1 A Little Bit of Tea

Posy

Jayden was nice enough to stay for tea so that Luke didn"t feel awkward as the only man munching on dainty little cakes with us girls.

Well, that"s what he said, anyway. More likely, he knew Quartz would immediately kill the man the others were going to interrogate.

Oh, the boys tried to play it off, saying they had official business to discuss with the king while I enjoyed my time with the queen, but I knew where they were going.

After we woke up this morning, Lark told me the same thing Ash had last night. All she added was that the king had imprisoned the guy who"d supplied Kendall Briggs with the wolfsbane.

I didn"t like secrets, but I gave Lark her privacy and didn"t demand more details. Besides, I could only imagine how terrified she was the first time he"d drugged her. How could I ask her to relive it again just to satisfy my curiosity?

As for my mates, I didn"t care that they were off to interrogate Burnt Oil Man, as Lark called him, but I did mind that they thought I"d buy their lame excuse. How gullible did they think I was, anyway?

Probably very, Lark giggled, and I was glad that she was back to her normal self.

Best to let them think so. Easier to manage them that way.

Definitely, she agreed.

I bet all of them will come back with a few blood splatters on their clothes, I thought with a sigh, or different clothes all together.

Burnt Oil Man is very bad man, Lark said. He deserve whatever he get. Gran say he brought harm to many others.

Oh? Do we know who?

The king telling the boys now, and Gran telling me. The king say Burnt Oil Man has his fingers in many pies. Yuck! Why put fingers in pies? Wait. He has no wolf, so how does he grow his fingers back?

I bit my lips to keep from laughing at her misunderstanding. Even I knew that idiom.

As we sipped tea and chatted, I thought about the situation. The boys hadn"t lied to me, just downplayed what was happening, and I knew they did so out of their instinctive need to protect me. Still, I couldn"t help feeling they deserved a little something for being sneaky.

No, for being obvious about being sneaky, I corrected myself.

Raising my teacup, I cut my eyes to Jayden and considered my options.

We punish them! Lark suggested and danced around on her tippy toes as she sent me steamy images that made my cheeks flush and my thighs clench.

No, not like that! I hurried to tell her.

But my daddies punish—

That"s just between you and your daddies, I explained gently. It"s only for the bedroom, not in public, and especially not during tea with the queen.

Aww! she pouted.

Let"s start by pranking Jayden. That made her furry little face light up again, and I held back a giggle. We need to think of something subtle, though, because he"s clever and observant.

After a few seconds of explaining that subtle meant low-key, she whispered an idea to me and I nodded. Turning to my unsuspecting mate, I waited until he took a big drink of water, having said no to tea.

"This is nice, isn"t it?" I said in a bright tone. "So much better than beating a man to death in the royal dungeon, don"t you think?"

As I"d hoped, he spewed water all over himself, much to Luke"s amusement. He and the queen laughed while Gisela raised an eyebrow at my red-faced mate"s efforts to mop up his mess.

Mission accomplished, Lark purred, then high-fived me.

It took all my willpower, but I managed to keep a straight face as he spluttered and brushed away the server"s attempt to help. Looking at my choices on the silver tray in front of me, I selected a little white square cake with dark purple swirls and took a nibble. My eyes widened at the delicious flavor of raspberry jam and white chocolate.

Yum! I think I"ll have another!

As I munched away, I refused to look at my mate. If I did, I"d burst out laughing and ruin everything.

Jayden so cute with red ears! In her excitement, Lark wagged her tail so hard, it made my head spin. We think of more pranks for other boys?

Yes, I promised her, but later. For now, calm down. Let"s enjoy our time with our friends.

And try to prank Jayden more? She wiggled her eyebrows up and down mischievously.

That, wolfie, goes without saying.

#

Wyatt

"What"s in the bag?" I asked Ash as he drove us toward the dungeon.

"Just a few party favors." He smirked.

"You brought tools?" I cringed. "Dude! You"re a werewolf! You have claws and fangs and speed and superhuman strength. What else do you need to kill someone?"

"You know how Lark calls Ikhlassi Burnt Oil Man?"

"Yeah. She said that"s what he smells like to her." I wondered where he was going with this. "What"s that have to do with—"

"He"s going to smell burnt to everyone soon enough."

"No fire," Mase said in his business tone. "We"ll be in an enclosed space underground. The dungeon"s ventilation system won"t be able to keep up with it."

"You ain"t going to talk me out of it." Ash"s smirk grew darker. "He"s going to burn today."

"No. Fire. Ash," Mase repeated. "End of."

"Besides," Cole chimed in with a smirk, "I want to peel his skin off."

I grimaced in distaste. Torture was not my thing. My dad had never approved of it, so neither did I. Did I think people sometimes deserved to suffer? Sure. Was I going to be the one to make them? Nope. Unlike my brothers, I was content to let karma catch up to them. The Moon Goddess always made sure it did.

"Well, aren"t you two psychotic this afternoon?" King Julian murmured.

"At least we put the "hot" in psychotic," Ash said with a grin.

