Page 32 of War Games (Jacky Leon #11)

HEATH

H eath walked into the basement of the pack house. It was time for him to face the full truth of what happened at the reception. He was ready. He felt better than he had in days, knowing Jacky was going to survive the poisoning, thanks to Subira and Olivia. He had that assurance; now, he had to make sure something like this never happened again. He wanted to do it before she woke up, so she wouldn’t worry about him. He was glad she was going to wake, yet worried she would try to stop him to protect him from facing what he knew he had to face, eventually. Not just the betrayal of a pack member but the fight he would have to deal with after.

She would try to stop me because she loves me. I have to fight because I love her. I want her to wake up as soon as she can, but I can’t have her stopping me.

I’ll figure out what I’m going to say to her after it’s all said and done.

Jenny and Carlos were still there in the basement. They had been alone now for nearly twenty-four hours. Neither of them spoke or even looked up yet.

He felt bad about leaving Carlos down in the cell, truly bad now. He’d hoped Jenny would confess her crimes beforehand to save the man from this. Now, he had to step in because it was time for her to meet her fate. They looked up as he approached and stopped in front of the cells. He could smell fear on both, but he knew the sources had to be different.

“Hello, Carlos, Jenny.” He put his hands behind his back, looking between them as he greeted them.

“Hello, Alpha,” Carlos said first. Jenny quickly repeated it.

“You both know why you’re still here,” Heath said softly. “So, let’s get started. Landon!” His sudden raise in volume made both of the werewolves in the cells jump. As Landon approached, Heath knew what he was about to do was cruel but necessary.

“Remain silent,” he ordered the pair. “Landon, take Jenny. I want Carlos alone.”

The smell of Jenny’s fear rocketed up, becoming the dominant smell in the room. Landon had to drag her out as she kicked.

“That’s enough. Walk,” Landon snarled, the order making Jenny pop to attention and walk correctly. “With me. Now.”

Heath waited, watching them go. Once he knew they were far enough away, he looked at Carlos.

Carlos wouldn’t have done this. He was letting Jenny believe for a moment that he blamed the werewolf in front of him, but he knew without a shred of doubt that Carlos wouldn’t have even known.

“You can speak now, but you should listen to me first.”

Carlos nodded, not saying anything, so Heath began.

“She was probably promised a full pardon for you,” Heath explained. He didn’t have the hard evidence he wanted. “She loved you but didn’t know you well enough, did she?”

“I guess not,” Carlos mumbled.

He’s never wanted a pardon. He’s going to feel guilty for what he did for the rest of his immortal life. Even if it fades, it will linger and bother him.

Heath knew Carlos’s story. He’d been married happily to a human woman. They lived with and supported her family. They had a child together, only a year old when everything happened. His wife died suddenly, failing to become a werewolf when she tried to survive being Changed, and everything turned upside down for the werewolf.

His in-laws had blamed him for their daughter’s death.

Carlos was forced to hand over everything he knew about any vulnerable werewolves. The single werewolves, the lower-ranking ones that many would lose track of in larger packs, and any loners who passed through. Those werewolves would disappear and never be seen again, most probably murdered by humans looking for the thrill of killing a werewolf. He did it all so his child’s grandparents would tell him where his son was once they felt he paid the debt they believed he owed them for their daughter’s life. It went on for a year.

None of the humans survived the situation. Only Carlos, a young werewolf who had betrayed his own kind and ended up with nothing, not even the one life he had risked everything for. His son wasn’t found alive, having been neglected by the vengeful, greedy in-laws who didn’t want to help raise the son of a monster they believed Carlos had been. The in-laws were just greedy. That was all there was to it. Carlos had just been a desperate father, unable to find his baby and too young to know how to ask for help, grieving the death of his wife and worried any wrong move would mean he never saw his son again.

So, Heath had taken him in, understanding that Carlos could have made better choices, but rationality had left him under the strain of the misfortune in his life.

Carlos had never wanted forgiveness. He certainly hadn’t wanted a second chance at a normal life. He wanted to die fighting to help people, wanted to get himself killed for it all. He had until Jenny and he met. They all knew Jenny helped heal him better than anything. There had been hope.

“Were there any signs she might betray us that you might have missed?” Heath asked softly. “No blame. We all miss things. Clearly, Landon and I missed everything, too.”

“She’s a fixer,” Carlos whispered. “I knew it was getting toxic, our relationship, but…” Carlos closed his eyes. “I told her when Dallas was having problems that if I could ever have you as my Alpha again, I would take it. Tywin tolerated me because you had promised I would have a place there. Recently, she was really freaked out by how Fenris had betrayed us, thanks to all that fucked-up fae magic. She was worried you would throw us out for Jacky, that Jacky hated us. I kept trying to tell her it was fine, that you would always make the right call?—”

“I would throw all of you out for Jacky if she needed me to,” Heath said quickly. “Make no mistake about that.”

