Does Byron mean business or is the posturing making him feel better about being fooled by Max and Joe? Let's find out.
Liz’s POVIt wasn’t a matter of who was calling the shots – his identity – though I hadn’t much cared for his attitude the first time around; it was what he represented. An authority I’d been raised to bow to, even if sometimes I had been less than cordial when they came calling.Didn’t he realise I had no power any longer?No, it was much worse than that.“If you don’t play ball, I may recommend your pack reverts to us. Like when there’s no suitable Alpha in charge. An improper,” he lingered on the last word, insultingly, “hierarchy.”“That’s not fair. Are you saying Alpha Archimedes isn’t fit to rule, either?”“He broke an unwritten rule when he annexed Moon Tides,” Randy said, with a scowl.So he could be aggressive as well as snide. Bring it on.Yet I was hardly in a position to go toe to toe with him.“What do you want from me?”I was tempted to lay my head down on the table, weariness seeping into my very bones. But I wanted to show no weakness in front of the likes of him.“Be
Byron’s POVThe owner of the Halcyon owed me a favour so I knew within a few hours that someone answering Liz’s description had checked in – using her own name, too. Miss Bell was a cool customer. Just what was she up to?Fancy her not straying too far from our joint pack lands. Maybe she had a good reason. Colm also told me about the guys she had ‘met’ in the bar. Up to her old tricks, was she? I was determined to give her enough rope to hang herself, as the saying goes.Reportedly she retired alone to her single room. Biding her time, perhaps. Two could play at that particular game.Maybe I should spend a few nights away from home. Give Ricky a real test while checking up on his sister.I arranged it personally with O’Donnell, insisting on a suite with uninterrupted Wi-Fi. Sometimes there was a glitch in the system and I couldn’t afford to take my hands off the reins. Alpha Richard was hard work, there was no denying that.I often went ‘missing’. Nobody must know about the weapons p
Liz’s POVIt was a shame we had to leave the hotel so abruptly. Michael wanted to get away from his new client. He didn’t say why. I reckoned it was damaging to his street cred. to be seen with him. And when Benjamin informed us he had called at reception and would be staying here, too, I think it was the last straw.No, that had to be when he talked with his mouth full both at breakfast and during lunch.Who would have guessed the Halcyon would admit someone like him. Maybe it was the AMEX card he kept brandishing. I was sure it was a fake yet it had obviously been scrutinised and checked by them. Hadn’t it?Either way, he was left to his own devices now. Stranded, hopefully.Michael left a message saying he’d been called away and for the Count to contact him by phone for the foreseeable. That would leave an audit trail of a kind but I wasn’t about to apprise him of that.It was nothing to do with me if he wanted to defraud the Werewolf Council.If only he knew he’d probably made an
Byron’s POV My anger needed an outlet so it was fortunate that I could claim to have locked myself in my office to work while escaping to the gun range. I should have challenged my Beta for not looking after me better but that would only have given the game away. After a solid hour of aiming at various targets I had calmed down enough to realise I had to rescue my mate. Finding the elusive Michael would be a start. Although it might not be all that difficult if their strange companion were still staying at the Halcyon. Not wanting to wait I placed a call to O’Donnell. Obligingly, he offered the guy known as ‘The Count’ an extra night free of charge. I told him I would be there pronto. It turned out he could afford to spend a few months at the hotel, having had some success on a European darts tour. Fortunately, he wasn’t blessed with brains and offered up his new manager’s contact details without a qualm. Now all I needed to do was phone this Michael and have someone put a trace
Byron’s POVI decided to woo my mate rather than question her and even ordered some flowers. Keeping her close was no hardship and I wanted to demonstrate to Liz that I was a worthy husband. Not the usual Alpha behaviour but I owed her one. Several, in fact.So why wouldn’t she meet my eyes during dinner?Had she fallen for Max?If so I would have to prove myself over the coming weeks or we would have unrest here at Wild Horses – and not for the first time. Ours was a troubled history, though it didn’t prepare you; nothing did. Mo was fond of repeating that to my intense irritation. Though she was quite correct. Especially since our parents were a loving couple who rarely raised their voices in argument.At least, not when I was around.Had absence made my feelings stronger? Time would tell.That night I expressed my joy that she was expecting again but restrained myself from physically proving my love. Our relationship needed work and I wanted to show my rarely seen tender side.Stra
Liz’s POVThat was the first I’d heard of Caitlin Spencer.“Go on,” I said, encouraging openness in my mate. Especially since he’d told me she’d once been obsessed with him.“We met in England.” He looked out of the window. “If you must know she stalked me when I made it clear I wasn’t interested in seeing her.”“Is she a shifter, this Brit?”“Yes, and it gets worse. She obtained a secondment to the Werewolf Council over here, advising them on tech issues. That’s probably why she had access to your contact details.”As an acting Luna, I had to report my number to them each time I changed it. That had only happened once, to avoid taking Ernest’s calls.“And the message? What do you make of that?”“How loud does a peal ring out when it is being peeled. Isn’t it obvious? Cait is threatening your life, Miss Bell.”“Then you’d better make an honest woman of me, quick,” I joked.“Let me do some digging, starting with your friend, Randy.”“He’s no pal of mine,” I snorted.The following day h
Liz’s POVThere’d just been something in the way he said it which led me to think Michael might know more than he was letting on about our new quarry. Well, new to me anyway.And I was right.What did he want in exchange? Only for me to say I forgave him.That came easy in view of the significance.“It’s been bothering me for a while,” he admitted.“You’re saying Lycan Max wants to have all female Alphas? Incredible.”I couldn’t take it in. How was I going to ‘sell’ this to Byron? Because an idea was forming. I could contact this witch person and claim I aspired to more.But how to break the ice?Hi, I’m a spy for a well-known Lycan wasn’t my finest thought, so I kept it to myself. Though having been an acting Luna who was doing almost everything and might as well take over could work. It would be awful to betray my brother like that yet I would only be telling the truth in order to fool her. And I had no desire to become Byron’s equal in name even if, secretly, we both knew I was.Ot
Byron’s POVI have to admit I wasn’t worried about Liz initially. Until the news came in from my Beta that she believed she’d given birth and that the females weren’t premature. Did that mean – ? Was she feeling guilty because she had slept with another or, more likely, consented to artificial insemination in order to fool me?I shook my head as if to be rid of the same infection confusing my mate. Illness inevitably brings out the truth and she hadn’t been well for some time.“So, is she still pregnant, or not?” I barked into my cell.“Keep your fur on, Alpha. I was just apprising you of the situation.”“Well?”I began pacing up and down, attracting the attention of the pretty gas station employee who was currently filling up my truck. There’d been an issue with the pump or something. I wasn’t complaining. Those legs were mighty fine.“The medic has confirmed she’s expecting a male.”“Great news, Beta.”I was intending to call my heir Rufus without really knowing why. An outside infl