“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” said Camden, utterly calm. “Not by some underhanded method. No, you’d have died at my hands. I’d have wanted to look into your eyes as the life left them.”
Fear momentarily flashed across Grant’s face. He looked at Aspen. “You’d really choose this fucking psycho over me?”
Camden didn’t give her a chance to reply. He said, “She would. She did. And I don’t know who ran you off the road, but it wasn’t me.”
If Aspen sensed rightly, the tiger wasn’t all that convinced there’d been an incident.
“You’re certain it was Camden’s car who hit yours?” asked Tate, all Alpha in that moment.
Grant hesitated. “I didn’t see the car. It all happened so fast.”
Tate folded his arms. “When exactly did it happen?”
Grant raked a hand through his unkempt hair. “I don’t know. I managed to get out of the car and crawl onto the riverbank, but then I blacked out. I don’t know how long I was out cold for. When I woke, I walked to the nearest building, which was a motel. The receptionist there let me use the phone to call Tim. He came to pick me up and brought Sam along to heal me, along with fresh clothes because my others were soaked.”
Tate cut his gaze to Tim. “How long ago was that?”
“I picked him up, like, half an hour ago,” replied Tim. “He was in a bad way. Had a concussion and bruises and a wicked cut on his head. On our way back home, we stopped at the spot where his car had flipped. It’s still in the water. I could just make out the roof.”
“Camden had nothing to do with it,” Aspen swore. “He’s been with me all day. Both Havana and Bailey can back me up on that.” To her utter relief. It was important that the pride had his back right now. If they believed he’d tried to kill one of their own, they wouldn’t be so invested in keeping a sharp lookout for Wayland. On the contrary, they’d push for the Alphas to banish Camden.
“We all worked a few hours at the center, went to the deli for lunch, and then headed back to the center,” Aspen went on. “The four of us all came straight here after we finished work.”
“He could have slipped out of the center at some point while he was supposed to be working—you would never have known,” insisted Grant. “There’s no way he can ever be at your side every minute.”
“It’s true that I’m not always at her side,” said Camden. “Sometimes I’m beneath her. On top of her. Balls-deep inside her—”
Grant lunged with a hiss, but Joaquin shoved him hard enough to send the pallas cat staggering backwards.
Aspen inwardly sighed, knowing Camden had only provoked Grant to switch the guy’s attention from her.
“If you won’t take Aspen’s word for it,” began Camden, “you can ask others who work at the center, or even check the employee log.”
Grant scoffed, “People there would cover up for you. Loners stick together. You might be part of our pride, but you haven’t integrated into it. You’re a loner at heart.”
“I can verify that Camden worked the smoothie shift with Aspen,” Havana cut in.
Bailey raised her hand. “So can I. There’s no way he did what you’re accusing him of, Grant.”
Luke held up his cell phone as he stepped toward Camden. “I had one of the enforcers check your vehicle. There’s no damage on it that would indicate it was involved in a car collision of any kind, so there’s no way someone stole it to set you up.”
“Then he used a different car,” Grant maintained, “because it had to have been him.”
“It’s likely that someone wanted you to think it was him, but it couldn’t have been,” said Tate. “Surely you see that now.”
Bailey eyed Grant closely. “Or maybe you staged the whole thing in the hope of getting Camden banished from the pride. If so, it wasn’t a good plan. Too many variables to consider.”
Grant glowered at her. “This was no stunt.”
“It also wasn’t an attempt on your life by Camden,” stated Tate. “He has airtight alibis. And do not say all three girls would lie for him. Do not insult my mate that way. Every person in the pride is under her protection. She wouldn’t cover up for someone who’d earned a punishment—especially over something so severe.”
“Maybe he got one of his loner pals at the center to do it. Loners will do all kinds of shit for the right amount of cash,” Grant added with a sneer.
Tate’s brow notched up. “Careful with that tone. Havana was a loner until recently.”
Grant swallowed. “Look, somebody purposely sent my car into a damn lake. There is only one person who’d hate me enough to do that.”