“Cam, your side…”
“Does not affect my ability to speak, does it?”
Viktor let out a low growl and attempted to steer her back toward the bed anyway.
Of course, she wasn’t having it.
Camille sidestepped him and padded into the living room. Though he was annoyed, he was still relieved when she trailed her fingers — ungloved — over his forearm as she passed him. His eyes were glued to the sight of her claws.
Retracted, he thought, chest swelling with pride, just like she said.
“I’m fine.” She peered at Benny, her dark brows lowered. “Why would a cougar shifter come after my consort, Benjamin?”
Benjamin? Viktor choked on his laugh even as he winced. He knew that look, that tone. She was advancing on his second with a keen, distinctly ruthless expression, as if she intended to get the information out of Benny with her claws if necessary. “Cam—”
“That’s pack business,” Benny answered, cutting him off. His second raised an eyebrow at Camille, his expression stony. “Sorry, Miss Solbourne, as much as I respect what you did out there, I’m not about to tell you all our secrets.”
Viktor didn’t like that. He didn’t like that at all.
Frowning at his second, he slowly informed him, “Cam is pack.”
“No, she’s not. Not yet, anyway.” His response was cool, quick. “How do I know that she’s got your best interests at heart? How do I know that she wasn’t the one who set you up? I don’t.” He pinned Camille with a hard look. “Look, I don’t think you did anything wrong, and I want you to be good for my alpha, but until I know for sure, I’m not putting Vik or this pack at risk.”
“Benny.”
“I know, Vik,” he said, a deep frown grooving lines around his mouth and eyes. “I know, but this is how it is. We almost lost you last night. I’m not risking that shit again. Period.”
Viktor took a step forward, hackles raised. A deep, resonant growl rumbled in his chest. In an instant, he was more coyote than man, though he didn’t look it. “She didn’t have anything to do with what happened last night,” he bit out. “You know that as well as I do. And if I decide to tell her our secrets, that’s my call, not yours. Understood?”
He didn’t often play alpha with his pack, since it was his father’s favorite intimidation tactic, but in this he was immovable. His mate deserved respect — if not for the fact that she was his, than because she saved his fucking life.
Benny held his gaze for longer than anyone else in his pack would have, but it was only a handful of seconds before he had to tear his eyes away, his jaw clenched hard enough to make the muscles in his rugged jaw twitch.
“It’s not about her,” his second argued, face flushing. “It’s about—”
“I’m a stranger.” Despite Viktor’s insult on her behalf, Camille did not appear fazed.
Laying a cool hand on Viktor’s arm, she said, “I understand. I wouldn’t tell you all my family’s secrets either, Benjamin.” Eyeing him shrewdly, she continued, “However, I know for a fact that my cousin is going to demand answers. Not only was his friend put in danger, but an alpha was nearly assassinated on his watch.” She arched a dark, winged brow. “And, of course, I’m his cousin. Whoever is behind this chose to die the moment he pointed that gun in my direction.”
“Even if doing that might start a war?”
Camille didn’t hesitate. “Yes. We’re kin. There is no price we would not pay to protect one another.” She paused, her expression darkening. “Or to get revenge on their behalf.”
Viktor caught Benny’s eye. They shared a look of grim understanding.
What had once been a private bid for a better life had just become something much, much more complicated.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I know we haven’t been close in a long time, Vik, but you could have at least had the courtesy to tell me you were planning to leave.”
Viktor braced his elbows on his knees and looked up at Theodore from under his brows. Camille sat on his left, her back ramrod straight, and Margot perched on the armrest beside her, one hand on his mate’s bare shoulder. Camille’s shredded turtle neck lay neatly folded in her lap, leaving her in a silky black bra and that awful bandage.
Magic hummed in the air and made his teeth ache as Margot worked to close the wound on his mate’s side.
He had to force himself not to peek at her, to try and gauge her reaction to the news. Anxiety was a tight band around his lungs, squeezing the air out of him. Gods, we only just started to get things settled between us. Now this?
Did she even want to live in the wilderness with his small pack? She was an elf. Elves usually lived in cities, where they lived comfortable lives surrounded by steel and glass and wealth. They had no time to discuss what they wanted for their future — they’d barely even kissed — and now he was being forced to lay everything out without preamble, without care, with an audience. He couldn’t think of a worse way to get her feelings on the subject than that.
On the other side of the room, Theodore stood with his hands on his hips, his suit jacket spread out like purple silk-lined wings and his expression thunderous. Every few seconds his eyes darted to Margot and Camille. Every time they came back to Viktor’s they were darker, angrier, than before.
“It wasn’t your business,” he argued, knowing that he had to stand his ground. Neither he nor his pack had done anything wrong when they initiated contact with the Alliance. They might live under the thumb of the elvish government, but they were not beholden to it. “If we want to move to a new territory, the only thing you’re required to know is the day we move out.”
Theodore made a sharp sound with his tongue and teeth. “Did you even think about what would happen to this territory when you left? What kind of chaos you could invite into the city if you just abandoned Merced with no warning?”
“Of course we thought of it.” Viktor shifted a little, seeking the calming effect of contact with his mate. When their knees touched, his heart rate slowed a fraction, but it was not enough to completely douse the agitation burning in his chest.
“There was no point in opening our mouths until the negotiations went through, was there? Imagine we started looking for a pack to take our place and then the deal fell through, or they voted against letting us in. You want chaos? That might have opened up the door to my pack being attacked and the territory taken anyway.”
Shifters didn’t take well to broken promises, after all.
“So instead of telling me privately, you went behind my back and then put my cousin in danger.” Theodore’s expression was rigid, his eyes two black chips of fury.
“That’s not fucking fair and you know it,” Viktor shot back, temper rising. Gods, he was just trying to do what was right for his people. How was he supposed to know that the path would lead here?
“Isn’t it? You entered a high stakes negotiation with some of the most dangerous shifters in the UTA and you didn’t think to even have a detail with you? One fucking guard? Was my cousin supposed to be the one to—”