“Forcing myself to, yes. But I can sense him now, in the torture room, though I can’t see him. I’m convinced Veyda could. She was very powerful.” She frowned as a new question surfaced. “But if he was there, why didn’t he intervene when Braden and his wolves attacked the compound and rescued me? If he possesses this kind of wave power, why didn’t he use it then?”
Fergus spoke up. “He might not have been able to. He might have needed a host, the way he uses Julio.”
Dread rode her hard. Until this moment, she’d thought Julio was the problem. Now she knew he was little more than a pawn of Glissane’s in some larger game. Men or women of power often wanted more, then much more.
Fergus asked. “But why Savage? Why not take over Elegance?”
Kiara thought she understood. “He would risk being exposed among our kind. We would be able to detect him more easily than the wolves in your territory could. Here in Savage, he has a powerful advantage.”
~ ~ ~
Warren sipped the last of his beer then fell into a deep well of thought. Like Kiara, he’d labored under the belief Julio was the problem. But as a wolf, Julio had limitations. He couldn’t employ a spell to make himself invisible or to create a wave of power to incapacitate an entire pack of wolves.
Warren mused aloud, “These packs Julio took over, they were the two smallest in our territory.”
“Yes,” Fergus responded. “But he’s combined them and now he’s the alpha of a pack almost as large as yours.”
“True. But only after he’d subdued each pack separately. I’m wondering if Glissane can do the same with a single, but larger pack.”
“Maybe he can’t,” Kiara offered. “Maybe it’s the reason why he hasn’t attacked Caldion even though you’re absent. Surely, all he’d have to do is march over there with Julio and together, they’d do their thing. So, I’m guessing Caldion won’t be as simple as either of the two he blended.”
Warren tapped his fingers on the table. “Here’s what I think. Glissane needs the alpha out of the way. So long as the alpha lives and can function, the pack remains loyal. Julio wouldn’t be able to bond himself to my pack or any other if the alpha was alive.”
“There’s something else,” Ralph said.
Warren shifted his gaze to him. “What’s that?”
“It’s rumored Julio keeps the wolves in line with emerald flame.”
“Oh, no,” Kiara murmured. “But it makes sense. Most of the wolves I know would never want to be pack-bound with that bastard.”
All the men turned to look at her since she rarely cursed. Fergus’s lips curved. “You said it exactly right.” He reverted his gaze to Ralph. “Now that I think about it, the few times I’ve come in contact with wolves from Julio’s pack, most of them bore the flame markings on their necks and faces.”
“Should we get the Trib involved?” Ralph asked.
The Tribunal, which served as the government for the five territories, had its own policing force and created the laws for their world.
Warren snorted. “Look, as much as I would love to call on Donaldson and have him hunt Glissane down and throw him in jail, it’s not going to happen. The Trib doesn’t have the manpower or the tacit authority to come in here and attack Julio’s pack. It’s that simple.”
Ralph turned his head toward the door. His feet were moving before he said, “I’m hearing Susie. I have to go to her.”
Warren didn’t have a chance to prevent him. Or the heart. He could hear Susie howling her grief.
Fergus stood up and started to pace. “We’ve got a real shitfest here.”
Warren turned once more toward Kiara and took her hands in his. “I have no right to ask, but can you help us out? You have your invisible spell-cloak and you and I could do some spying of our own. What do you say?”
Yet as he looked at her, once more time slowed to a stop. He felt caught in-between seconds as he held her gaze. She was so beautiful, with her large brown eyes, her arched brows, and a complexion like cream. But what he loved even more was the glint of wolf-like excitement he saw reflected in her expression.
Every part of him felt drawn to her in that moment as though he wanted to swallow her up in a huge embrace, maybe never let her go. Somewhere deep in his mind, the words floated up from the loneliest part of his soul, She’s my mate.
At nearly the same moment, however, he repressed the sensation. He could never bring a witch into Caldion.
“Warren?” Her melodious voice brought him back.
“What did you say?” he asked.
She smiled and caressed his face, her fingertips stroking his scars. “I said, hell, yeah. But I want my meal first.”