"At least the psycho himself isn"t here," I piped up. "He just kills everyone before we can even get in the room."

"Jay staying back is good for another reason, too," King Julian said. "Dad and I interrogated Ikhlassi and Calvin Briggs early this morning and, amid all the other discoveries, found Ikhlassi had two accomplices. My guards took them into custody pretty quickly, and Dad and I went back to interrogate them after brunch. After they confessed, I issued death sentences for them, too."

"They confessed that easily?" Cole asked.

"With a little encouragement," the king clarified.

"Aw, dude! You already bloodied them up?" Ash whined as he brought the SUV to a stop in the reserved parking spot by the dungeon"s main entrance.

"This is my third set of clothes today," King Julian laughed. "But at least there"s one for each of you now."

"Who are these other two, and what did they do?" Mase asked.

"Can you hold onto your temper long enough to listen?" he asked, his eyes on Cole. "Or should I wait to tell you right outside their cell doors so I can just open them and stand back?"

"I think I can manage," Cole grumbled. "Tell us now, please."

"Speaking of doors, what happened to that one?" I asked as I gawked through the windshield.

From my shotgun seat, I could clearly see the reinforced steel door that sealed the dungeon off from the rest of the world. Something had created a huge dent in the dead center of it and I was all agog to know what.

"That was supposed to be werewolf-proof," King Julian muttered grumpily.

"Well, it obviously ain"t Quartz-proof," I smirked.

"Uh, that wasn"t Quartz." Ash scratched the back of his neck. "So, um, last night, Q called Sid that name he hates and he half-shifted and charged him, but Quartz dodged and Sid hit the door."

We all stared at him with wide eyes.

"Hey, blame Q for riling him up, not me!" Ash held his hands up and swiveled in his seat to look at the others. "I was asleep!"

"Why didn"t you send him back?" Cole snapped. "Mase told you to!"

"I tried, but he wanted to finish his popcorn first."

"Popcorn." I pointed to the door. "Connect how popcorn equates to that happening."

"Pumice found Sid first, so he got Sid to shift and change into clothes. Sid said he was starving, so Pumice took him to the closest food pantry and the clerk gave him a bag of popcorn. Then Sid said he needed one for his friend, so the clerk popped another bag."

As Ash rambled on, I felt like I"d been dropped into an episode of Riverdale. I stopped watching that messed-up shit halfway through the second season and for the same reason I rolled my eyes now: Trying to follow the plot used more brain cells than the story was worth.

"Pumice told him to go home, so I thought everything was hunky dory and passed out." And Ash was still talking! "I didn"t know Sid would follow Pumice here instead, or that Q would antagonize him until he went into full combat mode."

"All right, we"ll deal with that later." Shaking his head, Mase pinched the bridge of his nose. "King Julian, who are these accomplices?"

"Can we get out first?" I whined. "I"m getting seasick."

Overly energetic as always, Ash was jogging his leg, which made the whole vehicle rock violently, and my lunch sloshed around in my stomach in a nauseating way.

Once we"d all jumped out, the king began to tell us about the other prisoners as we walked.

"First up, Aeneas Gage. Thirty-six. Machinist. Ikhlassi paid him to craft several articles, one of which was the silver brand of Briggs" initials. He also provided mercury to dip it in."

"He knew its intended purpose?" Mase asked. "He knew it was for use on another shifter?"

"He did." King Julian jerked his head in a curt nod. "Even without his confession to that, though, dealing in silver weapons and supplying mercury are crimes enough."

"He"s mine," Cole rumbled, his hands clenching into white-knuckled fists at his sides. "I want to end that mutt myself."

Mase, Ash, and I traded glances, then nodded in agreement. Cole hated that brand burned in our girl"s back. If killing the dude gave him some sort of resolution, so be it.

"Next up, we have Calvin Briggs, brother of Kendall Briggs and royal staffer for the last twenty-one years," the king continued. "He hid or destroyed every report ever filed against Kendall, including statements and complaints from your fathers. Worst of all, Calvin discovered Logan and Naomi"s address and gave it to Kendall, and we all knew what happened next."

"So he"s indirectly responsible for Logan Everleigh"s death," I muttered. "Posy could have had a real dad if it wasn"t for this piece of shit?"

King Julian nodded while Mase muttered, "Language."

"After talking with Briggs" and Gage"s wolves," the king went on, "I dismissed them and they"ve already faded back to the Goddess. I figured innocent wolves didn"t need to suffer. Both men are yours to do with what you wish."

"What about Ikhlassi?" Ash asked.

"He has quite a laundry list, but only one other crime is tied to Five Fangs. He sold wolfsbane to two more shifters. I"m sending an agent to investigate the one, but Mase recently dealt with the other."

"No." Mase got it before the rest of us, as usual. "Not Alpha Bellamy Jones."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Reau?" Ash grimaced. "He gave Reau"s parents the wolfsbane that killed Tanner?"

Again, the king nodded.

"Mine!" Ash growled, and none of us argued.

