Shit. Shit! How could she have been so clumsy! Beth scrambled to get out of bed, but Daniel's quiet signal and firm grip forced her to settle back down. He motioned for her to stay there as he got up instead, sliding off the bed as he headed for the door. He grabbed a robe folded on top of the low dresser, shook it out, and slid smoothly into it on the way, and when he opened the door, he was clothed and decent again. Mostly."Teo, what is it?""Daniel! You're usually downstairs before the pack gathers for dinner, but you were missing. I came to get you.""I'm fine. I'm not hungry tonight.""I couldn't find Elizabeth either. She was supposed to be helping with the arrangements...""Beth isn't in charge of that. We talked about that before.""Well, I remember, but Daniel - she's better suited to this kind of thing. You shouldn't go around with her so much. Leave her here at the pack house so she can help the other women do - you know, woman business, not going around doing dangerous t
It didn't take long for Matthew to put aside his panic and think coldly about the facts, however. Luckily, dinner went on for far longer than usual, probably because of the horrid downpour that began outside. None of the pack members who lived in the secondary houses wanted to go out and get drenched, so they took their time and socialized for several hours. Matthew took advantage by keeping to himself and quietly planning ahead, arranging answers for every possible question Alpha King Wyatt Troy might have for him. He still needed a powerful alliance with the man and he would take what was offered. After all, in the future, if Silver Nation's Heether pack went wild again just like before, Matthew needed guaranteed protection for his own pack...That was that, then. He had no choice but to put his faith in Wyatt Troy while he had the opportunity. And when he noticed for the first time that Daniel wasn't present, a sly plan began to form. If that man were here, he would definitely g
"You can't be serious." Wyatt's tone was utterly dismissive, the slipping of respect palpable with every word. He sat back in the armchair, eyes shadowing as he grimaced. "I know perfectly well you're not suited for Gold Nation politics. Let's not beat around the bush about that. What is it you think you can accomplish by going there, with me? Do you think you'll be any safer for having my company? You've seen with your own eyes that I have so few friends I came with none, and so many enemies that you, a stranger, had to come to my assistance or else I would have died that day. So what plan could you possibly concoct that needs your presence in Gold Nation where my most dangerous enemies will be? I can't protect you from them, Matthew Catii.""I'm aware. And I know I'm not the most gifted fighter, but I have men who will fight under me if needed. I can put out a summons back home for an entourage to accompany us -" Matthew began, but the other man cut him off swiftly."If you had su
By morning, Matt and Wyatt were already prepared for the journey to Gold Nation. No time to waste, and Matt in particular still had yet to figure out how to deal with the inevitable confrontation with Beth - he had agonized over it all night, and now it was certain she knew the secret he had tried to keep from her all this time. The flat, cold look on her face whenever he couldn't help but try to catch her gaze gave that much away. And if he had hoped deep within his heart that she had forgiven him - well, that wasn't happening.But it had been decades since she had died in his arms, thirty years. Couldn't she give him a chance? Couldn't she tell he had changed? Even if he had deceived her until now, it was only because she would never have given him a chance otherwise. So maybe...But for now, he needed distance to let her forget her hatred. Every second they were anywhere near each other, it seemed her coldness toward him only grew, so some space was the only thing that might softe
Disguises were one of Wyatt's many strengths. It should have been unsurprising when the circumstances under which he had met Matthew had already proven as much, but Matthew had never appreciated the intricacies behind just putting on a good act to fool the eyes. The business of getting false papers, remembering every facet of their false backstories, constantly being aware that he mustn't reveal too much lest someone think he was a little too interesting and start picking apart his lies - Matthew was much better at business where even if someone tried to lie and misrepresent the numbers, the numbers themselves were never the source of deception. But with disguises and falsehoods and the ordeal of pretending that he and Wyatt were mere businessmen on their way to Gold Nation to negotiate trade...It rankled his pride, especially since he had to pretend to be Wyatt's Beta.But at least he was learning more inside information about the Troy family than he ever knew, even in his fifty ye
"...I suppose I don't have a choice in the matter, since I'm being kept here." Matthew looked around the room with a meaningful glower and a tight smile. There would be no way for Andrew to take that as anything but a condemnation of his prisoner state. Neither of them were idiots, so if Andrew Troy thought he was going to mistake his circumstances for anything but forced captivity, then he must be out of his damn mind. "So what is it you want my help with?" he asked. "Assuming it's something I can assist you with in the first place.""Nothing too challenging for your abilities, I assure you," said the man. "But it's come time to choose a side at last.""A side? Against -""The rogue wolves. Their attacks are mounting, and I'm not going to sit around playing cool politics anymore when there are lives of actual innocents on the line. Before, they were only chess pieces to be played with or traded off, but things are different now. I'm not my father, or anyone else who came before me t
How ridiculously easy.Andrew had left the main estate moments ago after speaking with Matthew, the foolish heir apparent of Bronze Nation who had tried to throw his lot in with Andrew's father. If he were smarter, he would have known to side with the winning team, but there he was, trapped in a room in the middle of the Troy pack's estate until Andrew decided to let him go. It had been a toss-up in the beginning, wondering whether to play nice and fool the man or to show his cards from the get-go, but in the end, Andrew's pride had won out. He had a signature, after all. He was a persuader, a convincer. To let Matthew know that Andrew had been keeping him on a leash and collar all this time and that he would never be free of it would only set the man against him permanently, which was a bother. Allies when they were willing to subject themselves were so much better to utilize.After all, Andrew had more than enough troublemaking enemies as it was. For instance, Wyatt Troy, his fat
"And you're laughing, why?" Andrew asked testily. "You don't seem to understand your situation here. Or have you finally gone senile after the way you've been spiraling all these years?"Wyatt laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed. Andrew had always been sharp and clever, more than he had been at his age, but Andrew had one glaring weakness he had never been able to surmount: being humiliated. And laughing in his face while held captive in a dark prison cell normally reserved only for the most scorned of criminals, betraying not one ounce of fear or the respect Andrew craved so badly but giving him disdain instead - weakness, weakness, weakness.And it was well-deserved. Because Andrew had underestimated him. Did he really think the Alpha King of Gold Nation, his father who had come before him and taught him every trick in the book even if not through orthodox means, could be so careless that he would unwittingly fall into a trap as bland as this, without preemptive measures in