Page 74 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

Zipper man glanced at me when his phone pinged, then handed it over.

“Check the pictures,” he said.

I did. He only had one of Lindi. I looked up at him in question.

“No picture of you,” he clarified. “Check theirs.”

“Why?”

“We weren’t here. We didn’t see anything. We don’t know anything. Especially where some rich bitch disowned by her family disappeared to. We might be connected to kidnapping you, but like you said, nothing is tying us to working with her.”

I nodded, understanding.

“Tell him the million he sent is more than enough.” He looked at the guy to my right. “Leave your phone with her.”

He handed it over.

“Hope I never see you around,” he said.

“I’ll pretend I don’t know you if you do.”

He nodded and walked away with the other two.

I looked at Lindi. She was lying on her side with her hands tied behind her back. She was staring straight ahead, bitterness and hate etched into her features.

I knew I shouldn’t ask…that the answer wouldn’t change anything, but I asked anyway.

“Was there even a reason why you started targeting me?”

“Other than you liked acting like you were better than the rest of us, and we didn’t matter? No.”

I shook my head and slowly got to my feet. Not once had I acted better than anyone. I’d ignored people and minded my own business until they made themselves my business. However, I didn’t bother saying any of that. Nothing would get through to her. And, honestly, she didn’t matter anymore.

Instead, I walked over to the table where Lindi’s designer purse was being defiled by the dirty surface and pulled out her phone. Her face wasn’t too swollen for facial recognition, thankfully, so I was able to read through her recent messages.

I found the conversation between her and Storm, as I’d suspected.

“So how do you know Storm?” I asked.

“I didn’t. She reached out to me last night and suggested we work together.”

It aligned with the texts that I’d read. Storm had promised to contact Lindi when I left the office, which meant that either Storm had been watching outside or that someone inside had tipped Storm off that we were leaving.

“Did you know she was a shifter going into it?”

“No. Will that save me?”

“You paid people to kidnap, rape, and kill his mate. What do you think?”

“I think you’re just as heartless as me. Only you don’t show it.”

“I’m only heartless when I need to be. You’re heartless when you want to be. That’s the difference between a ‘live and let live’ person and a ‘kill them all because they disagree with me’ person.”

Something banged somewhere in the building, and I heard Bennett shout my name a second later.

“Here!” I called back.

Bennett and Konni crashed through the doors, looking more threatening than I could have ever imagined.

Fur rippled along Bennett’s skin, and his expression screamed mayhem and murder.

Beside him, Konni’s eyes were glittering with gold flecks, and the air around him looked like heat waves were warping it.

He had scales covering his face and hands, too.

“Please, no shifting inside, Konni. I heard dragons are big, and I don’t trust the ceiling if you bump it.”

His scales immediately vanished along with the weird waves in the air around him.

Bennett didn’t calm down, though, as his gaze swept over me, then lingered on my face, specifically the cheek that felt hot and throbbed with my heartbeat.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“I’m not.” He crossed the space and pulled me into his arms. I felt him shaking as I hugged him back.

“I know,” I said, using my hand to smooth over the material of his shirt. “But you need to hold off on your need to lock me in a room for now. I have to show you something.”

He pulled back to look at me, and I showed him Lindi’s conversation with Storm.

“Storm was either waiting for us, or she was working with someone inside,” I said when he’d read it all.

He pulled out his phone and called Dad on speaker.

“Storm plotted with Lindi to kill Wrenly.”

A growl echoed over the phone.

“I demand blood for blood,” Mom said.

“I’ll put out the call for a hunt tonight,” Dad said.

“Wait. Where’s Storm now?”

“In your mom’s office,” Dad said. “Miranda brought her back to get answers.”

“And did you find out if she was working alone or if someone in the office was helping her?” I asked.

“Olivia was working with her,” Mom said. “Don’t worry. We already know who to hold responsible and will make an example of them before we leave.”

“Leave?” I looked at Bennett. “Did that many people sign the petition?”

He shook his head.

“No, Sweetheart,” Mom said. “We won’t stay where the entire pack doesn’t love you as much as we do.”

My eyes watered as Bennett kissed my forehead. I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed them to put me first for a change. I thought I’d moved beyond that, but knowing they were willing to give up everything for me, not because they’d lost faith in their pack, almost broke me.

Bennett inhaled as I pressed my face into his chest.

“Mom. Dad. We’ll talk more at the house.” He hung up and scooped me into his arms, holding me close and comforting us both.

“You can head to the car,” Konni said. “I’ll follow with this one after I clean up in here.”

“Thank you,” Bennett said.

We’d just cleared the doors outside when the windows farther down on the second level exploded with flames. I watched the glass rain down as Bennett put me into the front seat.

“Konni?” I asked.

“It’s okay. He’s cleaning the scene with dragon fire. If anyone can trace Lindi to the building, they’ll think she died there.” His fingers brushed over my cheek. “Are you really okay?”

I looked into his loving eyes and nodded.

