a clean shirt and pulled it over his head. He wiped down the sink then all the faucets to be on the safe side. The last thing he needed was fingerprints in the wrong place. With two minutes remaining until he said he’d be back, he pulled out his cell phone and typed a message to Claire.
I need you at Summit. Please. After hitting send, he wrote a second message to Mason Clayborne. I need Claire in Sutter Butte for a few weeks to help protect the Delta Crescent Omega, Sovvan Stark. I will protect Claire with my life, and I’ll extend the same protection to her mate. Name your price for the favor or consider it me owing you one.
It was long shot. Mason didn’t like him. Claire’s mate really didn’t like him—though Cassius suspected that was more for form’s sake than any real dislike on Tyler’s part. Claire, on the other hand, understood him. Duffel bag in hand, he left the bathroom and crossed the grounds toward his bike. The trucks had formed a barricade between the public portions of the rest area and the bodies. Already, the scent of blood diminished. In a few short hours, it would be erased completely. The wolves waited where he’d left them. Faust sat behind the wheel of Sovvan’s vehicle, Delroy in Jose’s hummer, while Jose stood next to JoJo, all waiting for the roll out order. The older wolf looked defeated. Once upon a time, it might have tugged on a past loyalty, a need to comfort—most alphas would take the time to look after their wolf. He’d seen it in Willow Bend, and he’d seen it in Delta Crescent.
Sutter Butte didn’t have time for empathy nor to pity the weak. His phone buzzed as he slid the duffel back into his bike’s saddlebag. The number wasn’t familiar, but he recognized the area code. “Mason.”
“You have the worst fucking timing, Cassius. Not to mention you contacted my wolf before you contacted me.” The snarl in Mason’s voice carried a lot of bark, but the fight left Cassius little patience for political correctness.
“Thirty seconds really getting your goat, Mason?” He grinned, amusing himself. It tempered his wolf’s vicious temper. “They have pills for that.”
“She has no interest in returning to Sutter Butte.”
“Claire’s a big girl; she can tell me no.” Offering an explanation otherwise would grate. Claire won his respect, as well as his admiration. She would also understand his request, while Mason… “I need her, Mason. My pack needs her. Serafina’s wolf needs her.” Every word tasted like acid on his tongue, but Delta Crescent and Willow Bend shared a tight alliance, thanks to Serafina’s mating to Linc—the brother of Mason’s second.
“At the moment, she’s discussing it with her mate.” Mason ground the words out between gritted teeth. Claire’s mate, Tyler, was the third of triplets, another link to Delta Crescent and Mason’s second. “Even if they agree, I may not. Claire is my Hunter now.”
“Is she? So, you finally recognized her value.” Good for Claire. During his visit, he’d been surprised to discover she held no major position outside of training their young. Nothing wrong with training kids, and Claire was good at it. Still, she was better suited to more challenging tasks.
“Cassius, why the hell would she return to your pack? For that matter, why would I let her go? It was the last place she wanted to be.” Despite the aggressiveness in his words, a measure of compassion softened his tone.
The last thing he wanted was Mason’s sympathy. “Let her or don’t,” he said, draining any ounce of caring from his voice. “I’ve made a request, and you can both respond as you see fit. If you need reparations, I will fulfill them. It really doesn’t matter to me.” Disconnecting the call on the little lie, he shoved the phone into his back pocket. “We need to move.” He called to the other wolves.
“Don’t forget, she needs food,” Faust informed him from the open window.
“We’ll get it.” He
I need you at Summit. Please. After hitting send, he wrote a second message to Mason Clayborne. I need Claire in Sutter Butte for a few weeks to help protect the Delta Crescent Omega, Sovvan Stark. I will protect Claire with my life, and I’ll extend the same protection to her mate. Name your price for the favor or consider it me owing you one.
It was long shot. Mason didn’t like him. Claire’s mate really didn’t like him—though Cassius suspected that was more for form’s sake than any real dislike on Tyler’s part. Claire, on the other hand, understood him. Duffel bag in hand, he left the bathroom and crossed the grounds toward his bike. The trucks had formed a barricade between the public portions of the rest area and the bodies. Already, the scent of blood diminished. In a few short hours, it would be erased completely. The wolves waited where he’d left them. Faust sat behind the wheel of Sovvan’s vehicle, Delroy in Jose’s hummer, while Jose stood next to JoJo, all waiting for the roll out order. The older wolf looked defeated. Once upon a time, it might have tugged on a past loyalty, a need to comfort—most alphas would take the time to look after their wolf. He’d seen it in Willow Bend, and he’d seen it in Delta Crescent.
Sutter Butte didn’t have time for empathy nor to pity the weak. His phone buzzed as he slid the duffel back into his bike’s saddlebag. The number wasn’t familiar, but he recognized the area code. “Mason.”
“You have the worst fucking timing, Cassius. Not to mention you contacted my wolf before you contacted me.” The snarl in Mason’s voice carried a lot of bark, but the fight left Cassius little patience for political correctness.
“Thirty seconds really getting your goat, Mason?” He grinned, amusing himself. It tempered his wolf’s vicious temper. “They have pills for that.”
“She has no interest in returning to Sutter Butte.”
“Claire’s a big girl; she can tell me no.” Offering an explanation otherwise would grate. Claire won his respect, as well as his admiration. She would also understand his request, while Mason… “I need her, Mason. My pack needs her. Serafina’s wolf needs her.” Every word tasted like acid on his tongue, but Delta Crescent and Willow Bend shared a tight alliance, thanks to Serafina’s mating to Linc—the brother of Mason’s second.
“At the moment, she’s discussing it with her mate.” Mason ground the words out between gritted teeth. Claire’s mate, Tyler, was the third of triplets, another link to Delta Crescent and Mason’s second. “Even if they agree, I may not. Claire is my Hunter now.”
“Is she? So, you finally recognized her value.” Good for Claire. During his visit, he’d been surprised to discover she held no major position outside of training their young. Nothing wrong with training kids, and Claire was good at it. Still, she was better suited to more challenging tasks.
“Cassius, why the hell would she return to your pack? For that matter, why would I let her go? It was the last place she wanted to be.” Despite the aggressiveness in his words, a measure of compassion softened his tone.
The last thing he wanted was Mason’s sympathy. “Let her or don’t,” he said, draining any ounce of caring from his voice. “I’ve made a request, and you can both respond as you see fit. If you need reparations, I will fulfill them. It really doesn’t matter to me.” Disconnecting the call on the little lie, he shoved the phone into his back pocket. “We need to move.” He called to the other wolves.
“Don’t forget, she needs food,” Faust informed him from the open window.
“We’ll get it.” He
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