Savage Urges (22 page)

It wasn’t a question, Makenna recognized; it was a statement designed to put Dawn on the defensive. If the way Dawn narrowed her eyes was anything to go by, she saw that very clearly.

Emilio braced his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “I must say I’m confused as to why.”

“Loners don’t trust packs,” Dawn pointed out. “They would never come to a shelter that is run by a pack. It’s also worth noting that there are many species of shifter at the shelter, not just wolves. They wouldn’t all fit in a wolf pack, and I doubt they would want to try.”

Emilio couldn’t deny that, but he sure as shit looked like he wanted to. “Remy has been very civil in his dealings with you. Nonetheless, you felt the need to scare him off using the Phoenix Pack.”

“No words were exchanged between him and the Phoenix wolves. They merely stood with us for support. If he finds them intimidating, I can hardly help that.” Dawn’s response made Remy’s upper lip curl back.

“So you admit that you need support?”

“Only against Remy.”

Parker looked about to ask a question, but Emilio beat him to it. “Tell me, Dawn, why is the shelter becoming overfull?”

“A large number of the residents were fired from their jobs after their employers—”

“Fired? That made it hard for them to support themselves and move on, I’m guessing. Is it true some of your sponsors pulled out?”

“It is, but—”

He whistled. “Now that must have had a big impact.”

Dawn’s mouth tightened. “We’ve attracted new sponsors. And none would have pulled out if—”

“So when Remy says you need help, support, funding, and the ability to expand the building, he couldn’t be more accurate. Your shelter is overflowing—”

“No one said it was overflowing,” she hissed, and Emilio looked pleased to see her riled.

“—you have cougars fighting to get inside the building—”

“There was no fighting.”

“—and you’re lacking the one thing the shelter needs to keep going: appropriate funding.”

Hissing again, she snapped, “Maybe if you’d let me get a word in edgewise, I could explain why I’m suddenly having all these problems.”

Instead, Emilio looked at Parker. “I think it might be helpful to speak with Makenna Wray and hear more about her problems with the extremists.”

Oh, fucking groovy. Makenna watched as Dawn’s back snapped straight and alpha vibes flowed from her. Not good in a courtroom.

“Makenna does not need to be questioned,” stated Dawn. “I can tell you whatever it is you need to know.”

Landyn gave Dawn a pointed look. “Reign in those vibes. We will not be intimidated.”

“I’m not trying to intimidate anyone, I’m—”

“Wasting time,” finished Emilio. “Makenna Wray, please take Dawn’s seat.”

Swallowing back a groan, Makenna patted Ryan’s rock-hard thigh. He didn’t want her going up there, she knew; he wanted her close, wanted her where he could easily protect her. “I’ll be fine,” she whispered in his ear as she rose.

Grinding his teeth so hard he was surprised something didn’t crack, Ryan rested a possessive hand on his mate’s ass as she slid past him. With each step she took away from him, his anger at Remy and Emilio built in his system. He hated the distance between them. Emilio probably meant to toy with her and twist her words, just as he’d done with Dawn.

What Emilio didn’t know was that she’d toy with him right back. Makenna would be pissed at the asshole for playing with Dawn and so she’d deliberately antagonize him. Ryan knew from personal experience how good she was at it.

“I saw the news clipping of your encounter with the extremists,” Emilio said as Makenna sat. “They appeared outside your apartment building, correct?”

“I don’t live there anymore.”

Emilio opened and closed his mouth. “In any case, did they begin a protest outside the building?”

Makenna tilted her head. “Why would you ask if you saw the news? Were you lying?”

Emilio’s eyes flashed. “No, I’m merely asking you to verify it.”

“Why?”

“Why are you asking why?”

“I think it’s important to question everything. Don’t you?”

Taking a deep breath, Emilio gave her a brittle smile. “You must have been very frightened to see them outside the building, knowing how zealous these human extremists can be.”

Makenna pursed her lips. “I was more annoyed than anything else. They were aggravating my headache.”

“Clearly you escaped. Were you seen?”

“By who?”

A muscle in his cheek ticked. “Extremists.”

“Well, none followed me.”

“The extremists know your name and address—”

“
Old
address.”

