Maddox let out a growl.
“Are they members of your pack?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. They’re in a pack that my stepfather wanted to take over. It’s Tristan, the Alpha of the Lowlands pack. And his Beta. And his brother. I don’t understand why they were here.”
He glared at their bodies. “Isn’t it obvious? Retaliation for taking you hostage.”
“It’s just not how my stepfather would operate. He wouldn’t send a relatively weak Alpha and two men onto your property to grab a cub. I mean, you saw how ineffective they are. It would just make him look bad, and also, nobody goes after cubs.” At Maddox’s scornful look, she said with exasperation “Seriously, you jerkoff. That’s the kind of thing that would bring the Council of Elders down on his head. He wouldn’t want to risk that.”
The Council oversaw Death Challenges, but they didn’t usually get involved in day to day pack affairs – unless someone had violated the Covenant, the code of conduct that governed all wolf shifters. Cubs were off limits. Nobody went after another pack’s cubs.
Maddox glanced back at their bodies, his brows drawn together. “Maybe he came after us to impress your stepfather.”
“No, if anything, from what I’d heard he was so against my stepfather taking over his pack that he was ready to accept a Death Challenge, even though he was sure to lose. This makes no sense at all.”
“Well, they’re here, and somehow or other I get the feeling that your stepfather was behind it. It’s time to end this,” Maddox said. “We need to go back now. Things to do, shifters to kill. Let’s move it.”
Katrina let him lead her back to the main pack area, with a dull feeling of despair settling deep in the pit of her stomach. No matter who won, hearts would be broken and things were going to change forever for both packs.
Chapter Four
Maddox had Katrina wait outside of his office. She’d requested the opportunity to speak to her family, and he’d granted it. Why not? It just rubbed their snouts in the fact that he’d taken her hostage.
First things first. He was being put through to Roman, who apparently had been expecting his call.
He leaned back in his upholstered leather chair, phone held to his ear as it rang. Carver stood by the door, arms folded over his chest, watching.
Maddox heard a click on the other end. “Hello?” Roman’s voice was cold and betrayed no emotion.
“Nice try. Your idiot minions failed,” Maddox said in a low, rumbling growl. “They died like cowards, howling for mercy.”
“I challenge you to a Death Match in the arena,” Roman Coffman said quickly, without even asking what Maddox meant.
“Took you long enough. Name the date and time.”
“Noon. July First.” Now, that was a surprise. Did Roman need an entire month to get prepared? Every Alpha was always in a state of readiness for a challenge. Maddox was sure that Roman trained daily and kept in peak physical condition – just as Maddox did.
“How about tomorrow?” He wanted to get this over with.
“Are you hard of hearing? I said July First.”
Maddox growled at the insult – but he had no choice. Since Roman had been the one to issue the challenge, he got to pick the date. Maddox had just never heard of the time being expanded out so far.
He almost felt as if Roman had rushed to issue the death challenge so he could pick the date – but why? What possible advantage would there be to waiting a month?
If it had been any longer than that, he’d have appealed to the Council. Hell, he could even appeal to them now. He thought about it. Of course, the entire time they were waiting, he’d have to keep Katrina here – to return her would be a sign of weakness.
Speaking of which…
“Fine. Spend your month training, old man, not that it will help. And now, your stepdaughter wants to speak to you. I’m going to put you on hold while I wait for her, because I’ve reached my tolerance level for the Mordhaus pack today.”
He set the phone down, and gestured at Carver, who went to fetch Katrina.
Katrina walked in, looking wary, and came behind the desk. He inhaled deeply through his nose, before he could stop himself. Why did she have to smell so damn delicious?
He picked up the phone again. “Even though you are weak, and unable to control or protect the members of your pack, I choose to permit you to speak to our hostage.”
He handed the phone to Katrina, ignoring Roman’s snarls of anger and shouts of rage. Something about Maddox drowning in his own blood, blah blah blah.
* * *
“Roman! Please quit yelling! It’s me,” Katrina said. “Is everyone all right?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they be?” Roman said, sounding offended, as if she were questioning his leadership. She wished she could ask him about what was happening in town, and why everyone was so upset with their pack, but with him in this mood, it wasn’t the best time. She also couldn’t talk about it in front of Maddox.
Frustration welled up inside her. Roman seemed to listen to her pretty well when she talked to him in person, when her mother was there. He pretty much worshipped the ground her mother walked on – not surprising, because her mother made the perfect trophy wolf and was every bit as socially ambitious as Roman, if not more.
Yet another reason she needed to get off this damned property – she really needed a face to face with him.
“How badly have they mistreated you?” Roman asked. “I need to report all of their violations to the Council of Elders.”
“They have not mistreated me. Other than kidnapping me, I mean. But I’m being fed well and nobody has abused me. They are behaving according to the Covenant.” The Covenant had specific rules about how hostages were to be treated.
“I doubt that the Killingworth pack ever follows the rules of the Covenant,” Roman said, his voice cold.
Katrina bit back an angry response. Was he calling her a liar? What the hell was up his butt today?
“I can only report what I observe,” she said stiffly. She wasn’t being particularly diplomatic, but screw it. He was being a dick, and she’d never seen the point of fake social niceties.
Maddox was standing next to her, leaning on the desk. She tried not to let it distract her; whenever he was close to her, she felt that warm flush sweep through her body, and her heart sped up as if she’d just run a marathon. She prayed he didn’t notice; he was stuck up enough already.
“Your mother wishes to speak to you.” Roman’s tone was frosty. “Janet! Can you come here?”
She heard a rustling sound, and then her mother’s aggrieved voice. “Katrina, dear, you will of course remember to represent our pack well,” her mother said.
Katrina felt a ripple of exasperation roll over her. She’d been kidnapped, and that’s what her mother had to say to her? Not that she should be surprised.
“Of course I am,” she said impatiently.
“Remember your manners. We must show those beasts that we are superior to them. You are eating with the correct forks and spoons, of course?”
The only time Katrina bothered to eat with the proper forks and spoons as she’d been taught in etiquette school was when she ate with her family. She tried to make sure that happened as infrequently as possible.
“Mother, they use one set of silverware. For heaven’s sake.”
“Good!” her mother crowed. “Then, ask for a proper table setting, and when they refuse, you need to say very loudly that it doesn’t surprise you that these beasts never learned proper table manners. Oh, I know, say that they must have gotten their etiquette training at the dog pound.” She sounded utterly delighted with herself.
Katrina rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’ll show sure show them. In fact it’s a little harsh. It might make them cry.”
“Katrina Coffman, are you disrespecting me? And in the presence of another pack? I can not believe all of the money that I’ve spent trying to teach you to behave properly, and even after all this-”
“My last name’s not Coffman! It’s Hagan! You married Roman, I didn’t!” she yelled, and slammed the phone down on the receiver.
Maddox sat there on the table, trying to suppress his laughter. “Would you like me to rustle up some more silverware for you?”
“I swear to freaking God!” Katrina stamped on the floor. She began pacing. “Seriously. I’m being held hostage and the only thing my mother cares about is making sure that I announce that our family is better than everyone else. My mother is the shallowest, most pretentious-” then she stopped and bit her lip. She’d just insulted her pack – in front of their mortal enemies. Everything that she was saying was true, and she’d lashed out because her mother had hurt her feelings by as usual caring more about appearances than she cared about Katrina, but she shouldn’t have revealed this to an outsider.
“Forget I said that,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. “Forget you said what?”
“Thank you.” Great, and now thanks to her mother, she owed Maddox for actually being decent. She couldn’t decide who she was maddest at right now.
“Thank me for what? By the way, your stepfather requested that the Challenge be held in one month.”