2 Chapter 2

“You look good, if that means anything. I was a little worried you’d look like a chew toy left under the couch for weeks, but you don’t look like they’ve laid a finger on you.”

“They haven’t.”

They wanted to. God knew they did. They didn’t understand why their alpha brought a regular man into their home. And they felt more than a little betrayed that Darren wasn’t just some guy off the street. As a former Argenti agent, he had killed their kind for years. Darren wouldn’t be surprised if he had killed their friends and family. He didn’t hunt werewolves indiscriminately. Argenti was dedicated to only removing the truly dangerous wolves. The ones who couldn’t be trusted to control themselves. The ones who were already guilty. But what did that mean to them? Darren was still a killer. Still the enemy living in their ranks.

“Aden wouldn’t let any of his pack hurt me.” Or any of Jasmine’s agents, for that matter. “It’s not so bad having the strongest wolf in the city watching your back.”

The waiter showed up before she could respond, taking their orders and hustling back to the kitchen to place them. August toyed with the stem of her water glass, her intelligent eyes unwavering from Darren.

“Nobody really understands what’s going on, you know. Jasmine has eradicated most of your files, and we all have strict orders that fraternization will not be tolerated. There’s also a standing order that if you show up at Argenti without express prior clearance from Jasmine, you’re to be shot on sight. Did you know about that?”

“Yes. She left me a note saying as much. But she didn’t tell you why I’m living with Aden? Did she tell you anything about Halloween?”

“We know that Aden Richter killed Ray Giessen, because Ray was trying to set him up to take the fall for the ritual murders. And we know you’re the one who gave the information to Aden, rather than turning it over to Argenti. What we don’t know is why.”

“Well…that’s…an interesting interpretation of what happened. Not correct, mind you, or surprising, but interesting. Aden did kill Ray Giessen, but that was after Ray broke into Aden’s home and attempted to kill him. As for why I would help Aden over Argenti…Jasmine and Ray were behind the ritual murders. They were trying to create a human with all the strength and abilities of a wolf. In order for the magic to work, they needed to sacrifice somebody immune to a werewolf’s bite.”

August frowned. “But nobody’s…” Her voice trailed off as his meaning sank in. Argenti recruited the vast majority of its agents based on genetics. A rare disorder, found only in a sliver of the population, elevated the levels of silver in their blood, which in turn made them poisonous to werewolves. It also made it impossible to be turned. Darren was the only agent they had ever had who had the same immunity without the disorder. His came naturally, though family lore had never been clear whether his great-great-great-great-grandmother was a wolf or just involved with one. Either way, he’d always been faster, stronger, better than the other agents, which worked to his benefit since his blood didn’t have the same lethal effects.

“You don’t really expect me to believe Jasmine would orchestrate something as cold-blooded as that, do you? At least, not without proof.” The way she posed the last statement made it clear she hoped Darren would provide some.

“I didn’t believe it, either. I think maybe a part of me still doesn’t. But I got over my skepticism when she started chasing me with a knife.” Darren leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I don’t want any sort of war with Jasmine. She knows that, and I think she agrees that it’s best to avoid a conflict. As far as I’m concerned, we’re all going to live and let live.”

“Ha. Easier said than done, I think.”

“Why do you say that?”

She still seemed wary, but damn it, she was the one who wanted to see him, not the other way around. He’d been fully prepared to stand by the agreement he’d made with Jasmine. He was still prepared, but he was getting pretty sick and tired of people keeping secrets from him.

“Anything I say to you goes no further than this table,” August said. “You don’t tell the wolves, I won’t tell Argenti.”

“I don’t exactly confide in the pack.” Darren didn’t exactly talkto the pack. When he was forced to be in the same general area as Aden’s wolves, he kept to himself. He couldn’t imagine living like that for the rest of his life, but it was better than the alternative, which was living without Aden completely. “It’ll stay between us.”

August took a long swallow of her water before pushing the glasses out of her way so she could lean forward and create the semblance of privacy for them. All humor was gone from her face, her thin mouth a firm line. “There are rumblings about an upcoming power struggle between the packs,” she said, her lips barely moving as she spoke. “I don’t have a lot of specifics, but the one thing that seems to be agreed on across the board is that the Richter pack is going to be right smack at the center of it.”

Darren’s mouth ran dry. He sipped from his glass, but that did nothing to help. If he had still been a member of Argenti, he would be investigating the rumors, searching for the sources, and preparing to track down and kill any wolf that allowed a blood vendetta to spill over into the regular population. But generally, Argenti didn’t get involved in pack politics. If August was hearing the rumblings, and if she thought it was worth sharing with him, it could only mean they were bracing for a huge fight.