Page 41 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

A fter a brief talk with Austin and a hearty breakfast, Jude called a meeting with his entire Werewolf Alliance team, including Parker and Grant, who’d both slept only a few hours.

Wendell, too, looked tired as if he’d had a long night with too little sleep.

They were assembled in the office, leaning on the walls, sitting on the few available chairs, or leaning against the desk.

They’d congratulated him on his union with Danielle and seemed genuinely happy for him, but every member of his team was concerned about how this would change the dynamics within the pack.

“I know it’ll be difficult until everybody has accepted this new situation,” Jude said calmly.

“So what’s the plan?” Francisco asked. “What are you gonna do about the Alliance?”

Jude exchanged a brief look with his brother. They’d discussed this too and had finally come to an agreement.

“Here’s the deal. The elders can’t know about this. Not yet.”

“You’re saying you won’t even tell your parents?” Mason asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s right.”

Because if he told his mother, she’d tell his father, and with him being an elder, he would be obliged to report it. He couldn’t put his parents in that position.

“For how long are we gonna keep this a secret?” Ransom asked. “I mean, you must be aware that anyone from the Gallagher family can simply call the Alliance and tell them about this behind your back, and then they’re gonna come down on you like a ton of bricks.”

“I’m aware of that. But we have to get the Gallaghers to accept the status quo first.”

“And how are we gonna do that?” Grant piped up. “I mean, considering the fight you and Byron had last night, I reckon nobody from the family is gonna support you right now.”

He knew that, but the fight with Byron wasn’t his only problem.

“Eve has poisoned her family against Danielle with her false allegations that she slept with William Gallagher. She has to take it back.”

Ransom laughed. “Yeah, good luck with that. The woman is stubborn, bossy, and opinionated. She’s not gonna apologize and take back what she said, no matter what you do. Take it from somebody who spent a whole day with her.”

Mason chuckled. “Yeah, that must’ve been a chore! I had to go down to the docks with Thaddeus. That was no walk in the park.”

Jude lifted his hand. “I get it. Everybody drew the short straw.” He took a breath.

“I’ll need to speak to Eve to find out about those supposed love letters.

Once I can prove that those letters were not written by Danielle, we can set the record straight.

Then they have no reason not to accept her. ”

“You mean other than the fact that you snubbed both Eve and Violet?” Mason commented dryly.

Jude shrugged. “Rome wasn’t built in one day either.” He looked into the skeptical faces of his men. “That’s all for now.”

Amongst a few quiet murmurs, they dispersed. Jude went looking for Eve. He knew she was in the house because her car was parked in the driveway. When he couldn’t find her in the common areas of the mansion, he went upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door.

He heard footsteps from inside, then the door was opened. Eve was dressed in her usual riding outfit. There was a scowl on her face. She wasn’t pleased to see him. He hadn’t expected otherwise.

“We need to talk,” Jude started and looked past her into the room. “In private.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “This is private enough.”

He couldn’t exactly blame her for reacting even icier than previously.

“About last night,” he began. “You claimed that Danielle had an affair with your father, based on some letters you’ve seen.”

“And I stand by that!”

He ignored her comment. “Where are the letters? I want to see them.”

“I don’t have them.”

“And why is that?”

“I gave them to my mother.”

“To make her aware that her husband was cheating on her?” Was that the reason her mother had committed suicide? It would explain a lot. But he couldn’t go down that rabbit hole now.

“So what? I had every right to show them to my mother.”

“Where did you find them in the first place?”

“What does it matter?”

“Where?” he insisted, louder now.

“In my father’s office.”

“Were they in envelopes?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know who sent them.”

“I already told you they were from Danielle.”

“And you saw her name and address on the envelopes?”

“There were no envelopes, just some sheets of paper bundled together.”

“So, in fact, you don’t really know who wrote them.”

“I do!” She growled. “They were signed by Danielle.”

“She signed her full name?”

“Yes!”

“That’s odd. Last night, you said the letters were only initialed. With a D.”

“It was her! It had to be her!”

“So you have no proof. Nothing.”

“But the letters—”

“All you have are accusations! So unless you produce those letters, I have to assume you made it all up to get back at me for not mating with you.”

Eve scoffed. “As if I ever wanted you! I wouldn’t have mated with you if you were the last man on earth!”

“Funny,” he mused. “Then I wonder why you entered my bedroom in the middle of the night wearing nothing more than a bit of lace.”

Eve’s head turned red, and it looked like she was ready to explode.

“You have twenty-four hours to produce the letters. If you can’t, I expect you to apologize to Danielle. And then it’s up to her whether she allows you to remain on the estate, or whether she wants you gone.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “You can’t… this is my home…”

“Which doesn’t give you the right to make accusations without any proof.”

