Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Lyle and his bi tch mother didn’t know I snuck out after the three of them, and Shawn, Mason, and Kora didn’t know either. Those two idiot men were still under Kora’s spell. Oh, she might not have been a real witch like Deborah, but she still had her charms.

B*tch.

She was a traitor’s daughter, and here I was, the one being tossed around like a wh*re. Called a traitor.

All of this was her fault.

Well, Mason would have me back in a heartbeat after she was gone.

Under cover of darkness, I padded around outside the motel but let out a huff of frustration when I realized none of them were in a room with a window. That meant I’d have to go inside.

I shifted back into human form and sauntered, n*ked, into the motel. I’d been planning to do a shimmy or two, maybe let the guy in the booth bend me over his desk if need be, but it turned out the whole lobby was deserted.

“Ring bell for service,” I murmured at the sign under the booth’s glass window. Right. Like I’d be doing that.

This seemed like a perfect opportunity to me: Sure, I couldn’t see the ledger from where I was standing, but they wouldn’t have checked in under their own names anyway. I would just have to go down the hall and sniff them out.

I shifted again and put my nose to the floor, grimacing at the layers of Goddess knows what had seeped into the carpet over the years. It was hard to sort through all the smells, but I finally caught Mason’s. I’d know that smell. anywhere.

Once I was outside the door to room six, I shifted to my human form once more. I ji ggled the handle on the door. It was unlocked.

Fools.

I quietly opened the door, thanking whoever ran the place that it didn’t squeak, and saw the two of them. They were sleeping, tangled up in each other.

And he’d bitten the bi tch.

Fury boiled in my gut, and it was all I could do not to let out a shriek of rage. My Mason had marked her as his mate, without a ceremony or anything! He’d given me no time. No time to object. No time to prepare.

My nails dug into the palms of my hands, but my rage was soon replaced by a delicious smugness.

This was going to be the shortest reign as Luna in history.

I tiptoed toward the bed, but they were too exhausted to notice my approach. And Shawn wasn’t even there at all. What better luck could I have?

I stood right over Kora, my nails elongating into claws. I was going to slash her pretty throat, then blame it all on Shawn. Who would Mason have to comfort him in his time of need?,

Me, of course.

Just as I reeled back for a slash, a strong hand caught my wrist. Another went around my throat.

If I could have, I would have screamed, but there was no air.

We backed out of the room together and passed an older, balding man just outside the door. The man closed the door with his foot, barely ruffling his striped pajarnas.

“I’ll thank you not to bother my guests, Miss Nightshade,” the older man drawled.

I choked on a reply, but all that came out was a wheeze.

The mystery man who had hold of me backed us into an empty room. Another without windows.

“Close the door, would you, Jim?” my captor asked.

Shawn.

The door closed, and a key turned in the lock behind us.

Then Shawn released me. I stumbled against the wall, gasping for air.

“Giselle,” Shawn said, his eyes glinting in the low light of one flickering, bare, overhead lightbulb.

“Shawn!” I coughed. “You didn’t have to strangle me.”

“Oh, I did. I really did. You’re just lucky I didn’t finish the job-yet,” Shawn replied.

I glared at him, incensed. “I’m your packmate and not some traitor’s child like you. You have no right to touch me!”

“I may be a traitor’s son, but you’re a traitor.” Shawn cracked his knuckles. I could see angry tension in every squeeze of his muscles.”

“I-I am not, I protested. There was no way he could know that..

“Giselle, it’s so funny what people will say to a man when they assume he’s not going to make it out of a place alive. For instance, they might tell a man that he and his whole team were caught because a little birdy told them where. to find us.” Shawn switched hands, cracking his knuckles some more..

“You have no proof it was me. Nothing that will jeopardize my place in the pack,” I said, raising my chin.

Shawn just laughed. It was a frightening, hollow sound that raised the hairs on the back of my n*eck.

“Do you have any idea how they died?” Shawn asked me.

“I don’t know: you tell me,” I sniffed. “It’s not like it matters. None of you matter.”

Shawn slammed his fist into the wall beside my head. “They mattered to me!”

“What are you going to do, kill me? Mason won’t welcome you back into the pack with open arms, then,” I snorted.

Shawn leaned in very, very close. “Who said he was going to know?”

I stood under the shower for over an hour, washing the blood and the images of my fallen comrades away. As much guilt as I had over them, and as many torturous nightmares I would have of the spearhead team in the future, I knew I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep over what I’d done to Giselle.

When I stepped back out of the shower, the door to the room was open and Jim was there, humming as he dropped blo ody odds and ends into a large, plastic bag.

“Uh…” I began with a swallow. “You don’t have to… I mean… that is…”

“I’m sure there are hungry forest creatures who would appreciate murderess a’la carte,” Jim replied before I could even complete a sentence. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind taking the other end of this, she’s quite heavy.

Dumbly, I nodded and helped Jim carry what was left of Giselle out to the woods. We sc attered her among the underbrush and left her for the wild animals.

Once we returned to the motel, Mason was up, sniffing the air. He pulled the door to number six closed behind him to let Kora sleep.

“Was Giselle here?” Mason whispered, frowning.

“I took care of it,” I said.

He sniffed the air some more, looked from me to Jim, and back again, then simply nodded. “Good.”

Jim was subtly closing the door to what he’d lovingly called the “burgundy room” while Mason sized me up.

“It was her, wasn’t it,” Mason said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, Alpha.” My blank expression didn’t waver.

“Did she suffer?” Mason asked.

I coughed self-consciously. “Yes, Alpha.”

Mason clapped me on the shoulder. “Good,” he said again.

I rubbed the back of my n*eck. “I’ll just… go play some more cards with Jim. You probably want to spend more time with your mate.”

“Your mate.” Mason corrected me.

I blinked. “Pardon?”

“There’s something I need to do, and I won’t be coming back from it,” Mason said softly. He gripped my arm. “Tell me you’ll take good care of her. Promise me.”

“I-I promise,” I replied, stunned.

Mason nodded. “Wait here. You’ll know when to go home.”

“A-Alpha?” I stuttered.

But he was gone.