The Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) - Kiki Clark Page 0,38

trusted. She tended to go unnoticed by the powerful former alphas on the Council, but Marcus’s old boss had always told him to go to Wendy if he ever needed anything.

Of course, Marcus used to be able to go to his old mentor and boss, Councilman Gregson. His heart squeezed at the thought of him. When he’d been shipped off to “work” for the Council by his pack alpha as a terrified sixteen-year-old, he’d thought it would be the worst thing to ever happen to him. His parents had always been distant, unhappy with his bright red hair and easily flushed skin, but it was his alpha who couldn’t stand the sight of him for some reason. Marcus had never fully understood it, but his alpha had singled him out in their small pack and treated him horribly. Verbal and emotional abuse and manipulation had taught him quickly to control himself—the less he reacted, the quicker it would stop.

He froze in his steps as his phone rang in his hand, shaking off his depressing thoughts. “Hello, Wendy. How are you?”

“Marcus, sweetie, I’m fine. How are you? How’s your pack? Things have gotten… strained around here, but I’ve stayed because I had a feeling I’d be getting a call from you.” Wendy’s voice was soft, and he could barely hear her over the loud music in the background.

“I’m… fine.” Even with her precautions, he worried about revealing anything that could be overheard. He trusted Wendy completely, but most of the Council he no longer had much faith in. “Are you sure it’s safe to talk?”

“As sure as I can be. I don’t think they’ve bugged my office or anything, but some of the Council members are getting… aggressive in their proposals for dealing with your alpha and pack. They’re upset about the disrespect from Bennett Young but…” He only heard the loud music for a moment, then the sounds changed and the background noise faded some. When she spoke again, there was a slight echo like she was in a bathroom. “I overheard Councilman Kincaid saying that it was disappointing Alpha McAllister didn’t kill the Councilman’s son but that they’d take care of him eventually.”

Rick’s father was definitely the rotten apple spoiling the rest of the Council from the inside. Rumor had it that he’d been bested by one of his own Enforcers and had handed over his pack rather than die fighting for control. Rick and Bennett—who was also from Rick’s father’s pack originally—had both been very surprised, but when it had been announced Alistair Kincaid would become a member of the Council, they’d realized he’d seen an opportunity for a different kind of power.

“Who was he talking to?” Marcus asked, stomach souring.

“I don’t know. He was on the phone and in another room, so I couldn’t make it out. Maybe a woman?”

Marcus rubbed at his forehead. “Is he turning the rest of the Council against us? I was worried after what happened with the McAllister hearing and Bennett’s rash decision to storm in and drag Kieran away…”

Wendy sighed. “Garcia and Voight are holding firm against his pushes to retaliate. He keeps trying to convince the Council to make an example of Rick and your pack, says other packs will lose their trust in the Council or will see them as weak.”

Sucking in a slow breath, Marcus tried to figure out what to do. He’d been trying to get Wendy on the phone for weeks to try and assess how badly their relationship with the Council had been damaged, but this was the first time they’d been able to speak in private. “What kind of retaliation is he pushing for? A fine or…?”

“No,” she croaked, “he wants them to dissolve the Kincaid Pack and… execute Rick and his mate as examples.”

“Fuck.”

Wendy gasped at his curse, but he couldn’t even bring himself to care about his foul language.

“This is even worse than I’d been imagining. He’s advocating for the death of his own son? Really?” Marcus stalked around his desk and collapsed into his chair, closing his eyes.

“The others were shocked at first too, but he made it sound like he’s trying to be impartial and that he’d propose the same if any other pack had disrespected the Council and shifter law as much as his son had.”

Marcus snorted. “Tell me the others aren’t buying that garbage. Rick doesn’t flout shifter law, and the McAllister hearing was a joke. You know that. Bennett lost his temper because of how horribly Kieran