Chapter 12
Aimee took a deep breath as she entered the back door of Peltier House. This was the last place she wanted to be, but she better than anyone else understood why she had to return.
Her family would kill Fang and his entire clan if she didn't.
Steeling herself for what was to come, she closed the door and headed for the stairs.
She'd only gotten as far as the hall table when her brother Dev came out the door that led to the kitchen to see her. She saw relief in his eyes a second before it was replaced with anger.
"So you're back."
"It's my home."
He scoffed at her. "I would find another one, if I were you."
She stiffened at the coldness of his tone. "I'm being thrown out?"
"You're being warned. You picked your side and it was the wrong one."
"Leave us."
Aimee looked up at her mother's commanding tone. Maman was at the top of the stairs, glaring down at them. Dev shook his head at Aimee before he headed back toward the kitchen.
She flashed herself up to her mother's side. "Don't even think about striking me, Maman. I'm not in the mood for it. And I will hit back this time."
Her mother narrowed her eyes on Aimee. "You would sacrifice all of us for a hybrid orphan without clan?"
"Never. But I will not stand by and see an innocent condemned for nothing. Can you not see the lie that is being told, Maman? I know Wren. I talk to him. He's no threat to anyone but himself."
Still her mother's face was angry and cold. Her family, and in particular her mother, wasn't stupid. Aimee had no doubt that her mother and father knew she'd left voluntarily with Fang.
"You betrayed us all."
Aimee sighed. "If doing the right thing is betrayal, then yes, I suppose I did. So what are you going to do now, Maman? Kill me?"
Her mother growled ferociously at her, but Aimee stood her ground.
The air around them sizzled an instant before something shattered in Wren's room.
She followed her mother, who rushed to the door and slung it open. Aimee half-expected to find Wren there.
She could tell by the scent that it was a tiger all right, but the blond man wasn't Wren.
"What are you doing here, Zack?" her mother asked.
The tiger curled his lips as he opened a drawer. "The bastard escaped us. I need something with his scent on it to disseminate to the Strati."
Aimee arched a brow at that. The Strati were elite Katagaria soldiers who were carefully trained to hunt and to kill. Her brothers Zar and Dev, along with her father, were Strati warriors.
"You need nothing of his," her mother said, to Aimee's surprise. "Get out of my house."
Zack didn't listen. He moved to open another drawer.
Her mother used her powers to slam it shut. "I said for you to leave."
The tiger moved to confront her. "Don't screw with me, bear. You have as much to lose by this as I do."
"What do you mean?"
But Aimee already knew. "You're the one who spoke out against Wren at the Omegrion. You lied."
Her mother jerked her head to look at Aimee. "Do not be foolish, cub. I would have smelled a lie."
Aimee shook her head. "Not if the animal makes a habit of lying. He could easily mask his scent."
Zack took a step toward her only to find his path blocked by her mother.
"Is Aimee telling the truth?"
Zack answered with a question of his own. "Were you?" He arched a brow at her. "Do you really think Wren's gone mad? Honestly? You just wanted him out of here and you seized on any excuse to expel him. Admit it, Lo. You don't want anyone here but your family and it galls you to have to play nice with the rest of us."
She growled low in her throat.
Zack narrowed his gaze. "If Savitar ever learns the truth, he'll come for you and all your cubs. There won't be a brick left of your precious Sanctuary."
Her mother seized him and threw him against the wall. He landed with his back against it, but it didn't appear to faze him at all.
Zack actually laughed at her. "What happened to the rules of Sanctuary, Nicolette?"
Aimee caught her mother before she could attack the tiger again.
"Get out, tiger," Aimee snarled. "If I let go of my mother, there won't be enough left of you to worry about Savitar or anything else."
Zack pushed himself away from the wall. He glared at them both. "You have even more to lose than I do. Give me what I need to cover both our asses."
Now it was her mother who laughed. "Are you completely stupid? Wren has never left his scent on anything. Look around you, idiot. There is no personal item here. As soon as an article of clothing comes off his body, he has always washed it or destroyed it. He even keeps a monkey here so that its scent camouflages his own. You will never be able to track him. Face it, Zack, the cub has more intelligence than you and your father combined."
Aimee was suddenly impressed by her mother. She'd never really thought about why Wren had arrived at Sanctuary with Marvin, but obviously her mother had known all along.
Zack's nostrils flared in anger. "This isn't over."
"Oui, but it is. You come here again and code or no code, I will see you dead."
Growling, Zack vanished.
The tension in the air eased considerably.
Her mother let out a slow breath as she turned toward her. "Aimee, call your wolf and warn him what has happened. I am sure he knows where Wren is and he can warn him that the tiger is cornered and desperate. In his position, Zack is capable of anything."
She frowned at her mother's sudden reversal. "I don't understand. Why are you being unbelievably understanding all of a sudden? No offense, Maman, it scares me."