Page 117 of Contested Crown

The third one, the one who had wanted to fight me, strained against Cade’s magic, and I walked forward, grabbing him by the throat, digging my very human fingers into his fur.

“Submit,” I commanded.

He went limp.

And just like that, I had the beginnings of a pack.

ChapterThirty-Eight

Iknew the three wolves by name, the other employees too. The accountant was named Jason, the chemists Piper and Lee. The muscle belonged to Declan, but unlike his bodyguards, I knew them because they actually spoke regularly. Corey was the more assertive one, and Henry rarely contradicted him.

“Okay. You have a choice now.” I glared at them, letting my teeth come through.

My skin was still jumping, part of me still a wolf, still trying to assert dominance. I had shifted too many times in the past few days, and the wolf was clawing just under my mind.

After weeks of keeping everything together, the part of me that was a wolf wanted to roar, force them to the floor and onto their stomachs. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Cade stood in the back, his arms crossed, his eyes on me.

I felt pressure on my chest, the squeeze of Basil against my body.

Get to the point, Basil advised.

I cleared my throat. “All of you work for Declan. But Declan isn’t going to be around much longer. Now, you have a choice. Are you going to stay with me? Keep getting paid, keep working, or are we going to send you to the middle of nowhere with no way to get back?”

“In the middle of Los Santos Bay?” one of Declan’s guys, Corey, asked. I had played poker with him.

“Somewhere on the central coast. Somewhere far enough away that when all this goes down, you might be able to warn him, but you won’t be able to help him.” We had talked about this in advance, how much magic Cade would need to perform a teleportation spell that went that far.

Now, it was just about selling it. California was huge, but it wasn’t impossible to travel. Convincing them that by the time they got back, it would all be over was the key.

“You’re an idiot.” Corey looked at Henry, shaking his head.

But I saw Henry had doubts. I had taken him out first, the bruise on his head blooming purple.

“You’re going to need someone who knows the numbers,” Jason said nervously. “I’ll stay.”

The chemists agreed easily too. They all had family here in Los Santos, something to stick around for. When I looked at the wolves, all three of them ducked their heads.

One of them looked up, his eyes catching mine, and he nodded sharply before fixing his eyes on the floor.

“Are we only sending him or both of you?” I asked Henry.

He glanced at Corey but looked away before Corey met his eyes.

“Are you serious? You’re throwing yourself in with thisdog?” Corey asked.

Henry shrugged, which was good enough.

“Train ticket for one.” I pointed at Corey, still clutching his bleeding arm. Hopefully, he would decide to go to a hospital before trying to contact his boss.

He stood, throwing his shoulders back, ready to fight me. I walked forward, staring at him, my eyes meeting his, and he backed down, shoulders slumping.

I dug into his pocket, taking out a wallet and phone.

Cade stepped forward, and every eye in the room snapped to him. The tension ratcheted up, almost as though they had forgotten he’d been there in the first place.

Lee audibly swallowed.

Cade extended his hand, narrow strips of tattoo wrapping around Corey. They closed tighter and tighter until suddenly there was an audible snap, and then the man was gone, the tattoo falling to the floor and slithering back to Cade.