Page 153 of Contested Crown

Heather found a pair of locks, and she handed me one. I secured the chains, and Cade slumped.

* * *

Everything else was logistics. Where we would set up headquarters, how to bring in all the lieutenants who’d stayed out when they heard it was a fight between me and Declan. In the end, the answers were simple.

We took over Declan’s sprawling house, running things out of his home office. There were enough rooms for the pack as long as they didn’t mind doubling up. It also gave us something defensible. Declan had already invested in security, and one of his guards happily turned over all the codes for his life and the promise of continued employment.

“What are you going to do about them?” Coral asked. Lily stood behind her, and I was surprised that it hadn’t been Lily and Jack who’d confronted me, but for all that pack dynamics were entirely foreign to them, they were picking up the cues quickly. Lily seemed to understand that right now, Coral’s word held more sway than hers.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “He won’t talk to me.”

“Your parents killed his. You lied about it,” Lily said, but at Coral’s sharp look, she bit her lip and looked away.

“I’m not going to hurt him,” I said.

“We need him if we’re taking on Leon,” Coral said. “The other houses will side with Leon against the Emperor Wolf, but if Cade is leading the charge or even involved…”

“They’ll consider it an internal house matter, yeah. House Morrison was clear on that point,” I said. I closed my eyes, leaning back in the office chair. I glanced out the window to Declan’s yard. It was green, greener than California had any right to be. Tropical plants blossomed sweet and brilliant flowers. Ferns unfurled enormous fronds that shaded delicate smaller plants from the bright coastal sun.

In the morning, the fog from the bay slunk through the garden, giving it an ethereal quality.

I’d never liked Declan’s house. It was too ostentatious, too much about him proving to everyone who didn’t want to let him into their country clubs and charity auctions that he didn’t need them because he had the wealth of Midas and just as few morals.

But now that the too many rooms were being filled with the noise and sounds of a pack, I couldn’t help but like it. This was going to be safe. This was going to be our pack house.

“Cade will be with us when we make our move,” I said.

“Okay,” Coral said after a pause. She and Lily left, and I looked up at the ceiling.

Everything in Declan’s empire was mine. I didn’t have to go after Leon anymore. I could leave it, leave him to his plans and his plots and the way he’d gained a foothold on other houses’ magic.

That would be the smart move.

I stood up, walking through the house, letting myself smell the comfort of pack, the comfort of knowing everyone in the house with me.

When I got to the back room, I took a moment to close my eyes, breathing deeply before schooling my face. I unlocked the door and stepped inside.

The bedroom was stunning. All dark wood and expensive furniture. Cade sat on a window seat, staring out at the back garden. When he turned to me, the chains around his neck and wrists jangled. The circles of iron were bound together, the metal itself preventing him from escaping.

“Ah, my jailer.” He tilted his head. “Come to see if I’ve forgiven you?”

“No,” I said finally. “No. I’ve given up on that.”

Both of Cade’s eyebrows went up, and he sat straighter, looking at me with open curiosity. “So why are you here?”

“I have to decide if I’m going after Leon.” I wanted to uncross my arms, to look at him like he was the only thing on Earth left, and I needed him more than air.

Cade tilted his head. “Now that you don’t have me to string along, why would you bother going after him? After all, he only has a drug that drains werewolves.”

“And I have an antidote,” I said. A few vials from Declan’s personal safe had been labeled as an antidote. The chemists were working on decoding it now because I didn’t trust that it worked as advertised, not when Leon was so confident his plan would work.

“Ah.” Cade sneered. “There’s no reason to risk your precious wolves and power going after House Bartlett.”

“Yeah.” I stared at him, my hunger undeniable. “The only reason I have left to go after him is you.”

“So, what do you want from me? Forgiveness in exchange for setting your pack on Leon? He’ll kill us anyway. Powerful mages versus wolves never ends well for the pack.” Cade’s blue eyes snapped with heat.

“I see the benefits of going after Leon, but if I do, I need your support. I have to be able to let you out of chains without you or Basil trying to kill me.”