Page 99 of The Wolfing Hour

I did it, the demon said.

“Oh, good, my demon side says she did it,” I muttered.

Ronan cocked a red-brown brow and peered into my eyes. “Is she talking to you? Your demon side?”

I gave him the tiniest of nods.

“Thank her for me,” he said. “From what Mason said, if she hadn’t been in control when Floyd’s wolves attacked you, neither one of you would’ve survived.”

I protected us.

I didn’t know what to say to either of them, so I set my attention on my partners, who’d been very quiet since handing Ronan the charm. Cecil was looking at the dead basil plant on the floor, hands on his hips. Fennel was staring straight at me.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I hope you will. I promise to never to do anything like that again. I was wrong to let her take over.”

Fennel’s tail twitched. So did Cecil’s hat. It wasn’t absolution, but it was reassuring all the same.

Ronan flicked a glance at the boys. “I guess Ida speaks Cat, because Fennel was able to relay to her what you were up to.”

“Fennel has a way of getting his point across,” I said.

He withdrew his hand from mine and squeezed it into a fist. “I was in wolf form, following another bullshit lead on Rory’s whereabouts. It took her hours to track me down.Hours.”

His stare took on a thousand-miles-away quality, and he went dead silent, the way only true predators can. Alpha power flooded the room. It was as if he were sweating fury and dominance.

Fennel and Cecil backed up a step.

“Ronan?”

“I won’t do that again—be out of touch for that long. You could’ve been killed.” It was hard to breathe; the rage he was radiating crowded out all the air.

“It’s not your fault I made a stupid choice,” I said.

“No, but I think you’re acting under a misconception about me, and I need to set you straight. Icankill Floyd.”

“I know that, Ronan.”

“Do you?” His gaze snapped to mine, sharp and unyielding. His jaw flexed. “Do you also know that not onlycanI kill my father, Iwantto kill him. To watch the life drain out of his evil body. To know that his corrupt soul screams in the deepest, most despairing part of Hell. I’ve never wanted anyone dead this much, and that includes the bastards who murdered my real dad.”

I nodded. Swallowed.

“If you’ve learned one thing from my life story, let it be this: when Niamh and Ronan Williams’s backs are against the wall, we get real fucking pragmatic.”

Niamh, his mother, the person who’d fed him silver as a child to make him strong. She’d wrested control of the wolf pack that murdered her beloved husband then they’d both systematically taken out every person involved in his murder—male or female, wolf or not.

“Betty, I love my sister and would give my own life in any normal circumstance to save hers. But the circumstances aren’t normal. I need to reevaluate my actions. It’s time for me to stop allowing Floyd to lead me around by the snout.”

The coldness in his words took me aback. Was he saying what I thought he was saying?

“Because even if he weren’t cheating, this wouldn’t be an easy fight. His methods are brutal, yes, but the worst part is that hedoesn’t actually need them to win. He likes the brutality, and so do the alpha wolves close to him.”

His eyes flashed a shade of gold so bright it hurt to look at him.

“My father cannot be allowed to live. I won’t allow him to exact his revenge on the wolves who’ve allied with me. No matter how this goes down, Floyd dies at the end of it.”

Even if Roryis still missing.

Though unspoken, Ronan’s meaning was unmistakable.