Outside, she sucked in a calming breath, knowing better than to let Dani’s antics get to her. But it was hard to cool down when she was also dealing with Drina’s antics.
Leaning against a lamppost waiting for her, Alex frowned. “What’s wrong?” He crossed straight to her, every muscle tense. “Bree?”
She took another long breath. “It’s just Dani being Dani. I’ll tell you about it when we get back to the store.” Not right there, where any pride mates passing could overhear.
Minutes later, they were back at Pot of Gold. Alex shepherded her into his office and folded his arms. “Tell me.”
So Bree did.
Alex growled. “That fucking bitch.”
“She just keeps pushing and pushing. It’s almost like she wants me to challenge her. Which would be dumb of her, since I could kick her ass on my worst day.”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. “I need to have a little chat with—”
“No. This is for me to deal with, Alex. I know you want to help, but all you’d do by meddling is make me look weak.”
“You expect me to stand back and do nothing?”
“Yes, just as you and Vinnie expect me to stand back while you all go check out any tips he’s been given.”
Alex’s mouth snapped shut. “That’s different.”
“No, it’s not. Not even a little. Compared to everything else that’s going on right now, Dani’s no more than a minor hindrance.” Sighing, Bree rubbed at her forehead. “She never used to be this way, you know. She taught me how to shield. Helped me learn to control my abilities. She wasn’t mean to me, didn’t put me down. Well, not until I was around twelve.”
“Because at that point, you were growing in power at a fast rate. Everyone talked about how possible it was that you’d be stronger than her. Dani would just smile and say it wasn’t likely, but then you developed those abilities that the other omegas don’t have. It was obvious she wasn’t happy about it, so she put a negative spin on it.
“She’s spent years trying to convince you that you’re bad at what you do. You’re not, Bree. You just work differently than she does. It’s not wrong that you went your own way. And it’s good for the pride that they all have someone they’d feel comfortable going to. You appeal more to some while Dani appeals more to others. As primary, she should recognize how that benefits the pride; she should want what’s best for us all. But she’s too damn scared of losing her position.”
So scared of it, in fact, that she was prepared to stoop so low as to build a “Bree is gonna crack under the pressure if we don’t strip her of her duties” case. Skank.
Knuckles rapped on the office door.
“Come in,” Alex called out, his tone clipped.
Vinnie, Tate, and Luke prowled into the office, closing the door behind them.
“I hope you’re here to tell us that you had a long talk with Drina,” said Alex. “Bree just had a meeting with Dani. Apparently, in addition to all the other shit she did last night, Drina also made a complaint about Bree to her damn primary. Seriously, Vin, tell me you got through to her.”
The Alpha exhaled heavily. “Drina’s gone.”
Bree blinked. “Gone?”
“I went to her apartment to speak to her, but there was no answer when I knocked on the door,” said Vinnie. “I thought she was ignoring me, hoping to evade punishment. I let myself into the apartment with the master key. There are signs of a struggle. Even some blood stains on the carpet.”
Bree’s stomach knotted. “Blood?”
Vinnie nodded. “There are also a few bloody handprints here and there. Looks like someone took her. Her passport, purse, and clothes are still there. So is her phone, but it’s in pieces. From what we can tell, Drina went straight from your house last night to Dani’s apartment, Bree. After that, she headed to The Tavern, got a little drunk, and blabbed to people how she was going to ‘end’ you one day soon. She apparently planned to either shoot you or hand you over to the hyenas, if she could find a way to contact them.”
“And you think I might have killed her to protect and avenge Bree?” Alex asked him.
Vinnie frowned. “What? No. And I haven’t heard anyone else throw your name around either. The only name being mentioned is Paxton. The people who believe Calvin’s story are theorizing that Paxton must have heard about Drina’s behavior at The Tavern and decided to … eliminate her.”
Bree shook her head. “That’s a dumb theory. I mean, it would be the biggest overreaction ever. She was plastered, Vinnie. People say shit they don’t mean when they’re in that state. She probably loathes me, but I doubt she truly wants me dead.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But Paxton might not find that an excuse.”
“You think he took her, don’t you?” Alex asked Vinnie.
The Alpha twisted his mouth. “She certainly had reason to flee—she had to know I’d punish her. But she could have just packed some of her things and left. There was no need to make it look like she’d been taken. And Paxton, well, he might not have felt the need to get rid of her. But I do think he wouldn’t require justification to hurt someone—he’d do it just because it pleases him; any excuse would suffice.”
Bree looked around the room, studying each face. And she saw that, like Vinnie, they were leaning toward the explanation that Drina was snatched from her home.
Snatched by Paxton.
Shit.
“He will not get near you, Bree,” said Alex. “Look at me. Breathe.”
It wasn’t until that moment that she realized her breaths were coming sharp and fast. She took a deep, shaky breath, searching for calm. Her pacing cat was just as anxious. “You really think he’s back, don’t you?”
Alex rested his hands on her shoulders. “I told you about the brutal state I found Marino and his receptionist in. They were shot and then mauled. I’ve been thinking … What if the person who shot them and the person who savaged them wasn’t the same person? What if the client—who could only have been Dale Bray—went there, shot them, and then wiped away all evidence of his involvement from the agency? What if someone else later went there intending to get that information, realized they were too late, and got so pissed that they shredded the corpses in a rage?”
She stiffened. “By the second someone, you mean Paxton?”
Alex gave a slow nod. “If he’s close, he’ll have known about the attack; he may even have witnessed Vinnie interrogating the fox. As a lone shifter himself, Paxton would have the kind of contacts that would lead him to a lone shifter’s agency far faster than us. Maybe he went there to find out who tried to have you kidnapped—or, more to the point, he wanted verification that the hyenas were responsible.”
“But Paxton said he’d be better off killing me. If he’d gladly see me dead, why would he care what happens to me?”
“He talked of killing you when you were a kid, yes, but that’s the thing—he only talked of it. Paxton has no conscience—killing an eleven-year-old child would have been nothing to him, but he didn’t do it. He took himself away from you, probably thinking that distance would dull whatever hold he felt you had over him.”