Page 173 of Carnage Island

“Right. Good talk. See you soon,” I interject, ending the call. Because I have no desire to hear the rest of that statement from my father.

His clan is notoriously affectionate.

Much to my chagrin.

Yet they somehow kept the pregnancies to a minimum.

It’s a magic I’m going to have to ask about because otherwise Clove is going to end up pregnant every year.

An irony that’s not lost on me considering how concerned we were about her ability to go into a proper heat.

I should have taken my own advice and listened to my wolf that first knotting.

Oh well.

We’re where we need to be now.

A complete clan.

Preparing for the future.

And ascending to our rightful place in the pack.

We’re free, I tell them all via the mental link.The Elders lifted my sentence. We can finally go home.

We are home,Volt replies, his voice low and content.

I walk into the room to see him happily knotted inside a dozing Clove.

He’s right.

Clove is our home.

Our heart.

The center of our clan.

Our love.

* * *

It isn’t until much later that I finally reply to Alpha Dirk.

He sends me a series of surveillance photos from Wolfe Island with the date of the attack.

They all show Gafton talking to a pair of guards, one of whom is that dick Jack that tried to drown Clove.

The photos are clearly from a video camera, but Alpha Dirk cleaned up the imagery to make them clearer.

I show Volt and Caius, who both snort.

“Leave this with me,” Volt says. “I’ll have a nice chat with Jack and let you know what I learn.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to deny him.

But he missed his last assassination assignment—something that infuriated our client. Fortunately, Caius knew exactly what would shut him up—so Volt is due another kill.

“All right,” I agree. “But don’t bring his balls back for Clove. I don’t think she would appreciate the present.”