“Yes, but you had given no sign of needing to do that. Jacky was hurt, but… after everything I’ve seen about her, I wasn’t nearly as worried. I guess I should have taken Jenny’s worry more seriously.”

“Did she get mail I need to try to find? We have reports she burned things in the fire pit.”

“She would get letters from other old Dallas pack members, which I didn’t think too much about… but any good werewolf knows not to contact any in a rogue pack. I figured…”

“That friendships could last, and it was a reasonable bending of the rules.”

“I always worried she had lost her friends because of me wanting to follow you here. I didn’t want to take them away from her if she had them.”

“Of course.” There were no lies coming from Carlos.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I just wanted to keep my head down, be a good werewolf for you… I never thought she would…” Carlos put his head in his hands.

“Will you stop me from killing her?” Heath asked gently.

“No,” Carlos answered.

Heath opened the cell door and stepped back.

“Go stay with Roselyn and Piper. They’ll be waiting for you. They’ll help you move if you need to get away from memories of her,” Heath said, waiting as Carlos slowly stood up.

The sad man finally nodded and walked past him. Heath followed him out. This was going according to his expectations. He made sure Carlos got into his car and went to Roselyn and Piper.

Then he walked into Kick Shot, finding Jenny losing her mind but unable to say anything or act on it.

“He’s gone,” he said to Landon.

That finally broke Jenny, who screamed.

Heath felt only a twinge of guilt. He’d dealt with too many betrayals to feel much more than that. Jenny knew the score.

“Enough,” he finally ordered. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be Jacky!” she screamed. “It was supposed to be you, and without an Alpha, the pack was supposed to go to Callahan and get added to the others!”

“Then why did you attempt it after you saw me set up a glass for a second person? You knew I would share with the woman I plan to marry. It’s a reasonable assumption to make.”

“Because Carlos wanted you as his Alpha! I thought if she was dead, you would finally see it was a good thing and go back to Dallas, be a normal Alpha again, and everything would be okay again!” Jenny looked up, tears running down her face. “But even now that she’s dead, you still pick her over us, your werewolves!”

“She’s not dead,” Heath said, smiling a little. “Subira, her mother, found me before breakfast. Jacky will be waking up soon. She’s been through something very rough, but she’s not dead.”

Jenny’s eyes went wide and her body limp as she sank back in the chair Landon had sat her down in. Landon was smirking.

“What?”

“Did you think I was sitting on my hands doing nothing over the last few days?” Heath laughed, full-chested. It felt mean to do that in front of Jenny, but he truly didn’t care.

“You killed Carlos even though she lived? He had nothing…”

Heath stopped laughing, dropping all mirth.

“Carlos is letting me kill you without putting up a fight,” he told her brutally, knowing it was the final thing he needed to break her. “Thank you for admitting that the hit was on me, and you decided to see if you could kill Jacky instead. That means this is no longer only werewolf business. It means I can tell her family anything I want, and no one can stop me. Did you put it in her glass? We haven’t figured out what’s wrong with the bourbon yet. I didn’t see or smell anything in her glass.”

Jenny was hollow-eyed. Knowing Carlos, the man she loved and was fairly obsessed with, was not there and was allowing this to happen to her was a fatal blow to her heart. He didn’t have to kill her. He was still going to, but he didn’t have to.

“It was in the bourbon. Only needed a tiny drop. I was given a capsule, no bigger than a small pill. Hid the capsule under my nail… Cracked it while messing with the bottle, let it drop in natural, unseen.”

“Landon, make sure it’s completely disposed of,” Heath said. “How long did you have it?”

“Since a couple of weeks after Alaska. Callahan sent it in a letter. Promised Carlos and I would go to an Alpha who would treat Carlos similarly to you, and it would be better… But Carlos always said he only wanted you. So… I waited, wondering what I was going to do. The reception seemed like a good time because… you would be distracted. Everyone would be distracted. I had to do something, or I would lose what he offered by waiting too long.”

“Thank you for not fighting me for these answers,” Heath said, smiling. “Now, come with me.” The last part was an order. “You and I have a meeting.”

Jenny stood and followed him, Landon taking up the back, still silent, still pleased with how methodically they had done this. It was a good thing. Minimal deaths kept the pack as strong as it could. They were only going to lose one instead of all of them.

Heath led Jenny and Landon to the security building. Hasan had decided it wasn’t a good idea to use something Jacky could accidentally run into.

“Is that her?” Subira asked from the porch.

“It is. She’ll be dealt with,” Heath promised his lover’s mother.

“Good,” Subira purred. Heath knew damn well if he didn’t take care of this final part, she would. He hadn’t told Subira the rest of his plan, though.

“If Jacky wakes up while I’m gone, tell her I love her, and this is for her.”

That made an eyebrow raise, but Heath didn’t stay for a response. He opened the door and went into the Tribunal, bringing Jenny and Landon behind him.