he growled, “No. More. War. We’ll find another way to deal with this.”

“No disrespect, Nick,” began Eli, “but I’m not sure there is another way to deal with it. Unless you plan on giving up our territory, he’s going to send people here eventually to run us off. We’ll have no choice but to fight back. All we can do is prepare for the battle ahead.”

“How would a margay pride deal with it?” Kathy asked Harley.

The question took her by surprise. “One of us would sneak into his home and slit open his throat while he slept.”

There was total silence for a moment. Then Ally said, “You’re serious.”

Very. “Margays aren’t big on wars. We’ve never understood why wolves, hyenas, and jackals like it so much.”

“We don’t like war,” said Nick.

“Packs are constantly at war with each other,” Harley pointed out.

“Yeah,” allowed the Alpha, “but that doesn’t mean we want to be.”

Shaya leaned forward. “One of your pride would really sneak into an enemy’s home and kill them in their sleep?”