37. Mai

Istepped out of The Nouveau Table, my eyes going immediately to Wally's car. Darkness cloaked the interior, making it impossible to see inside. Good, I didn't want Brock to have noticed Wally when he left.

"Mai, fancy seeing you here."

I turned to see Brock leaning against the restaurant wall.

"This place is a bit upmarket for you, no?" he said as he straightened himself and walked toward me.

"Brock," I returned evenly. "I see you've crawled out from under your rock to bless us with your presence tonight."

"Ah, the little bitch still has some claws." His gaze was unsettling, but I refused to look away. "Seen anyone interesting tonight?"

I frowned. Was he fishing to see if I'd seen him with the Bridgetown wolves?

"I'm not really interested in who's who these days, Brock. I've got better things to do than check out what people are wearing and what skank is dating which dickhead."

He shrugged. "Just making conversation. You know how it is."

"Do I?" I raised an eyebrow. "Well, don't let me keep you from your nocturnal activities."

A flash of irritation crossed his face, but he masked it quickly. "Give my regards to your brother."

I stared at him with a bored expression on my face, then flicked my fingers in a "you're dismissed" gesture.

He clenched his jaw but managed to keep his cool. "See you around, Mai."

"Count on it," I murmured, watching as he walked away, his figure retreating into the darkness.

Once he was out of sight, I made my way to Wally's car and slipped inside, tension still vibrating through my veins.

"Are you sure about this?" Wally asked. He had turned off the engine and the headlights, and we were bathed in a quiet sort of gloom. After my little chat with Brock, Wally and I had texted Sofia to see how she was getting on. She'd sent one reply:

I'm busy. Will be in touch when I have something.

She'd then turned her phone to "do not disturb"—I knew this because not only did my new super-duper phone tell me, but she ignored all my texts and calls. We'd spent the next couple of hours driving around all the places where we thought she might have gone. Finally, I'd called time and said we needed to go back to Jem's.

"He needs to know, Wally," I replied, unfastening my seatbelt and turning to face him.

"We don't have any proof. You said yourself, you didn't hear Brock even talking to them. Only saw he sat with them, and then what they said after he left. And we haven't heard back from Sofia yet and what she might have found." His voice was laced with concern.

"I know, but this is bigger than we thought. If Brock is trying to form an alliance with Michael and Camile to push Jem out, or worse, kill him so Hayley can take over, then we need to prepare. Now."

Wally nodded, but his face was unhappy. "Okay, just be careful. Sofia said she was shot down when she tried to bring this up. You don't know how he's going to react to the news that members of his own Pack are plotting to oust him."

I put my hand on his and squeezed. "It'll be okay. Just find Sofia and see what she knows. We need to work out how big this is and who else is involved."

I got out of the car and walked toward the Alpha house. After a moment, I heard Wally start the engine and drive off.

As I opened the door, I noticed Hayley's scent was conspicuously absent, but Jem's lingered in the air, a marker of his presence. That scent guided me, and I followed it, letting my instincts lead the way through the quiet house.

The muffled echo of my footsteps was the only sound as I padded down the corridor, heading toward Jem's study.

I found him at his desk, bathed in the warm glow of a desk lamp. He was leaning back in his leather chair, lost in a sea of paperwork, his brow creased in thought.

"Jem," I began, hesitating at the doorframe.

He glanced up from his papers, eyebrows furrowed, but his gaze softened when he saw me.

"Mai! Sorry, I was lost in these papers. I didn't even realize you were home."

I frowned, stepping into the study. Jem was a werewolf; he should have heard the door, heard my footsteps, smelled me long before I came into the room. He was a Pack Alpha. I shouldn't have been able to surprise him.

"We need to talk."

Jem nodded, putting the papers down. "Of course. Is this about you moving in with Ryan? I noticed all your stuff is gone. I've got to say, Mai, I'm glad you decided to stay a while and over the moon that you're giving Ryan a chance."

My foot faltered from one step to the next, but Jem didn't seem to notice.

"No, this isn't about that. I need to talk to you about some things I've heard. About a plot against the Pack." I looked at Jem, my gaze steady, even as my heart pounded.

He paused, pen held in mid-air, and locked eyes with me. "Mai," he began, his voice almost a sigh, "you know better than to pay attention to Pack gossip."

"This isn't gossip, Jem. This is about you." I swallowed hard, gathering my courage. "There are members of the Pack who are trying to oust you."

His brow furrowed, eyes narrowing. "You've got your wires crossed, Mai. You must have heard wrong," he said, his voice firm yet controlled.

Jem's dismissal didn't surprise me. But the blatant denial, the refusal to even consider the possibility, stung.

I took a deep breath, determined to make him listen to me. "Jem," I began again, "I'm not wrong. I followed Brock tonight. He met with three werewolves from the Bridgetown Pack at a restaurant downtown. They were talking about brokering an alliance."

Jem looked at me, taken aback. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have come to you with this if I wasn't sure, Jem," I stated.

Jem stood up and came to sit on the front of the desk. "Okay, I'm listening. Tell me what you know."

I told him about Sofia's rumors, about us deciding to follow Brock, about the two-hour meeting with the Bridgetown Pack members, and what they said afterward.

