I grinned at him, surprising myself by how much I was enjoying his company. He was smiling back. By the time the song came to a close there wasn’t enough room for a light breeze to make its way between our bodies. Over the new silence came a burst of applause and whistles.

Oh, right, the other people in the room. In the rush of endorphins and adrenaline that had accompanied our impromptu routine, I’d completely forgotten the reason we’d come onto the floor to begin with. Still in his arms, I turned to look at the faces of those around us who had taken in the show.

Clapping wildly along with them was Lucas. Next to him, applauding politely but with none of his vigor, was the girl he’d been dancing with. She looked downright bored.

Desmond kept an arm around my waist, and we thanked the crowd with an awkward bow, then he led me to the wolf king. Lucas was beaming, and when we reached him he put his arms around me, lifting me off the ground and out of Desmond’s hands.

“That was marvelous! Where did you learn to dance like that?”

Actually, it was Keaty who had taught me to dance. We’d been investigating a dance studio where the council believed a rogue Russian vampire was offering more than lessons to his most promising ballet students. Keaty and I posed as a couple taking ballroom lessons to spice up our pending wedding ceremony. Long story short, the Russian met a violent end, and Keaty managed to teach me how to use my agility for something other than killing.

“I, uh, picked it up over the years.” I was blushing.

Lucas clapped his hand on Desmond’s shoulder. “Quite the show! I bet you never thought those dance lessons we took in grade school would pay off.” This bit of new information surprised me. Had Lucas and Desmond really known each other since they were children? Lucas had told me they’d recognized each other before they were turned, but I’d sort of thought he was exaggerating. No wonder Desmond didn’t want to discuss the possibility he and I might share a connection. He’d known since childhood his best friend was destined to be king and that certain sacrifices would have to be made.

A bubble of guilt swelled in my gut for forcing him into this scenario with me, even if Lucas seemed to be tickled pink by the whole thing rather than flying into a jealous rage. Nothing about the werewolves was what I had expected.

“Secret, Desmond, please allow me to introduce Sophia Sullivan.” Her name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t pin down why. He was directing our attention to the brunette he’d been dry humping. I no longer considered her willowy but rather lanky instead. Gawky, even, as if her long limbs were not really hers and belonged to a different body. I wondered what it was about her that had interested him when he hadn’t given the stunning Genevieve a second glance.

“Charmed,” Sophia said, giving a noncommittal wave and not offering to pick up either of the handshakes offered by Desmond or myself. Lucas laughed again, but this time it sounded forced. He was pardoning her rudeness, and I couldn’t understand why.

“Sophia is the daughter of the Alpha in Albany, New York. Marcus Sullivan.” He looked directly at me as he said it, his eyes narrowing for emphasis so he could be sure I understood him.

I understood all too well.

This rude wisp of a girl was the one I had killed a man for. This was Marcus Sullivan’s ruined daughter. She didn’t seem permanently scarred by her unfortunate past, unless being bitchy was a symptom of damage. When I’d left Albany, Sophia had been human, and it didn’t take a supernatural detective to know that was no longer true. The smell of wolf radiated from her, and it wasn’t just a byproduct of being near Lucas.

He had danced with her to keep the peace. He was showing the other wolves that, if they were to find out what I’d done to William Reilly, not only did he know, but he accepted what Marcus had to do.

At least that’s what I thought it meant.

Lucas’s heart was in the right place, but it didn’t seem like Sophia was deserving of his kindness. She shifted her cold gaze to me just as I saw several large men moving to block all the doors.

“You’re Secret McQueen,” she said, her voice emotionless and flat.

“Yes.” I wasn’t really looking at her anymore. I was trying to figure out why the exits could no longer be exited. Something bad was coming.

“You killed Billy Reilly.”

A few wolves nearby heard this, and it distracted them from what was happening at the doors.

“Yes,” I admitted. “I would think that you of all people would be happy I’d done it.”

“Happy? Happy?” Sophia’s voice cracked, her lower lip trembled. Lucas stepped back from her as she jabbed a bony finger into my chest. Both he and Desmond moved to stand between me and the angry girl. She didn’t seem to notice them as she continued her shrill tirade. “Billy was my fiancé, you stupid whore. You killed the love of my life.”

It was like I’d been slapped in the face and dumped into cold water all at the same time. “Your father told me he’d raped you.”

She barked out a harsh laugh. “Liar. My father knew Billy had proposed to me.”

