Savage (Reagan and Kieran) novel Chapter 17

17 /17

Kieran

She’s going to leave me and I don’t blame her.

‘We’re not letting her leave. She’s our mate. She’s MINE!’ Samson growls.

‘Yeah. Who’s going to stop her? You? She’ll hate us when she finds out what we’ve done,’ I tell him.

He gets quiet, knowing I’m right. Hell, I hate me knowing what I’ve done.

‘Maybe she won’t come by tonight and we can figure out what we’re going to tell her,’ Samson says.

Doubtful. She had food and I know she wants me to eat. The thought of food makes me feel sick. I was nauseous the moment Markus said it was me that was hurting my omegas.

She doesn’t wait for me to answer the door when she knocks, she just walks in. But I can’t look at her. I just know she’s going to leave me. At least if I’d had a bit more time, maybe I could have figured something out, but now? She’ll be gone by morning, and I’ll be dead in days.

“What’s going on, Kieran?” she asks in that no-nonsense way that she has.

There’s no way for me to lie, no hiding the truth of what I did, so I tell her, waiting for the guillotine to drop. Except it doesn’t.

“Tell me exactly what he said,” she says, leaning against my desk, crossing her legs at the ankles and her arms over her chest as if she’s a damn mob boss ready to take down the city, or hell, the entire country.

“He said I’m abusing my omegas,” I say, throwing my hands in the air and continuing my pacing. Well, Samson is pacing but it’s helping me to focus too.

“He said those words? He said you were abusing the omegas?” she clarifies.

I stop and think about what he said. “He said that I put the bruises on them.”

“Them? Who is them? He said you put the bruises on the omegas?” she asks.

“Does it matter?” I ask her, frustrated. “I abused them.”

“It DOES matter. I’m beginning to realize that your Beta is very smart and has quite a bit to lose now that you’ve found me. He was there when I told you about my Guardian gift of tasting deceit. So, I will ask you again, What. Did. He. Say. Exactly?” she asks, enunciating each word.

‘Samson?’ I ask, wanting to make sure that I have it right.

“He said I put bruises on our pack members,” I tell her. “He said he was trying to keep it a secret from you...”

“Bullshit. He was manipulating the truth so that you couldn’t taste the deceit,” she growls.

“What do you mean?” I ask her, unwilling to acknowledge the hope that springs into my chest.

“Have you hurt any of your pack members?” she asks me.

“I ... yes, I have. I know I’ve hurt warriors. Samson has been aggressive with women who tried to have sex with me ...” I stop short and look at her.

She rolls her eyes and gestures for me to continue.

“I think I might have killed at least one pack member, but I’d have to ask Markus.”

“No, ask Elias. I trust him. I don’t trust your Beta. He lied to you, Kieran. Or at least, he twisted the truth enough that it didn’t cause the reaction for you to know that he was lying,” she says.

“You don’t know that,” I say.

She arches an arrogant eyebrow that only makes her more attractive to me. “I’ve had the ability to taste deceit my entire life. Believe me, I know exactly what I’m saying and how it can be manipulated. My sisters and I used to play games, seeing if we could trick each other. We’d tell partial truths or twist our words until we couldn't taste the deceit. So yes, I know for a fact that it can be done. And I’d bet money that it’s exactly what your Beta did.”

“Okay, let’s just say that he did twist the truth. The reality is that Corinna wouldn’t look at me when I said I didn’t agree with abuse in my pack. I saw her, she looked down as if I was lying.”

“You weren’t lying, Kieran. You’ve just lost control of your pack. You and Samson haven’t run this pack for a while, but when I talked to the kitchen omegas, none of them seems afraid of you. They were happy that you’d found me. That, more than anything, says to me that this all started AFTER Samson started going feral.”

“If that’s the case, then I’m going to dismiss him as my Beta,” I growl.

“Which is your prerogative, but I’d say that you have more than just one person turning against you. If you want my opinion ...”

“I definitely do,” I say, interrupting her. I’m rewarded with a genuine smile.

“Don’t do anything yet. Sit back, watch, see who his supporters are. I’ve already got an idea of a few from this evening. That woman, Camila, is one of them and there were a couple of other warriors that were trying to intimidate your omegas tonight at dinner. I think you need to clean house, Kieran, but you aren’t going to know who might try to undermine you if you show your hand this early.”