For the first time in my life, I genuinely believed I could have the future I wanted, filled with love, laughter, and family.

* * *

The woods were quiet, as if all the animals in the area knew what was about to happen.

Lindi, Storm, and Olivia knelt in front of several of Mom and Dad’s supporters. This time, more people were standing behind Mom and Dad than those who weren’t. The people who stood opposite didn’t look as angry as they had last Saturday.

I glanced at Storm’s parents, who were off to the side. Her dad was silently crying. Her mom wasn’t doing anything, just staring straight ahead, pale and vacant.

“The people in front of us attacked me outside of a challenge with the intent to kill our future alpha’s mate,” Miranda said. “I demand blood for blood.”

“She wasn’t killed,” someone from the other side said.

Grandma stepped forward. “Storm and Olivia turned against our own outside of a challenge.”

“She’s a human,” Storm growled. “She’ll never be our own.”

“She’s human,” Grandma said. “Just like the human you worked with to try to kill her. The world is filled with them. Trying to deny them their place is like trying to deny the air you need to breathe. Our laws exist for a reason. We do not harm humans unless in defense for a reason.

“The hatred that you carry for humans won’t fade. It will warp and grow until humans notice and tear this pack apart. To save the pack, we need to cleanse it. I demand blood for blood.”

“Blood for blood has been called according to our laws,” Dad said. “All are required to witness. Those who don’t are exiled from the pack.”

Everyone started to undress. Storm’s dad turned to his wife and started to help her out of her clothes.

I looked at Grandma. She took my hand, patted it, and shook her head discreetly.

“I’ll walk with you rather than run,” she said.

“So will we,” a voice called from the trees. I watched my brothers stride through the opposing people. Tall with dark hair and dark eyes, they looked so much like Bennett. But with more laugh lines.

Emotions hit me hard. I wanted to run and jump on them and hug them hard. But I also wanted to hit them just as hard for leaving me when I’d needed them.

“She’s mad,” Aiden said to Karter.

“I have eyes,” Karter said. Then he stepped behind Aiden and pushed Aiden at me.

It was a ploy to hug me without me having time to react, and it worked. His smell was exactly how I’d remembered. I hugged him and sniffled.

“I hate you,” I whispered.

“I know,” he said back.

“Not you, Aiden,” I said, turning my head and looking at Bennett. “Never take them away from me again.”

“I won’t,” he promised.

Karter tugged Aiden away to hug me, too. Neither of them undressed, thankfully, as the rest of the pack finished up. But Bennett did. I watched him strip and saw his anger and aggression. Mom and Dad’s was close but not quite to his level of rage.

When he turned and locked gazes with me, his softened.

“Tonight, they pay. Tomorrow, the world will be a little better because of it.”

I didn’t say anything. The human in me had a hard time following pack law, especially when it meant violence and death.

But I knew Lindi had no problem with either.

She’d proven it so many times. She’d had plenty of opportunities to reform and hadn’t taken them.

She’d only gotten worse. And while Storm had always been a pain in my ass, I’d never believed she was a killer.

She’d proven me wrong by working with Lindi, knowing what Lindi meant to do to me.

Olivia, I didn’t know well, only that she’d never liked me.

Bennett kissed my forehead. “Everyone needs to witness.”

I nodded, understanding what he was saying—if I wanted to have a place in the pack, whether as a daughter, sister, or mate, I couldn’t turn away from what was about to happen.

“You have a five-second head start,” Dad said.

Olivia and Storm sprang to their feet.

Lindi didn’t move. Instead, she looked me in the eye and said, “I hope you wake up feeling like you're being suffocated for the rest of your life.”

“Five,” Mom said before shifting.

The rest of the pack shifted and sprang for the woods.

Mom tore out Lindi’s throat where she still knelt, making sure to keep her body between me and Lindi. She blocked my view to spare me, and I thanked her by not looking away.

Bennett chuffed to gain my attention then sprinted for the trees.

“Come on, my little Wren,” Grandma said.

She led the way with Aiden and Karter trailing behind me.

“So, did either of you find your mates?” I asked as we walked.

“No,” Aiden said.

“We weren’t really trying,” Karter said. “I heard you hoped we’d mate with a Rottweiler.”

“Not nice, by the way,” Aiden said.

“Wasn’t meant to be.”

“What’s it going to take to earn your forgiveness?” Karter asked.

“Bennett gave me nine million dollars. What do you have?”

“Nine?” Karter asked. “How did he manage that? All I have is my car, some stock in Wulf Enterprises, and about two hundred and fifty thousand from working the last three years.”

“Same.”

“You’ll have to ask Bennett,” I said. “But I’ll take your salary, and you can keep your car so you can go back to work as Bennett’s lackey.”

“You’re quitting?” Grandma asked from in front of me.

“Yep. The end of August. Then I’m going to school to get my degree.”

A chorus of howls rang out ahead of us, followed by snarls.

“Better pick up the pace,” Grandma said, walking faster.

We caught up just as Bennett ended Storm and Dad ended Olivia.

I didn’t look away.