"Which leaves our final contestant," I said and gave King Julian a questioning look.

"That one"s going to be a bit harder." He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "It"s a witch."

My brows drew together in a frown. I didn"t like hurting a female, even if she was evil. Something inside me cringed at just the thought. Plus, a witch meant magic, and we still didn"t know a whole lot about it.

We can link our witches or Gelo, Gran pointed out helpfully, and I nodded.

"There"s a lot to go through with her." King Julian crossed his arms over his chest and rocked back on his heels. "That hoard of dark relics Leo Halder found in the bayou? It was hers. It wasn"t intentional, but he was possessed because of her, which led to my queen and so many others at Tall Pines being hurt or worse."

After we got over that shocker, the king said this witch also supplied Kendall Briggs with a parasite, which made Cole shiver and the rest of us wince at the memory of his run-in with a parasite.

"Yeah, this next part might be hard to hear," King Julian admitted. "Four years ago, Alpha and Luna Quake of Cold Moon visited Green River to discuss some finer points of their treaty. About an hour ago, I called their son, Alpha Kayvon, to see what he remembered from that trip. He said Norah came home sick, and her mental state deteriorated in a matter of days, although her physical decline was much slower."

None of us could speak as we processed that.

"Right after I talked with Kayvon," the king continued, "I called Gelo to get his little birds to do their voodoo, and they confirmed the parasite that infected Norah, which is the one that spawned into you, Cole, is the same one Kendall purchased from our witch prisoner."

"Do you think he intended the parasite for Posy originally?" I whispered, aghast at the thought. "I mean, he bought it before the Quakes visited, right?"

"Who can say?" The king shrugged. "We may never know why he targeted Norah, but I want to talk to James and Aiden Briggs. Maybe they can shed some light on the mystery."

I knew what he was implying. Had one of Posy"s brothers slipped information to Luna Norah, which resulted in her confronting or threatening Kendall Briggs? Had he infected her to shut her up?

James would have been nineteen at the time, I thought to myself. A year older than when most sons stepped up to the alpha position...

Mase cleared his throat, pulling me out of my thoughts, and asked for the witch"s name.

"Alecto Sanderson. She"s from a very old, very powerful family. If Gelo hadn"t built a witch catcher for me last summer, my men never would have been able to contain her."

"Can we get him up here to kill her?" Cole asked.

"Oh, I"ll take care of that," Mase rumbled. "Did she do anything else we need to know about, your majesty?"

"She sold a curse to Nia Hashimoto. Warm Hands, Cold Heart."

"The one Nia used on Landry?" Ash gasped.

"I haven"t been able to prove it yet, but it"s looking that way." The king nodded. "I can"t see Nia being able to afford the same curse twice, and you haven"t found a second use of it, have you?"

We shook our heads.

"How did she pay for it?" I asked. "And we"ve also been wondering why she targeted Landry, of all people."

"You really want to know? I can"t take the knowledge back after I give it to you," King Julian cautioned us.

My brothers and I nodded.

"We need to know," Ash said for all of us. "Landry"s my gamma and my friend. I want him to have as much closure on this as possible. And we know such a curse isn"t paid for with money. So, who, or what, did she sacrifice?"

"According to Alecto, Nia was enraged that Landry turned her advances down multiple times. That"s the only reason I"ve been able to discover. As for the price she paid..." King Julian took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Goddess, I"m glad Jay"s not here! I"m sorry it falls to you, but I don"t want to be the one to break it to him."

"Just say it," Cole gritted out through his teeth.

"Her father"s heart. That was the price."

Silence. Dead, absolute silence.

Yuri Hashimoto was Alpha Jay Carson"s beta. Jayden"s dad"s beta. Last winter, Yuri died of what we thought was a rogue attack while patrolling the border, and we grieved for the man who was like an uncle to us. A strong, stern, kind man we all looked up to. He was also the last link we had to Jay. As a way to honor his dad, Jayden wanted Yuri to stay on as his beta until the dude was ready to retire.

But Nia killed that dream, I thought to myself, remembering that Jayden had installed Crew as his beta shortly before the whole thing went down with Nia and Landry.

Too bad she already dead, Gran huffed.

Yeah, I agreed. She-wolf or not, I would have liked to rip her throat out myself.

"Is that all?" Mase"s voice and face were as blank as always, and I had no idea how he wasn"t as enraged as the rest of us.

He is, Gran told me. He super, super mad!

Really? I raised my eyebrows doubtfully.

Really! my wolf insisted. Garnet say Masey want to burn the world down.

And not one crack in the ice to even hint at the bonfire inside. I shook my head in admiration. Damn! I want to be Mase when I grow up!

"That"s all," King Julian confirmed. "So Ash will take Ezra Ikhlassi, Mase has the witch, and Cole wants Aeneas Gage. That leaves Calvin Briggs for you, Wy."

"Fine by me," I smirked. "And now, your majesty, it"s time to throw their cell doors open and stand back."

He snorted, then motioned for the guards to open the door.