“I don’t know anything about where your sister went. I just know what I know. My father saved you from the pit, and I was supposed to save you the rest of the way. Until you went and started sleeping with him.”
“Cyrus.” Betsy’s voice was very low. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
He put his arm around her. “Take some deep breaths. Jensen, go get my sister.”
“Yes, my Alpha.” Jensen shot Nathan a look that could have scorched the earth before he ran from the room.
“Betsy, listen to my voice. You aren’t going to give this man the satisfaction of seeing you throw up.” She raised her now red-rimmed eyes to look at him. He would make Nathan suffer tenfold for the pain Betsy endured. “And we don’t know what is true. He is a stupid asshole.”
He’d said the last part loud enough for Nathan to hear and was rewarded when the other man cried out. Good, Nathan should know how lowly Cyrus viewed him. The man was nothing more than a coward pretending to be a tough guy.
“We’ll find out what is true and what isn’t. Then, I promise you, Nathan and his like will know the pain of crossing us. I give you my word.”
Betsy nodded, giving him a small smile that broke his heart for its bravery. Jensen rushed back in the door, followed by Lake. His sister must already know the situation because she walked right to Betsy and placed a hand on her arm.
“You feel sick? Like you might lose your cookies?”
Betsy laughed, a shaky sound. “Great phrase.”
“Thanks. I use it with the pack pups. It always makes them laugh. I think you’re doing better. I can feel some of the pain leaving you, and I think we can credit my brother for that.” She nodded. “But I can help the rest of the way.”
Lake placed a hand on Betsy’s arm, and Cyrus let go of his mate. Betsy needed the healing, not he, and he wouldn’t suck any of Lake’s magic touch from his mate by accident. He never thought about his own healing abilities. His pack’s Healer happened to be his family, and he used her whenever someone needed help, but Alphas could heal with their touch. There was no kind of magic to it, just plain old comfort in being held by the person who was responsible for the person’s care. It went along way to relieving fear and angst.
He didn’t know that he’d done that for Betsy. Their relationship would never be entirely Alpha and pack member. She belonged to him differently. Maybe his holding her would be more effective because of that. They’d have to find out together.
Cyrus walked to cage, where Nathan trembled. “You have a venomous mouth for someone so terrified.”
“You’re just an animal.”
That had clearly become the human’s standard reply and ultimately what all true believers said when they found themselves in this kind of situation. Lucian had held a policy of not dealing with them at all. His last summer with the Alpha Prime, Cyrus had witnessed him beheading two of them. Cyrus could remember that day vividly, not because of some kind of horror associated with it—beheading was certainly a brutally effective way to send a message back to the other true believers—but because he hadn’t felt anything at all about what he’d witnessed. Not one damn thing. They were humans who wanted to kill his kind; they needed to die, like removing a wasp’s nest before the creatures inside could sting anybody. Death was the only answer.
“You’re right.” Cyrus nodded. “I am an animal, sort of. But I’d never do to a woman what you did.”
Nathan spit from the cage, almost hitting Cyrus’ two-thousand-dollar suit.
“Spitting is a dirty habit.” Cyrus set down his coffee. “It spreads disease, and your fragile little bodies can take only so many encounters with illness before your hearts stop beating. If I were you, I’d be more careful, although I suppose it doesn’t matter. You aren’t going to live long enough to get sick again. When I’m done with you, I’ve decided to give you to my friend Alexei. I hear he likes to play with his food before eating it. You’ll beg for death before he’s done.”
Nathan cried out, big fat tears streaming down his face. The man wasn’t a true believer—he was a bully.
“Jensen, see that he calls his father for his daily report. He’ll be leaving with Alexei later and get the plane all set up for a trip, will you? A bunch of us are going to be visiting Montana tomorrow.”
Chapter Twelve
Betsy sipped her strawberry daiquiri and regarded the other women who surrounded her. They were all members of her pack, and they were all talking at once. She smiled at one who had said her name was Liana before she took another sip. The whole evening was different than she had imagined it.