He turned on his heel and walked to the stairs.

He knew that Eve would do everything in her power to find the letters she’d spoken of—if they existed.

She wasn’t the kind of woman who tolerated being called a liar.

And if she didn’t produce the letters, then it was clear that she had invented them simply to hurt him and Danielle.

Downstairs, he caught a flash of Danielle as she disappeared in the hallway leading to the mud room. He followed and caught up with her as she put on a jacket from one of the hooks in the mudroom.

“Danielle.”

She turned her head and smiled at him. “Hey, Jude. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

She opened the door.

“Going into town?”

“Violet is taking her car into the dealership, and I’m picking her up.”

He walked alongside her as she headed for the garage.

“That’s nice of you. I hope she didn’t order you to do that.”

She gave him a sideways glance. “She was actually very nice this morning. She offered to help Priscilla with breakfast so I didn’t have to.”

“That’s very considerate of her.” He hadn’t expected that of Violet, but maybe she was more adaptable than the rest of the Gallaghers.

As they arrived at the garage, he opened the gate for her.

“Do you mind if I tag along?”

“Aren’t you busy?”

He shook his head. “Yes and no. But I wanted to fill you in on my talk with Eve.”

“That sounds ominous. Get in.”

She got into the old Toyota that looked like it was on its last legs, and he opened the passenger side door and joined her. He made a mental note of getting her a better car as soon as possible—paid for not from the Gallagher estate but his private funds.

Danielle stuck the key in the ignition and started the car, then exited the garage and drove slowly over the gravel path leading to the front driveway.

A BMW was just leaving.

“Is that Violet?”

“Yes. She said to just follow her. I don’t have GPS in this old rust bucket.” She glanced at him. “What did you want to tell me about Eve?”

“Oh, yes. I had a talk with her this morning. I want her to show me the letters she claims were written by you.”

“But you said you believed me.”

He recognized the disappointment in her voice and put his hand on her thigh.

“Of course I do. This is not for my sake, baby, but for yours. I want to show the Gallaghers that you’ve done nothing wrong. And the best way to do that is to prove that Eve either lied or was simply wrong about who wrote the letters—if they exist.”

“Did she give them to you?”

“She claims she doesn’t know where they are right now.”

“But—”

The BMW in front of them had already passed through the gate that had opened automatically.

“I gave her an ultimatum. She has to substantiate her claims, or she won’t be welcome here anymore. Nobody has the right to insult you like that without consequences.”

“But this is her home…”

As they passed through the gate, the road ahead of them was making a curve. The car was heading for it too fast.

“Danielle, please slow down a little. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She shot him a look, her hands gripping the steering wheel as if it were a lifeline.

“The car… the brakes aren’t working…”

They went into the curve, and the car was swerving. He looked down at her feet and saw that she was trying frantically to slow down the car. To no avail. On the slight downhill slope, the car gained speed.

“Fuck!” he cursed and looked for a safe spot where they could turn. But everything was sloping downwards.

“I can’t stop the car.”

Danielle’s voice was full of panic and fear.

His mind was working overtime as he assessed the terrain around them.

A steep downward slope on one side, a tall stone wall on the other.

More curves ahead. At one of the next curves, they would have gained too much speed, and the car would flip, rolling over several times.

If they hit the wall at this speed, they’d be seriously injured, if not killed.

And if they made it safely through the next curves, they would be heading straight for a busy intersection, where the chances of colliding with another car or truck were too high to take that risk.

He homed in on the changing landscape to their right and spotted a pond.

It was the option with the highest chance of survival.

“Okay, windows down,” he ordered with a calmness he didn’t feel.

“I can’t let go of the steering wheel.”

He took it with one hand to assist her. “Now do it, quickly.”

Because if the car sank too fast and too deeply into the pond, they would have trouble getting the doors open to escape.

When she finally lowered the electric windows and put her left hand back on the steering wheel, he removed his.

“Okay, now see the pond to the right ahead of us? Steer toward it.”

“But we’re too fast.”

He put his hand on the handbrake. Since it wasn’t connected to the hydraulic system that operated the foot brakes, but applied manual pressure onto the rear tires directly, it should slow the car somewhat. But there was a big risk of the car swerving uncontrollably if he applied too much pressure.

“I’ll slow us down with the handbrake.” He lifted the handbrake by a tiny fraction until he could feel some resistance.

“The moment we hit the water, unbuckle your seatbelt. Understood?”

“Yes. Jude, I’m scared.”

“We’ll make it, I promise you, baby.”