Dark Instincts (The Phoenix Pack 4)

Dante blocked the doorway of the hut with his arm as Roni and Taryn went to walk inside. “Sorry, this one’s for the boys.” The hut, which had been rebuilt after being set on fire by the extremists that invaded pack territory, was where interrogations took place. Dante and Ryan had snatched Noah Brunt from the motel room he was hiding in after he exited the courthouse using the back entrance to avoid the extremists.

Roni removed her black-currant-flavored lollipop from her mouth. “I’ve no intention of interfering. But I want to hear what he has to say.”

“We let you watch when we had our fun with the female jackal,” griped Taryn, “so step aside, Barney Rubble.”

Dante sighed. “Taryn, honey, we both know there is no chance in hell you’ll be able to stand back and just watch.”

“You say that like I have no self-control.”

Nick snorted. “Do you?”

Taryn just huffed at him, like he wasn’t worth explaining herself to. “Dante, just get the fuck out of our way. I’m talking to you as your Alpha female—move.”

Dante appealed to her with a look. “Yeah, but—”

Behind Roni, Marcus spoke to Dante. “I’m really not sure why you’re wasting time out of your life having this conversation. Surely experience has taught you that nothing can stop these two females from doing what they want to do.”

Trey shrugged one shoulder. “He’s right, D.”

“I’m sure the girls promise not to interfere, right?” Derren looked pointedly at both Roni and Taryn.

The Phoenix Alpha female rolled her eyes. “We know the plan, we like the plan, and we have no intention of interfering with the plan.”

Nodding, Dante dropped his arm and stepped aside. One by one, they entered. In the center of the small, empty building was a dark, gangly, male wolf. He was blindfolded, gagged, and bound to a chair.

Once Dante closed the door, he slowly moved toward the wolf. The Beta removed the gag and blindfold, revealing a pair of freakishly dark eyes. “Noah Brunt. You’re not an easy person to find.”

His gloating expression said he knew it. “Who are you?”

“You know.”

Brunt’s eyes skimmed everyone in the room, coming to settle on Trey. “I had nothing to do with what happened with your pup. Or with the attack on your enforcer’s female.” It wasn’t said defensively. It was simply a statement of fact.

Marcus stepped forward. “Would that be my female you’re talking about? She’s actually my mate.” That made things very different, which Brunt would know. A shifter wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone they suspected of meaning any harm to their mate. Marcus would destroy anyone who so much as threatened Roni, and he wouldn’t miss a minute’s sleep over it.

“I had nothing to do with it,” stated Brunt, looking bored.

Nick snorted. “So you say.”

Brunt’s attention moved to him. “You’re Alpha of the Mercury Pack.”

“If you know that, then you know my pregnant mate and my sister were in the car crash that was nicely orchestrated by your jackal friends.”

“I had nothing to do with the crash. I wasn’t behind it.” Again, it wasn’t said in his defense; he was just stating a fact.

“Then who was?” asked Dante.

A brief pause. “I don’t know.”

Dante folded his arms across his broad chest. “Do you want to know one of the reasons my mate suits me so well? She’s honest. I don’t like it when people lie to me. Why would you want to lie to me, Noah?” The wolf didn’t respond. Dante began to circle him. “We know about snm.com. We know about the Scorpio Pack’s involvement. We know about your involvement. Your technical skills sure are good. But not good enough to save you from shifters whose pups and mates were threatened. They’re a force like no other.”

“We also know you like to watch,” said Nick. “I’m a merciless bastard, and I know it. But I’d never hurt a female. I’d never get off on watching someone else doing it either. In fact, just the idea of it makes me want to . . . kill.”

“Same here. I have to say, though,” began Trey, “I think I might actually enjoy watching my Beta hurt you.”

Brunt’s eyes widened as Dante’s claws sliced out. “Wait—”

Dante cocked his head. “Oh, I’m sorry, you have a few last words?”

Brunt licked his lips, seeming to realize this wasn’t an interrogation that would allow him to play mind games. He’d been brought here to be tortured and killed, nothing more—or so he thought, thanks to Dante’s plan.

It was a fucking good plan, in Roni’s opinion. Dante had pointed out that interrogating didn’t always involve threats. Noah Brunt was very intelligent, and he liked control. He would have stupidly thought he could control the interrogation—that he could play them all like they were puppets because he was too important for them to simply kill him, considering what information he had. Dante had known that the only way he would volunteer that information was if it was on his own terms, if he was trying to prove himself valuable.

“You don’t want to kill me,” Brunt croaked.

“Really?” drawled Dante. “Why is that?”

“I know things.”

“We know things too.”

The wolf laughed. “There’s so much you don’t know. You think it’s simply a website for people to share their vids. It’s not.” He paused, shaking his head. “The jackals’ victims aren’t always random.”

“We know.” Marcus ensured he sounded bored and unimpressed. “Lyle Browne’s often paid to target certain people.”

“But you don’t know who hires him often,” said Brunt, gloating again.

“Someone from the council.” That came from Ryan. “It’s the perfect way to dispose of shifters or packs that draw too much attention.”

Stunned, Brunt stared at Ryan. “How do you know? Only Lyle and I knew that. Not even the rest of the council knows.”

“Wild guess.”

Roni cursed herself for not thinking of it. The council wanted peace above all else—particularly to avoid the attention of humans—so it would make sense for one of them to utilize Lyle’s talents. Well, it was a good thing they hadn’t gone to the council with what they’d found. It would have made them next on their hit list.