Force of Temptation (The Mercury Pack 2)

“And this is supposed to make us do what, panic?” Nick snickered. “We were never in New Orleans, and all you have are three witnesses who strangely never came forward. So either the witnesses saw other males or you’ve made this whole thing up. Whatever. But, hey, if you think you can make that stick in a human court, go for it. I’ll be surprised if a court wishes to dredge up the whole thing, given it will highlight all the mistakes the police made in falsely prosecuting Derren.”

“Oh, I agree that this isn’t enough, particularly since his body was never found. But if these statements reached the extremists, reporters, or your childhood pack, you might find yourself with people coming at you from all sides. I’d say life would become very difficult for you.”

Fuck. The piece of shit was right. Reporters would pounce on such a story. And Derren’s childhood pack—most of whom refused to acknowledge his innocence—would likely love a reason to persecute him all over again. He’d been through enough.

“Of course, these statements can disappear if you just give me what I want.”

Nick growled. “You think you can blackmail me? You son of a bitch.” No sooner had he cocked back his fist and lunged than Hector’s two guards each whipped out a revolver. Derren and Eli quickly grabbed Nick and yanked him back.

“Shoot him and you’re all dead,” Derren snarled at the guards. They swallowed hard, but their hands didn’t waver.

“Killing me would get you nowhere,” Hector told Nick, voice a little unsteady. “I have taken measures to ensure my safety.” As Nick shrugged off the wolves holding him back, Hector quickly gestured at the envelope and said, “They are copies. The originals are somewhere safe. My attorney and some others I trust also have copies. If I die, they will release them to the world.”

“Why do you hate shifters so much?” Ally asked. Hector looked stunned by her words. “It’s no coincidence that you’ve acquired a lot of land over the years that was owned by shifters. Seems that they’re not your favorite species.”

Cheeks flushed, Hector spoke to Nick. “I’m not an unreasonable man. I will give you some time to find alternative territory, since you will now have to do it without any funding from me. Construction doesn’t begin for another three months. You have until then to secure new land and relocate. If you don’t, copies of these testimonies will find their way to various people. And remember, killing me won’t achieve anything.” He sighed. “I’m sorry that it has come to this; I truly am. Make the right choice.”

Then he turned his back on them and walked away with a cocky stride. His guards followed, guns still aimed at the Alpha right up until they were in the safety of the BMW.

Looking rightfully enraged, Nick and the others pivoted on their heels and stalked into the forest, where they joined Jesse, Roni, and Marcus.

“That rat bastard,” growled Roni. “He’s actually trying to blackmail us.”

Jesse turned to Derren. “I’m not going to ask if those statements are legit—I figure that Seer deserved to die anyway, and it’s your business if you made it happen sooner rather than later. Besides, it would make me pretty fucking hypocritical, considering I killed to avenge my sister. But true or not, those statements will bring us attention from all angles, which means we need to get our hands on the originals.”

Pacing, Nick nodded. “But he’s a rich guy who has properties in several places—the originals could be anywhere.”

“If he’s done this before, it’s likely that he keeps all his blackmail material in one place,” said Marcus. “Like a safety deposit box or something.”

“Something tells me he’d keep them close,” said Ally. “He’s doing this because he hates shifters with a passion that’s actually frightening. I think he’d want to look at the material occasionally the way a killer might like to have his trophies close by.”

“What else did you sense from him?” Derren asked her.

“He’s smug as all hell, which makes me think he’s done this many times before and is sure it’ll all work out the way he wants it to. He’s also scared of Nick, but he seems to like the fear—it gives him some kind of weird rush.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, that’s all I got. In short, he’s a serial blackmailer, likes a good ol’ adrenaline rush, and hates our kind—which means he also hates half of who he is.”

Derren scrubbed a hand down his face. “So now what? I don’t think he’s bluffing about the copies. Even if we do find the originals, the copies would still do damage if they were released. We could probably confront his attorney and hope he knows where they are.”

“It won’t be easy to find them or it would have been done before by other packs,” said Marcus. “He probably has a lot of smoke screens in place.”

“Like multiple attorneys and safes,” said Eli. “It would take us a lot of fucking time to get all this shit, even with all Nick’s resources.”

“You know,” began Roni, “we could try some tit for tat. Blackmail the blackmailer.”

Jesse wasn’t surprised by her suggestion. Roni was the type who always got even. “That might work. I saw his face when Ally asked him why he hated shifters. He hadn’t expected us to suspect that, and he didn’t like it.”

“Even though he hates our kind, I noticed he doesn’t mind using them for protection,” said Eli. “Those guards were polar bears. Probably lone shifters that he’s hired as guards.”