"Even after I embarrassed myself with a crush you clearly don't return?" Paul asked quietly.
"Even then," I replied, flexing. This wasn't the time to joke, but if I could squeak even a half smile from Paul, I would.
"Kansas is perfect for you, by the way. I don't think I've said that yet."
"Could you tell Tyrone that?" I wasn't truly worried about Tyrone, but it would be nice to clear that air.
"He knows. I think he's just mad because he wants more than I'm willing to give right now. I can't belong to anyone. I've spent my life belonging to someone. I want to be a part of something, but not be owned by it. Does that make me sound crazy?"
Maybe to some shifters, but not to me. Paul and I were more alike than he knew. If I hadn't already made my choice about what to do next, hearing him say that would've convinced me. "Nope." I rubbed my knuckles into his hair, and he batted my hand away, smiling.
"This plan was a bust." He brushed his hands off on his pants. "Your vehicles won't be drivable, not without a lot of work. I could go on pack lands, sneak a car out? Delia keeps most of the keys in her office, but maybe—"
"No, you don't have to do that. I'm putting a stop to all of this."
He didn't look relieved by that. He scowled. "How?"
This whole thing had started at my refusal to pay pack dues. I didn't think money could fix the issue now, not anymore. But I'd been clinging to my pride from the first letter. To protect my family, my mate, I'd have to deepthroat my pride and go straight to the source. I had to go now. Kansas and the others would only try to convince me not to, just as surely as I would've convinced my mother not to go if I'd been aware of her plan.
"Go back and tell them I'm going to try something."
"Wyatt, no."
From the ground, Jeb groaned. He wasn't going to be out for longer.
"Yes, Paul. If you can get the nomads to stay, let them stay, but if Delia goes for my plan, we won't need them. No one will have to go anywhere."
"Delia is more manipulative then you are giving her credit for, Wyatt. If this doesn't work, she's got a backup plan and a backup to her backup plan."
"It won't matter, not once the councilperson gets there. She'll have no choice. I'll make sure of it."
"You're going to go down for it," Paul growled. "You're going to take the blame for everything."
When I didn't reply, he cursed.
"Fucking Walkers! How can I be mad at any of you when you're all just dying to sacrifice yourself for everyone else? Think about yourselves for one gosh dang minute!" Paul got so worked up, he let some of his accent slip through.
Jeb groaned. "Th-they're here! The Walkers are here!" he shouted before I could swing my foot through the air and slam it into his face.
Shouts and loud footsteps answered him, joined soon by growls and barks.
"Go, Paul. Don't leave my mate to wonder." He'd be upset enough as it was. If there was a way I could do this without upsetting Kansas, I would've. There wasn't a way, though. Not now. "Go!"
I didn't wait to see if he obeyed. I didn't have much time either and shifted, hitting the ground running. For over a decade, I'd worked as hard as I could to stay off of pack lands, but the day had finally come when I was running back.
I just hoped I would make it.
***
Sneaking onto pack lands wasn't nearly as difficult as it had been for us to tear ourselves out of them. It didn't take as long either. Most of the representatives were at the mouth of our driveway, keeping the others in place. I came across a few patrols, but the shifters were either too preoccupied or didn't take their job seriously enough. That was another problem with bringing in representatives to assist: this wasn't their home, their pack. Nothing was keeping them from slacking off. The worst Delia could do was send them home.
Sneaking into the Alpha's mansion was a little more difficult, but thanks to the construction equipment still laying around, I was able to break into the south portion in an area where they'd yet to remodel. It smelled of old soot, and the air was musty, but I was able to navigate through, undetected, to a door that opened into a hallway.
Here, the construction crew had torn out everything that had been damaged and replaced it with new wood, nails, and paint.
"If they run, they still look guilty. That will only help us," Delia said from somewhere down the hallway. I couldn't be positive which room she spoke from, not now that so much of the mansion had been rebuilt.
"And if Alpha Walker dies before then?" John asked.
"He won't die." Delia scoffed her reply.
My hatred for these two people battled my desire to protect my family.
My family won and would, every time. "He won't die because he isn't poisoned?" I asked.
Their response would've been comical if I was any mood to laugh. Delia whirled around while my father literally clutched his chest in fright.
The two shifters who were supposed to be guarding the room lunged forward, grabbing my arms. I didn't resist them.
"You can save whatever threats you have ready. I'm here to confess. I didn't do it. None of us did, but then, you know that. I will confess to poisoning Alpha Walker—"
"Do you think that will really matter?" Delia sneered.
"Yes. I do. Because I think you need to save face. Your people don't trust you. And that's a shaky step away from them deciding not to follow you after all. You've got every pack in the country looking at us. You need this situation to blow over, and you need it to do so in a way that makes you look good. I'll confess to poisoning Alpha Walker, in writing…" I took a deep breath. "And I will sign over the deed to The Greasy Stump. The building, the business, all of it will officially be pack property. Just like you wanted. Call off the representatives, send them home, and come up with an explanation for the council. Then everything goes back to how it was. My mother will be free to go—"
"I had nothing to do with that," Delia said.
"Then it will be easier for you to be the one to fix it," I replied coolly.
"My wife will not be leaving my—"
"Be quiet, John. The pack is more important than your marital problems," Delia snapped.
"Do we have a deal?"
Delia's beady eyes darted from John to the other shifters. My mother must've already been in my childhood home. I'd been hoping to see her, if only to make sure she was still okay.
"What about you? No provisions for how you are treated?" Delia asked.
Just then, Delia's butler rushed into the room. "Elder Walker, ma'am, he's here. Just docked."
That would be the councilperson.
"Better decide quick, Delia," I didn't look at my father. I couldn't and not hit him at the same time. "Take what I'm offering you and accept a small defeat or let this blow up in your face, more than it already has."
Delia smiled, and I was pretty sure she made the same face a shark made right before slicing a seal in half. "Deal. I want you restrained, though. How else can I trust you?"
I smirked. "You should really be ashamed by that," I said, not to Delia, but the guards at my sides.