only half a second before she went back to checking her phone, but coming from her, it was nothing short of applause and a standing ovation.
Colt was starting to think he wasn’t so bad at this Alpha thing, after all.
Chapter 4
“That was quite the performance earlier.”
Colt looked up from the paperwork he’d been trying to wade through all afternoon as Stan walked into his office.
“Sorry, but the door was open,” the older ghoul added.
“Better that way. Ghouls like to knock more than they like to come in,” Colt said, dropping his pen. “I take it you disapprove.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but your eyes did.”
Stan chuckled. He pulled a book off the shelf that covered the rear office wall. Colt had yet to look at most of them or read any of them. Jason would have killed him. “You know, I remember when this was Edward Moreau’s office. He was a much better man than his grandson, that’s for sure.”
“I’m sure he was a real peach.”
“Do you mind if I borrow this?” Stan asked, peering down over his glasses at the dusty old book in his hands.
“Knock yourself out. I’m not much of a reader myself.”
“That’s a shame. The answers to a lot of the problems you’ll run into in this job lie within these shelves.”
“What, is that the Kinship Manifesto, or something?”
“First edition print of Kant’s ‘Perpetual Peace,’ actually. Quite the influential work, in its day.”
“Sounds like a real page turner. But I’m not sure that’s gonna help me keep the peace among a herd of monsters who’d rather have Kant as a side dish than a dinner guest.”
Stan smiled patiently. “You might be surprised at just how many monsters made history, Colt. Who knows? One day, you may even be one of them.”
“Doubt that. I’ll be happy if I can keep this city from falling apart without getting my own head lopped off in the process.”
“The most influential figures rarely set out to be that way. At least, not the ones who influence the world for the better,” Stan mused.
Colt sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Here it comes.”
“Here what comes?” Stan asked innocently.
“The lecture.”
“What makes you think I’m going to lecture you? And what about, exactly?” he asked, a twinkle in his eyes. Stan might have looked half his age, but he had the whole wise old sage routine down pat.
“For killing that hunter at the meeting. Even though by law, the sentence for what he did is death, and I was a hell of a lot faster than the executioners would have been,” Colt said preemptively. “And if I had gone easy on him, we both know what kind of message it would’ve sent. When you’re surrounded by piranhas, you either toss them meat or you offer yourself by default.”
“Those would all be very convincing arguments, if I were going to lecture you,” Stan said, taking the seat in front of Colt. He put the book in his lap and folded his hands. “At the moment, it sounds more like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
“I don’t have to convince myself of shit,” Colt said firmly. “That hunter crossed me. He knew what the punishment would be, and now, so does everyone else.”
“They certainly do.”
Stan’s calm, impassive expression was burning away Colt’s fuse. He wished the man would just come out with his judgment. Instead, he was all about “teachable moments” and the same therapist bullshit Colt’s parents loved that had always driven him as crazy as they all thought he was, further proving their point.
“I know what you want to say.”
“Do you?”
Colt stood, pacing his desk. “You want to say, ‘Colt, your ego got the best of you in there,’” he said, doing his best Stan impression. “‘There are always going to be men like Thomas, men who’ll push your buttons just to see what they can get away with, and sooner or later, you’re going to have to learn how to confront them without violence because violence only works as long as you’re the strongest person in the room. And one day, you won’t be.’”
“Is that what I was going to say?” Stan propped his cheek on his fist, kicking a loafer over his other leg. “My, I’m a pedantic fellow, aren’t I?”
“Don’t pretend like it wasn’t on your mind.”
“Okay, I won’t. But it doesn’t matter what’s on my mind. What’s done is done.”
“And you disapprove of what I did.”
“Why does my approval matter so much to you, Colt?”
The young Alpha growled. He was starting