Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling 14)

Theo was the one who answered. “All accounted for and where they should be.” His smile reached the warm brown of his eyes. “I did have to chase a couple who thought we were playing hide-and-seek.”

Lark pointed her chin toward the infirmary, her pixie cap of hair standing up in all directions after she ran her fingers through it. “What’s the story with those two?”

Remi gave the three sentinels a rundown of everything he knew to date. With the comm lines down, he couldn’t touch base with Lucas, find out if the more experienced alpha—who also had direct contacts among the Psy—knew what the hell was going on. It looked like he’d simply have to wait for the Arrows to wake up.

If they woke up.

Because right now, from the grim look on Finn’s face, he knew that wasn’t a guaranteed outcome. “How bad?” he asked the healer when Finn paused to gulp down some water.

Wiping off his mouth, Finn just shook his head.

Chapter 10

SELENKA DUREV, ALPHA of the Moscow-based BlackEdge wolves, glanced at the report one of her senior lieutenants had just brought in. Her wolf’s claws immediately pricked at the tips of her fingers, a growl building in her throat. “This is confirmed?”

“As far as it can be.” Gregori’s expression was harsh. “The bones of a hostile competing company are all there—Krychek’s gone so far as to buy the Cavzi plant out from under us.”

Selenka wrestled her wolf into patience, flipped through the report again. As one of the strongest and most established packs in Russia, BlackEdge had a diversified business base, but a large part of the pack’s income came from producing environmentally friendly components for various vehicles. They’d been building up their reserves to go into the full-on production of vehicles within the next three months. Except it appeared Kaleb Krychek had stealthily put his own plan in play to serve the same market.

It was exactly what Selenka might expect from the most ruthless man she had ever met, but for a single fact. “Something smells off.” Krychek and BlackEdge successfully coexisted in the same region because they took care not to step on one another’s toes. “The payoff isn’t big enough for him to sacrifice his relationship with us.”

That relationship had taken time to build, and while Selenka would probably never actually trust Krychek—and vice versa—they respected one another as adversaries who should not be messed with. “Why this venture? Why not just attempt to mount a hostile takeover of our already established businesses?”

Gregori folded his arms, the tattoos that covered them going taut as his eyes took on a flinty cast. “Maybe he’s decided he doesn’t have to play nice anymore now that he has that black ops squad on his side. The Arrows.”

Selenka could see Krychek unleashing the squad against the pack. If he thought it would be a quick, quiet execution, he had no idea of the strength and ferocity with which Selenka’s wolves would fight. Only . . . Krychek was aware of that truth—he’d also always struck woman and wolf both as a man who’d make it a point to know the other powers in the area—so he had to realize that not only would the wolves howl for blood at an unprovoked attack, so would the other predatory packs.

Krychek was too smart and too politically cutthroat to incite bloodshed in his territory, bloodshed that would suck up his resources at such a critical time. He needed Moscow and the surrounding areas to remain stable, especially now when he was dealing with the aftermath of the deadly psychic infection that had claimed so many lives. BlackEdge had stepped in to help contain the insane violence, as had the StoneWater bears.

All three parties had ended that exhausting, painful, and sad period feeling as if the fragile balance in the region had become far more deeply stable. Krychek kept an eye on the Psy and the humans, while between them, BlackEdge and StoneWater handled the changelings, predatory and nonpredatory.

And yet, what was this business maneuver if not the opening salvo of a silent war? The alpha wolf in Selenka curled its upper lip over its teeth, blood hot. Containing the urge to go for Krychek’s throat took every ounce of her human control. “Can we dig any deeper?” She held up the report, her fingernails painted a vivid pink courtesy of one of the pups who’d waylaid her that morning.

Gregori shook his head, his blond hair tumbled from the wind outside. “We’ve gone as far as we can.”

Which meant the ball was in Selenka’s court. Even a year ago, she’d have taken immediate countermeasures, likely by subverting one of Krychek’s own business interests. However, a year was a long time. As Krychek no doubt kept tabs on the pack, Selenka did the same when it came to him. So she understood that Krychek had changed in a way Selenka didn’t think most people realized.

He had a mate now, and the one time Selenka had seen them together, she’d realized it was a true mating, not a false front. Of course, mated pairs could fuck things up together as easily as those who were single, but no matter what people said about Psy in general and Krychek in particular, a man who had the ability to mate was capable of an intense level of loyalty and commitment.

His relationship with BlackEdge was a cold thing in comparison to the raw fury of a mating, but he’d given Selenka his word that he wouldn’t attempt to encroach on her territory. It was why the pack had never made any aggressive moves against him.

“I’ll talk to him,” she said. “Find out what the fuck is going on.”

And if Krychek wanted a war, she’d give it to him.

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