Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 52 - BAD APPLES

The laughter that followed made my skin crawl. They were being so loud that Lin felt safe enough to fill our glasses with orange juice and tequila, as quickly and quietly as she could. I took the one with the most alcohol and took a long, long draught. I'd need it if I was going to get through this without going next door and throttling the lot of them.

"Jackson from Ember. I don't like him one bit, but again ... a close ally," Lilah said wearily. She hadn't touched her drink yet.

Jackson was the Alpha that we were about to replace with his nephews. I looked forward to that day. It couldn't be long now. I didn't know if Mam was waiting to see if Liam and I succeeded before she sent them into Ember, but it seemed likely.

"I've been considering that myself," Mason said slowly. "In the last week, I have had two different rogues tell me that my Beta is working with them. I don't know what to make of it. Felix knew about Adam, and Goddess knows they hated each other, but ... I find it hard to believe."

Joel had done his job, then. I hadn't really expected anyone to take him seriously, so this was an added bonus. I tried not to smile as I took another long gulp of my drink. The Alphas had started muttering amongst themselves, which provided a helpful cover for Lin to open the box of chocolates and offer them around. I took a handful.

Lilah blanked her. Her eyes were very wide, and she seemed to have frozen in place. I didn't know what she'd been expecting when she suggested we eavesdrop, but this clearly wasn't it. She wasn't very close her brother-in-law, as far as I could tell, but this had to be a shock.

It was while before a clear voice rose above the muttering, and once again, it belonged to Jackson. "Did they name him directly?"

"Yes," Mason said. "He was also implicated in an ambush that nearly killed me, Lilah and my daughter. It could have all been baseless slander, but I'm planning to replace him, just in case."

I glanced at Lilah then, and I saw exactly how pale she'd gone. Mason hadn't told her about any of this. That much was obvious. I reached out and gave her hand a quick squeeze, because it couldn't have been easy for her.

"This is all very troubling, Mason. If we can't trust our own Betas, then who can we trust? You're right to replace him - and quickly. Who else could it have been?"

Lilah had stopped commentating in her shock, so I wasn't sure who that was, but he had a sneering, gravelly voice that I took an immediate dislike to. I took another handful of chocolates and nibbled them as quietly as I could.

There had been a moment's silence, which seemed to stretch longer than it needed to. Mason was the one to break it with another veritable bombshell. "One of the rogues also named Jace Lloyd as a traitor."

More silence. I would have given my right arm to have seen their faces at that moment. If it was this easy to make them turn on each other, why hadn't we been doing it years ago?

"I don't have any proof," Jaden said slowly, the first of them to dare speak, "but my pack is pretty close with his, obviously. We drink with the New Dawn fighters sometimes. A while back, they mentioned - after a few pints - that Jace had caught a couple of rogue kids on his land ... and let them go with just a warning."

Well, that had been me, and I'd actually very much appreciated not being thrown in jail or executed, but I supposed I was biased.

"Even if that's true, Jaden, which I very much doubt," another voice cut in, "it's not technically illegal to pardon trespassers. Especially when those trespassers are kids. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I don't think you can persecute him for it, either."