“—yet you didn’t stay clear of the shelter for its safety. You persisted in going there.” He paused as he caught sight of a spider crawling along the bench. He wacked it hard with a notepad, crushing the insect.

Makenna winced. “You shouldn’t have done that. It’ll rain now. Quick, cross your fingers.”

Ryan closed his eyes, sighing inwardly. His mate was insane, and now everyone knew it. Still, he couldn’t help but want to smile.

Emilio arched a brow. “Rain?”

“Yes, you killed a spider.”

Emilio turned to his fellow council members with a smirk, which they didn’t return. In fact, they seemed to agree with Makenna. Expression hard, Emilio turned back to her. “Why didn’t you stay away from the shelter?”

She blinked. “Why would I?”

“To stop the extremists from following you there, of course.”

“I already told you, no one was following me.”

“I’m sure they will from here on out, considering the news showed them hanging outside your new pack’s territory.” So they
had
seen this morning’s news.

“I don’t have to physically be at the shelter to help. My main job is to find loners a new home by tracking their family members. That mostly involves using a computer. I can do that from my own territory.”

“Perhaps, but—”

“They won’t stick around long, though. They’ll be too scared that The Movement will come for them.”

“That you’re so determined to continue working at the shelter makes me think that Remy is right. I put it to you, Makenna, that you have been pressuring Dawn to reject his offers of help. I put it to you that you have no true devotion to the shelter; you are too selfish to—” Cutting himself off, he stilled—hell, everyone stilled—as they heard it . . .

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was the sound of rain hitting the window. Ryan almost smiled. Makenna blinked innocently as Emilio stared at her, jaw clenched.

Makenna leaned forward, as if about to share a secret. “Hey, do you want to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

“I know the truth. I don’t need to hear your distorted version of it.” He waved a hand, dismissing her. But he froze as an audio recording began to play.

“You’re a big fan of blackmail, aren’t you, Remy? That’s how you got some of Dawn’s sponsors to withdraw their funding.”

“Blackmail is a quick and efficient way of getting things done.”

“Especially since your little plan to sic the cougars on the shelter didn’t work so well, huh.”

“I know you’re hiding the viper.”

“Viper?”

“Play dumb if you wish, but I’ve seen your records.”

“When you hacked into Dawn’s computer, you mean? Yeah, we know all about that.”

Makenna clicked “Stop” on her cell phone, enjoying the shock on Remy’s face. “That’s right,” she told the council members. “The cougars would never have appeared if Remy hadn’t hacked Dawn’s computer, read her files, and then tipped the pride off
about a four-year-old child
they wanted to kill.” She licked her front teeth. “See, the real reason that Dawn won’t give into Remy’s demands is that she refuses to allow a pedophile constant access to children.” Parker sucked in a breath. Makenna snorted. “Come on, we’ve all heard the rumors.”

“Rumors,” echoed Emilio. “Rumors created to blacken Remy’s name and undermine his power—nothing more. And your recording means nothing. Remy does not state that he contacted the cougars. Nor does he state that he did in fact blackmail anyone, just that he finds it an efficient method.”

Makenna nodded once. “True, so I think you’ll be better hearing this from someone else.” Knowing Emilio would be of no help at all, she looked at Parker. “There should be two people waiting outside that door. You really want to hear what they have to say.”

After a moment, Parker nodded and instructed a wolf manning the door to open it. He frowned as two males entered the room. “Who are you?”

The taller of the two, looking slick and smart in a designer suit, said, “Ravi Lamar. I’m a lone shifter and I’ve been sponsoring the shelter for many years. Not so long ago, I was approached by a wolf who wanted to pass on a message from his Alpha.”

Harrison asked, “What was that message?”

“That if I didn’t withdraw my funding from the shelter, he would expose me to my clients as a shifter. I ignored the threat. My loyalty is very much to the shelter. I was once a resident there. If it wasn’t for Dawn, I wouldn’t have the education, skills, or money to be the successful businessman that I am today.”

Emilio’s gaze narrowed. “Did this wolf name his Alpha?”

“No.”

Emilio grinned. “Then why would you think his Alpha is Remy?”

“Because the wolf who approached me is sitting at his side.”

That made Emilio’s grin vanish in a rush.

Parker eyed the male behind Ravi. “What about you? Are you another witness?”