"So, you never heard Brock mention an alliance?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. I know what you're thinking—this could be a ruse by the Bridgetown Pack to make you think that Brock is betraying you. Hoping to sow doubt in your mind, make the Alpha bond even weaker. But how did they know I would be there? That I would overhear what they said?"

Jem shrugged. "I'm sure news of your return has reached the Bridgetown Pack by now. I'm also sure they would recognize you—we've had your photo on flyers and websites all over the state for the last four years. Maybe they weren't even there with Brock, but he stopped to see what they were doing in our territory. Then they saw you in the booth next to them and decided to take advantage of that."

"You know that's unlikely," I replied.

"Unlikely, maybe, but possible. You don't know anything, Mai. You have no evidence, no hard facts, just speculation and guesses. I can't accuse Brock of trying to get rid of me with this. Besides, Brock isn't a threat. He doesn't have a mate, and only an Alpha pair can challenge for the Alpha spots of a Pack."

I started pacing across the study floor. "Okay, so we get evidence. We talk to Brock. Find out why he was there. There is something going on, Jem. Brock doesn't need to challenge you; he only has to oust you so Hayley can rule alone. The Pack is not healthy, it's not happy. People are talking, whether you like it or not, and you need to get your head out of your ass and see what is happening right in front of you."

Before he could respond, the front door opened and shut quietly, and familiar voices echoed down the hall. Ryan and Derek were here.

The comforting scents of Ryan and Derek washed over me as I watched Jem's gaze shift toward the study door.

Ryan appeared first, his tall frame outlined by the low light. His ice-blue eyes swept the room, landing on me. His gaze softened for a moment, a silent question if I was okay. I gave a slight nod, assuring him I was. His relief was clear, even as he moved to stand protectively near me. Derek followed, his expression grave.

"We tracked down the witness," Ryan began without preamble, his gaze never straying far from me. "He didn't see Carson leave the scene."

What witness? What scene? Who the hell was Carson?

I opened my mouth to ask, when Ryan continued, "There's more. The witness picked up a banknote dropped by the murderer. It had Brock Madden's scent all over it."

"Ah-ha!" I said, pointing to Jem.

"Ah-ha, nothing," Jem replied gruffly. "You don't even know what we're talking about."

Okay, he had a point.

"Did the witness actually see Brock there?" Jem asked.

Ryan shook his head.

"It's circumstantial at best, then."

"We also ran into Michael on the way out."

"Michael?" Jem echoed, his surprise evident. "You okay?"

Ryan nodded, his gaze flicking from mine to Jem's. "Yeah, but something was off about it. He was alone, and he really seemed convinced that Carson did it. He thinks you've lost control of this Pack, and it's leaking into his territory."

A tense silence filled the room. I could almost see the gears turning in Jem's mind.

"Someone's been feeding him bad intel on us," Jem said, his voice speculative.

Ryan nodded. "I think so. It would explain why he's been recruiting—if we had an unstable Pack on our borders, we'd do something about it."

"Someone's trying to start a war between our Packs," said Derek.

A chill ran down my spine at Derek's words. Jem stared at them. "But why? To what end?"

"And is Brock in on it?" I added.

All eyes in the room turned to me.

"What do you know?" asked Derek.

I repeated my evening for Derek and Ryan.

Ryan walked over to the table. "Two groups: one in the Bridgetown Pack—it might be Michael and Camile, or it might be some of their enforcers—looking to take over the Three Rivers Pack. The other group is in our Pack."

"We need more information," Jem stated.

"Sofia is talking to some people, those she thinks might tell her what's going on. Maybe we'll know more when she reports in."

Derek's head whipped around at the mention of Sofia's name. "You have Sofia involved in this? Where is she?" he demanded.

"I don't know. Wally's tracking her down."

"Fuck!" Derek dragged a hand through his hand, then looked at Jem.

Jem nodded, and Derek strode out of the room.

"You two should head home," Jem said, going back around the desk and sitting in his chair. It wasn't a question.

"But—"

"No, Mai, there is nothing more to say tonight. We'll know more in the morning when Sofia and Derek have checked in. Be here at eight. We can meet over breakfast." He looked at Ryan, who nodded.

Ryan walked toward me, and I sighed, knowing Jem was dismissing us. He needed to think about what we'd all said. I got that. I just wish we could brainstorm it together. But maybe he was right. We needed more information before we could decide what to do.

As Ryan got closer to me, his eyes changed from serious to warm and full of intent. My wolf went on alert.

"Come home with me?" he asked. I felt a quiver in my vagina, and heat flushed up my body.

I ignored the sensations my traitor body was having. "We might be staying in the same building, but it's not my home."

I spun around, walked out of the house and across to the Shaws' home. Ryan got to the door before me and held it open for me.

"You sure you don't want to forget our past for the night?" he asked, his tone dark and seductive.

I glared at him. "Where's my stuff?"

"In the spare room. Mai—"

"I can find it. Goodnight, Ryan," I said firmly and stormed up the stairs. I could feel Ryan's heated gaze follow me, and I could have sworn I heard him chuckle.