22. Mai

The rumble of the car's engine filled the silence as we drove, leaving the territory of the Bridgetown Pack behind. Ryan's eyes were firmly on the winding road ahead. Mason sat in the passenger seat, his gaze alternating between the side-view mirror and the road. Sam, Shya, and I were squeezed in the back, an awkward silence hanging in the air. I stared out of the window, thinking about Arabella. I couldn't get the image of her yanking against her restraints, pleading with us to give her more ripple, out of my head.

"We're nearly at Ronnie's," Shya finally broke the silence.

Ronnie Bishop was Shya's contact and the man we were hoping was going to help us. "Tell me again what you know about him," I turned to look at her. Shya had already given us a run down of everything she knew about Ronnie but I wanted to make sure we hadn't missed something.

"Ronnie's human. He's smart and ruthless. It's a good combination and it has gotten him far. I know serious people who are afraid of Ronnie. His gang runs out of Haxton but he has sources all across the northeast. Ronnie deals in information and … other things," she said, her tone hinting at the illicit nature of these "other things."

"Some of the men in our agency have dealt with Ronnie before. His reputation is definitely interesting," chipped in Sam.

Shya laughed, a low, throaty sound that seemed out of place in the tense atmosphere of the car. "Yeah, you could say that. He straddles the line between legal and illegal. But he's trustworthy, for a price. And that's all we need right now."

A bad feeling settled in my gut as I thought about what meeting this Ronnie Bishop would mean for us and what he'd want in exchange for the information we needed. But given Brock and Tristan were so friendly these days, we didn't have much choice. We were stepping into a world far removed from our own, into a realm solely controlled by humans, where the rules we were used to no longer applied. I just hoped we were ready for whatever lay ahead.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shya sneaking glances at Mason.

"You know him; what do you think Tristan will do next?" I asked Shya.

She shrugged. "I know what his end goal is—to be the Alpha of Bridgetown and to run the humans out of our Pack lands."

"Tristan as Alpha and you as his mate?" I prodded.

Shya drew a deep breath, her gaze focusing on the darkened horizon ahead. "Tristan's good at manipulating people," she began, her voice low and heavy. "He always has been. It's just now he thinks I'm his ace in his hand."

"Why?"

"As the Alpha's daughter, having me by his side would give him the legitimacy he needs to rule the Pack. My parents have fostered a core of extremely loyal supporters. With my parents dead, my being his mate would appease a lot of the Pack and make his succession much smoother, more secure."

"We won't let him have you, you know. Even if anything happens to your parents. I know we're nothing to look at right now, but we're going to get the Three Rivers back, and I promise you will always be welcome there. No matter what happens."

She smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot. Of course, I fully intend to see Tristan dead and buried, but I appreciate you thinking of me."

I grinned. I liked this girl. She had spunk.

"I haven't heard the story of how you met Derek." I was curious, but I also wanted to know the truth behind Shya and Derek so I could let Sofia know if she had been wrong when she thought there was something between them.

Shya's expression softened, a flicker of something close to fondness crossing her features. "That's a whole other story," she chuckled. "I was in a human bar in Tillotin, trying to drown my sorrows; you know, typical heartbroken stuff." She rolled her eyes at her own melodrama.

"Why a human bar?" I asked. In the front, Mason had gone still. He was facing forward, staring ahead at the road, but I knew he was straining to hear every word of what Shya was saying.

Shya shrugged. "I just wanted to be someplace where no one knew me, where I wouldn't have to pretend to be strong or brave, or an Alpha's daughter, where I could just be … Shya."

There was something incredibly raw and vulnerable about her confession. It was the kind of honesty that only comes from pain, from knowing what it feels like to be stripped of everything you thought you knew about yourself. I was beginning to realize that Shya, like me, had her own scars.

"Anyway, I'd just found out that Tristan had been gaslighting me. I'd tried to go to my parents to warn them, but they'd shrugged it off as a lover's tiff. They were close to Tristan and liked the idea of me with him. Derek was there on business. He knew who I was. He came over and asked if I was okay. We got to talking, and he gave me his card, said if I needed anything, I just had to call. I didn't think too much about it at the time. But then, a few weeks later, I'd done some digging into Tristan and what he was up to. I knew he was meeting with people in the Three Rivers Pack, but I didn't know who. I suspected there might be a plot between the Packs to take over, but I had no proof. So, I called Derek. He didn't believe me. But he didn't shut me down, either. He needed proof and said he'd help me get it."

A silence hung in the air as we all digested her words. "And that's how you ended up working for him?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, he made me feel useful. I wasn't a traitor to my Pack; I was protecting them. Derek saw that."

I glanced at Shya, her profile illuminated by the passing streetlights. There was a certain fierceness in her eyes, a kind of strength that came from overcoming hardships. There was a lot more to her than just being a Pack princess, and I had the feeling Mason would be in for one hell of a ride if he ever decided to make a move.