Kiara gestured for him to come forward. Ralph looked uneasy, his gaze darting around. Warren knew instinctively his nerves weren’t due to either his or Fergus’s alpha status. Instead, he’d swear Ralph was feeling guilty as hell about something.
Kiara crossed to the kitchen doorway to let them know she’d arrived.
When she sat down next to Warren, again, without giving it a thought his hand went to her knee. Her fingers quickly glided over his and pressed down in warm response.
Ralph drew his attention away. “I need to come clean and now seems like the right time.”
~ ~ ~
Kiara felt both alphas tense up. She’d worked with Ralph for the past year and then some to move at-risk wolves off the Strip. She knew his good heart despite his chosen profession. No one took better care of his workers than Ralph.
She couldn’t imagine what kind of confession he’d come to make. He’d been through hell over the past couple of hours. He’d almost lost the love of his life, his club had been shot up and a number of people he cared about had been killed. Now, what?
“Spill it.” Warren’s sharp tone had her squeezing his hand in warning.
He shot his gaze to hers, his emerald green eyes flashing fire.
He could glare at her all he wanted, but she knew Ralph and what this was costing him. Don’t jump down his throat or he might piss on my beautiful earthen floor.
Warren’s eyes widened then he laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Fergus asked. He was frowning as he glanced from Warren to her.
Warren shook his head, but didn’t answer. Instead, he returned his attention to Ralph. “Sorry for barking at you. I know you’ve been one of the best club owners in Savage. Whatever you need to tell us, I know it’s in the context of a difficult line of work.”
Kiara resisted the urge to pat his hand in approval. Instead, she worked at staying calm because she had a feeling what Ralph was about to say wasn’t going to be easy for either Warren or Fergus to hear.
Ralph grew paler still, but he drew his shoulders back and started in. “For the past several months, I’ve known Julio was working with a wizard, but I didn’t say anything, not even when Julio took over the packs and killed the alphas.”
Fergus interjected. “You know he killed them then?”
Ralph nodded his head slowly. “I hear all the rumors, but this time, Susie got a call from her cousin, a wolf who lives in the eastern sector not far from the Bridge. He was there the night Julio took over the second pack. Her cousin witnessed the battle. He was just far enough away that the subduing wave missed him. He said a wizard showed up, moved behind Julio and it seemed to this wolf, the wizard took possession of Julio.
“At first, I wasn’t sure I could believe him. That wolf is on so much emerald flame he has flame points up to his eyeballs. He’s a complete flame freak. Plus, he drinks like a fish. But the more he talked, I knew he was telling the truth. I mean maybe the drugs and the booze kept the wave from taking him down.”
“What wave?” Both alphas spoke at the same time.
“The wave. That’s how Julio and this wizard do what they do. Some kind of wave comes out of Julio and anyone in the vicinity is knocked unconscious with no memory of what happened. But Jim, Susie’s cousin, said he thought maybe he’d been outside the wave’s reach. He recalls feeling a weird vibration then the pack wolves passed out cold.”
Ralph compressed his lips before continuing, “He saw Julio make a phone call and his army descended on the battlefield, though it wasn’t really a battle, just a K.O. in the first round. Some of his men hauled the alpha in Jim’s direction.
“Jim hid, but he saw it all. They dragged the alpha into the forest and took off his head. What happened next was worse. They boxed up the head and that’s when the wizard showed up. He took the box then directed the wolves to take the body straight to the Savage morgue. He had a man there ready to give the alpha to the incinerator.”
Warren slid his hand off Kiara’s knee. She almost reached for him, but Warren had stopped eating. He turned in his chair and leaned forward resting his forearms on his legs.
Kiara felt his ire boiling, a sensation that felt like pinpricks all over her skin. She knew he was working hard to control his temper. She wanted to say something to diffuse the moment.
But it was Fergus who gave the subject the right turn and addressed how the pack was taken over. “So, a wizard somehow uses Julio to create a disorienting wave of power.”
Kiara glanced at him. She realized there was a huge difference between the alphas right now. Warren was almost beside himself with rage, while Fergus actually leaned back in his chair. He’d crossed a booted foot over his thigh and plucked at the buckles.
Ralph’s eyes were wide as he stared at Fergus. “That’s right.”
She felt it then. Fergus was communicating telepathically with someone. The recipient felt female. Of course. Fergus was talking to Mary, his alpha female. Kiara could also sense her influence.
She’d known Fergus before and after his bond to the veterinarian from Revel Territory. He was a changed man and all for the better. He seemed bigger to her now, somehow. More in command of himself.
Warren, his voice edged with accusation, asked, “Which wizard?”