The blond reluctantly stepped forward. “My name is Grayson. I was a member of Remy’s pack until three days ago.”

Parker leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the panel. “What happened three days ago?”

Grayson balls his hands into fists. “I ran away.”

“Why?”

“As I was passing his cabin, I looked into the window and caught him . . .” His eyes briefly flicked to Remy, and he swallowed hard.

Harrison pressed, “You caught him, what?”

Grayson took a deep breath. “I saw him touching a child . . . inappropriately.”

“Define inappropriately,” said Parker. “I need to understand the gravity of what you saw.”

Grayson thrust a hand through his hair and recited an account that made Makenna’s stomach churn and her fists clench in fury. He then added, “Before I could do anything, Deanne burst into the room.”

Harrison’s brows pinched together. “Deanne?”

At the same time that Grayson explained, “Remy’s mother,” the woman jumped to her feet and shouted, “That’s a lie!”

Landyn gave her a hard look. “You will sit down.” It wasn’t until Remy hissed something at her that she actually did.

Parker looked at Grayson. “Carry on.”

Grayson swallowed. “She screamed at the kid to get out. At first, I thought she was helping him. But then she turned to Remy and started crying and shouting, saying she refused to share him with anyone—including the pups; she said she’d kill them all just like she’d killed the others. She was jealous and raging, and she hit him over the head with a lamp.”

“Lies!” shouted Deanne. “It’s all lies!”

“One more outburst and you will leave this room,” Landyn warned her. He turned back to Grayson. “Continue.”

“I don’t know what happened after that; I ran. I wanted to take the pups with me, but I couldn’t get inside Remy’s cabin without being seen. I knew that I had to go for help.” Grayson’s face scrunched up. “They’re both sick in the head, and neither of them should be anywhere near kids.”

Deanne leaped to her feet, but Remy tugged her back down and hissed,
“Quiet.”

There was a short, pensive silence that was broken by Harrison. “This is a matter that needs to be thoroughly investigated—a case separate from the matter of the shelter.” Parker and Landyn nodded their agreement. “In light of what has been said today, I’m satisfied that Remy attempted to sabotage the shelter in an attempt to help him gain what he wanted.”

“Remy Deacon, your application is dismissed,” declared Parker. “With regards to these allegations, an investigation will begin straightaway. I believe in being innocent until proven guilty. Even so, the pups of your pack will be relocated until the case is resolved.”

Deanne gasped, but Ryan thought she didn’t look very upset. The crazy bitch was probably pleased the children would be out of her way.

“My wolves will escort you back to your territory and take the pups to safety,” added Parker. “This meeting is over.” Each of the council members rose and left the room, and Makenna made her way to Dawn. The feline wrapped her in a hug, happy and relieved.

Remy very slowly rose to his feet, like a snake uncoiling. He glared at Dawn. “I warned you. You’ll regret this. All of you.” His eyes went to Ryan. “Especially you.”

Ryan didn’t have to ask what he meant. But if he really thought the York Pack would get anywhere near Zac, he was a dumb son of a bitch.

“You lied to me,” Deanne growled at Makenna. “My son never touched you.”

Makenna flashed her a taunting smile. “Didn’t he?”

A crease formed between Deanne’s brows. The woman was so paranoid where Remy was concerned that she had no confidence in her own convictions. “Remy, it’s not true, is it?” He didn’t answer, just headed for the exit. She trailed after him, repeating her question.

Dante waited until Remy and his wolves left before speaking. “I half expected him to attack.”

Ryan gave a quick shake of the head. “He still thinks he has the upper hand. If he knew that we’re fully aware the York Pack are his guests, he would have reacted very differently.”

Grayson moved to Dante. “You’ll kill Remy, right? The sick fuck needs to die.”

“He’ll die,” Dante vowed before calling Trey and telling him the result of the hearing. Hanging up, he said, “The extremists left.”

Makenna wanted to be relieved by that, but there was no saying the humans wouldn’t return. Still, she’d count today as a win. She linked her arm through Ryan’s. “I’m fucking ecstatic that the pups will be taken from Remy.”

“Me too,” said Jaime. “You know, I wasn’t all that superstitious until I met you. Did you see Emilio’s face when it started to rain? Priceless.” Nodding, Madisyn chuckled.