Alpha’s Strength(22)

“I’m sorry, my Alpha.” Lake glanced down. He would comfort her, except he wasn’t going to undo Betsy’s lovely gesture by making it appear less than it was. Lake should probably be sorry.

He’d let her handle that emotion for a while.

Alexei tapped his nose. “We did try to use the human police. There aren’t any fingerprints in the system.”

Of course not. That would be too simple.

“But it told us that we are dealing with humans. I had heard that you faced similar problems, and I came a day early to see how you had handled it. However, I’m now wondering, as I sit here, if we aren’t dealing with something more nefarious than I originally thought. Do you think it’s possible that there is a conspiracy happening?”

“What kind of conspiracy could there be? Humans setting out to steal werewolf babies? That would be…”

He trailed off and turned to look at Betsy. Her eyes were huge as she stared back at him. Alexei wanted to know if it was possible for humans to be stealing werewolf babies, and the answer was yes; it was very possible. Only he couldn’t tell the other man that because the only people he knew who were stealing babies were his mate’s parents. His little mate had stood up for him in a room with another Alpha. She’d defended him from his sister, a woman with considerable dominance of her own.

And to reveal that crucial piece of information about her parents to a vengeance-seeking Alexei would be a betrayal. He would die first.

Fantastic. He was about to ask the man to enter into a treaty with him, and he was going to start the negotiations by lying to him. Or, at the very least, and it wasn’t much better, by omitting a very big piece of information.

Alexei turned left and right, watching all of them. “There are some amazingly hard to decipher emotions happening in this room right now. Would someone like to tell me what’s going on?’

Cyrus shook his head. “I’ve been considering the implications of your suggestion, and clearly my mate is doing the same. It’s a big, broad idea, and one we’ll have to dwell on another time.”

The most important thing for him to do at that moment was to get Alexei sent to his hotel and keep him distracted while Cyrus worked things out with Betsy. Then, once he knew what he could do for her parents, he would figure out how to undo this moment with Alexei. The other Alpha would never understand. Alexei had lost females and babies. He’d want revenge. Only he wasn’t going to be getting any off Betsy’s parents. Not if Cyrus could help it.

“I don’t believe you. Something else—”

Cyrus shrugged. “It’s really not my problem if you can’t decipher smells anymore. I can loan you my Healer if you’re in need of one. Otherwise, perhaps you can chalk it up to old age.”

“I am exactly two years older than you. Do you expect to lose your senses anytime soon?”

“I’m not you.” Cyrus shrugged again. Irritating the other Alpha would also distract him. Petty—but effective. “I don’t know when members of your family start to head toward the grave.”

Alexei stood up and then rolled his eyes. “I know that you’re baiting me. It’s easy to do, and I’m working on controlling my temper. I wouldn’t want to scar up your other cheek in anger.”

At the reminder, Cyrus rubbed the long mark that marred his left cheek from next to his ear all the way to the middle of his chin. He hadn’t thought about it in years. He’d had it such a long time. The battle that had taken his parents had also left him with that mark. The scar hadn’t bothered him in so long, he didn’t notice it anymore.

Did Betsy hate it? Did it bother her to look at it?

Shit. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was insecure and pathetic to boot.

He turned his attention back to Alexei. Easier to handle the ego-driven werewolf than whatever was happening to him. “If you think you’d ever get close enough to me to scar me, you’re sadly mistaken. I’d eat you alive before I dropped what was left of your body in the Hudson.”

“You’re funny. It’s a good thing I find you amusing, or I’d have to kill you.”

Cyrus walked forward like the wolf whose soul he had inside of him, with sheer and purposeful intent. “You came into my city a day early, uninvited. I get why you did it—I don’t trust phones any more than you do. We have business to conduct together tomorrow. A treaty to agree to in blood, if you’re willing.” Another agreement that would burn in his belly, but anything to keep his pack safe during this tumultuous time—until another Alpha Prime could be found…