In the silence that followed, dark realization settled in for all of us. First on me, before it spread to Lucas and finally dug itself into Sophia. She grew pale and looked to have aged a decade in seconds.

“My father had my fiancé killed? No. No, that’s not possible.”

“By an outsider, so no one in the pack would suspect,” I mused, ignoring her protests.

“But why?” She still hadn’t accepted it, and who could blame her?

“Because,” a deep, booming voice responded, “William Reilly was a lowlife junkyard dog, and you were meant to be a princess.”

We looked over to see Marcus Sullivan step up onto the marble bar, surrounded by burly wolves who flanked him on the floor.

“And I,” he continued, “was meant to be king.”

Chapter Nineteen

Time had not been kind to Marcus Sullivan in the years since I’d last seen him. He, like all wolves, was muscular and lean, but age was beginning to show in the worn lines of his face and the smattering of gray in his black hair and beard.

“Marcus,” Lucas shouted above the eruption of uneasy noise from the crowd. “What is this?”

“The end of your reign, pup. I won’t be ruled by a baby-faced millionaire. I’m here to dethrone you.”

Dominick emerged from the crowd to stand in front of Lucas, and other loyal wolves formed a circle around us. I was being protected by extension, but I saw uncertainty etch across Desmond’s face. He looked at me, then Lucas, as if trying to decide who needed his protection more. He’d been asked to guard me, but his king was also in danger. He stayed next to me, but his gaze constantly darted back to Lucas.

I vowed to never leave my house unarmed ever again. Leave your gun at home for one day and look what happens.

“You’re making a mistake, Marcus.” Lucas took a step towards the bar, his voice calm and hands up, palms outward, showing he meant no harm. “If you declare yourself as a traitor, you’ll be banished from the pack. You’ll have no one you can turn to. You don’t want that.”

“Don’t tell me what I want. I know what I want. You dead and me as a leader in your place.”

“You know the laws of succession. Desmond is next in line for the throne.”

Desmond and I shared a look. My gaze flicked to the bar, where I could see a clear path between myself and Marcus. Desmond grabbed my arm and pulled me close to his side, shaking his head so his meaning was clear. Don’t try anything.

From the bar, Marcus spoke again. “You lead like a friendly politician, Rain. You kiss all the babies and shake all the right paws. The pack doesn’t need diplomacy, it needs leadership.”

“Marcus, my family has led for generations. We might not be perfect, but we always do what’s best for the pack. If you’re unhappy, we can discuss it, but not like this.” Lucas had stopped advancing. The tension in the room was so thick it was hard to breathe. No one but the two men dared to speak as everyone waited to see what would happen.

Sophia, in spite of what she’d learned about her father’s betrayal, had gone to stand near him and away from the crowd protecting Lucas.

“It’s time for a change. I am not alone.” And all it took was a glance through the club to realize this was true. Marcus had at least a dozen men in the crowd, not counting his private guards or the men at the door. This was a coup.

“Marcus, don’t be a fool. Think about your family.” Like an expert police negotiator, Lucas was trying his hardest to defuse the situation without it coming to violence. His voice never rose above a soothing cadence, and his hands were still up.

I didn’t for one second believe it would work. My mind was racing, trying to match this Marcus with the distraught father I’d met in Albany two years earlier. Had all of it been a lie? A ruse to eliminate an undesirable mate from Sophia’s life? None of it was making any sense to me.

Marcus knelt on the bar and stroked Sophia’s hair. She looked up at him with trust shining from her face. Maybe she believed he really had been thinking of her best interests when he had Billy Reilly killed. It can be so easy to lie to yourself when it means you don’t have to accept a hard truth.

“My family.” Marcus touched Sophia’s cheek and smiled at her the way a doting father should look at his only child. I saw his hand move, but an instant too late, and was screaming “No!” as he snapped her neck and dropped her body to the floor like a sack of garbage.

Desmond was still holding me. I tried to break free, but he held me firm and whispered in my ear, “Not yet.”

“And her!” Marcus pointed to me. “You would have our queen be a killer for hire? A woman willing to murder her own kind for wealth?”

I’d had just about enough of this crap for one night. Marcus had lost his mind if he was willing to kill a beloved daughter to make a point. He’d successfully proven he had nothing to lose, but it wasn’t worth Sophia Sullivan’s life. I could no longer hold my tongue. Desmond might be able to keep me from attacking, but he couldn’t stop me from speaking up.