Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Keith sighed. “We really can’t keep doing this back and forth.”
“I know.” He rubbed Keith’s knee. “You definitely scented Rupert Junior on Claire?”
“I definitely did.”
“Why would the Green Field Alpha send someone here with a weird cover story?” Brian asked.
“I believe the desperate seduction efforts and the almost-certainly-aphrodisiac she tried to get you to drink answer that question.”
“Right, but why? What would they get out of it?”
“She’d get your dick, which is a prize all on its own.” Keith reached for Brian’s groin and cupped it.
“If you want this conversation to continue, stop that.”
“Spoilsport.”
“You’re the one who insists on talking about this,” Brian pointed out.
“Fine.” He slowly trailed every fingertip from Brian’s balls to the tip of his dick as he removed his hand. “Much as I would understand anyone trying to get you into bed for the sheer pleasure of it alone, I think their goal hasn’t changed in the month I’ve been here.”
He frowned, trying to understand.
“Remember what Morgan said?” Keith asked.
Thinking back to the annoying conversation they’d had with the Golden Valley Alpha, Brian said, “They wanted him to come here and kill you so they wouldn’t have to do it themselves.”
“Exactly.”
“You think they sent that small woman here to kill an Alpha?” Brian said disbelievingly.
“I think they sent that woman here to seduce you into killing an Alpha.”
He gasped, horrified. “I would never harm you. Not ever.”
“They don’t know I’m your mate.” Keith drew his eyebrows together. “I’ve been thinking more about my parents.”
Brian’s parents were healthy and happy, living in a resource-filled pack, surrounded by friends. Mother Nature had always blessed them, and their lives had been relatively struggle-free, like his own. Although moving to Purple Sky had brought him a new set of challenges, Brian had come in with the surety and confidence that he could improve the pack in time. Or maybe it was arrogance. He had never considered any other possibility, and he now realized that was because he hadn’t ever had something not go his way.
Keith’s life had been the complete opposite. Seemingly nothing had gone his way, starting with losing his parents young. As much as Brian wanted to support his mate, he had no idea how to relate to his background or what he could do that would help. While he was trying to figure out what to say, Keith continued talking.
“Rupert Jackson was my mother’s ex. She brought him and his son to Green Field after my father died. Nobody liked him, but she wanted him, so if they wanted to keep me in Green Field, they had to tolerate him. They expected me to step into the Alpha role as soon as I came of age, so Rupert was supposed to be a temporary placeholder.” He fiddled with the end of the blanket. “To keep his place as pack Alpha, Rupert needs me gone.”
Brian nodded because he had already understood Rupert’s motive to ensure Keith stayed away.
“Seeing Claire today made me realize that his plan to be the Green Field Alpha may have started before me.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mother.” Keith clenched his fist. “She had been with him. For some reason, she came to Green Field, took up with the pack Alpha, got pregnant with me, and then my father died. Nobody seems to understand how.” He looked up and met Brian’s gaze. “Sound familiar?”
It took a few seconds for what he was implying to register. “You think your mother killed your father?” Brian asked, horrified at the possibility.
“I was a baby when she died so I never knew her, and like I said, she hadn’t lived in Green Field long so my packmates didn’t really know her either, but I think at the very least, she helped Rupert kill him. She showed up there, seduced my father much like Claire tried to seduce you, and once she did that, she was carrying the heir, which locked in her spot.” He drew in a deep breath. “And then she brought Rupert Jackson to Green Field.”
Brian put the pieces together in his head. “You think she was scheming to make Rupert the Green Field Alpha the entire time?”
He shrugged. “If she was, it worked, right?”
Brian nodded slowly. “How did your mother die?”
“They said she was sick, but I don’t know what type of illness.”
“Do you think Rupert killed her too? Tied up the last loose end?”
“Not the last one.” Keith pointed his thumb at his own chest.
Whenever Brian had faced challenges, he had always done so with the certainty that he’d meet them and beat them, so he hadn’t been afraid. But in that moment, he was petrified. “He won’t ever stop trying to kill you, will he?”
Keith shook his head, his lips turning up in a small smile.
“Try to look less happy about that.”
“I’m not easy to kill, mate. I believe I’ve effectively proven that a time or twenty.” He brushed his fingers through Brian’s hair. “But other people are and I don’t want collateral damage. I also need to free Green Field from the Jacksons.”