Page 23 of Ascendant King

“With the other mage houses thinking that it’s an internal House Bartlett matter, the human government will stay out of it.” Cade returned to the car, and I followed.

At the gate, we were buzzed in and pulled up to the house to find everyone waiting.

The four new cars fit easily in the driveway. By the time everyone had parked and gotten out, Nia was there, her expression grim. She crossed her arms, a single eyebrow raised as she surveyed the group.

I grinned, approaching. “We have more members.”

Annoyed, she uncrossed her arms and flashed eight fingers at me.

“Yes, I left with only eight guys, but now we have five more and their families!” I gestured. “That’s Emilio—he was my mom’s second—and his wife and kid. There’s Russell, Joanna,Nolan, and Jade. All of them were Ghost Pack, but now they want to be Los Santos.”

The wolves paused at hearing their names, glancing at me. I shook my head; Nia was clearly not in a mood to be receiving visitors.

Nia’s nostrils flared, but she looked them over critically. Frowning, she looked at me. I shrugged, shaking my head briefly.

No, I wasn’t sure they were trustworthy, but I had to try. I had to believe that I could trust people again.

Nia rolled her eyes. Pointing at Heather, she gestured to the Ghost Pack converts and the guest house beyond a row of hedges. Heather grinned.

“Hey, all, welcome to Los Santos Pack. We’re glad to have you. Now, if you’ll come this way, we’re going to get you all settled.” She waved them toward the guest house, some members of Los Santos Pack helping with the luggage.

“They uprooted their lives for me,” I said to Nia. “We have to at least give them a chance.”

“I wouldn’t,” Emilio said. He was still at his car, handing off bags to a pack member. “It’s not smart to trust us this soon.”

Nia stared him down, as though to indicateshecertainly didn’t trust him this soon.

“Hey”—I gestured him closer—“what did Ghost Pack say about what happened with my mom and everyone else?”

Emilio handed the last bag to the member of Los Santos and then approached, hands in pockets, shoulders slouched. He looked both of us over, clearing his throat.

“Not much. They said they’d killed all the Castillos for the safety of all wolves.” Emilio let a lip quirk up. “Not that anyone believed them. Benji stayed in Flores for a while to make sure everyone left alive was loyal to Ghost Pack. Not everyone survived.”

Nia’s face was going colder and colder, her lips pursed tight, and I knew she was thinking that any good wolf would have fought them off or left.

“You did,” I said firmly. “And that meant you were in Flores when I needed you.”

Emilio swallowed, his voice going rough. “He did say—Benji, that is—he used to threaten me and say he had your mom’s… body.”

I froze, but I remembered how Benji had taunted me. “You can say it. He said he had her pelt.”

“Yeah,” Emilio said, looking down. He’d clearly been trying to save my feelings.

“How?” I asked. “She died at House Bartlett, which is hours from Flores.”

“He said it was for services rendered. We always thought that it was because he’d killed all the Castillo kids.” Emilio’s cheeks heated, his gaze returning to the concrete.

I felt a white-hot burn of anger. Everything around me stilled, and all I could hear was my own breathing. I didn’t look at Cade, didn’t ask him the question that now ate at me. Instead, I turned to Nia.

She frowned, her eyebrows twitching down before smoothing out.

“No?” I asked her.

Cade was the one who answered. “No. We burned your parents’ bodies. I?—”

He broke off before he could say,saw. If he didn’t see their bodies being burned, if he was confused about that, then maybe he was confused about other parts of his story too.

“Did you actually see the pelt?” I asked Emilio.