Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters #6)- Kristy Cunning Page 0,76

and yet it’s your beta we’re discussing?”

“Because my beta is better than your beta, and I’ve had mine longer. Now she’ll go to Emily’s House, because she won’t be able to fight my battles and win, once they get her number in the fighting rings. They’ll single her out and make a mockery of her. She’s a survivalist first, even as she remains loyal. Emily’s House will have fewer disputes.”

“Yes, but Idun is about to turn my beta against me by ripping his sister to shreds, and then pretend it was a rogue pack. He’ll lose all faith in me when there’s nothing I can do in retaliation. We never manage to prove she’s behind these things,” Damien carries on, grinding his jaw. “It’s just up ahead. They weren’t too far—”

I catch the scent of shifter blood in the air, and I’m out the door before he can finish. After leaping off the side of the bridge, I drop through the air. My eyes land on a car that’s turned over on its side, as I land in an easy crouch.

It takes a moment to really believe what I see. I’m standing in the middle of a bouquet of dismembered body parts.

As I stare around in confusion at all the carnage, Damien drops to my side, his breath snaking out.

“His sister is just a succubus, right?” I ask, definitely smelling some strong, old shifter bloodlines.

The scent of those bloodlines makes them undeniably Idun’s crop.

My eyes lift and roam over the abandoned car, smelling the slightest hint of succubus.

“She’s supposed to be a weak succubus in need of Sanctuary,” Damien says in response, no longer sounding convinced of that. “They’re not blood-related. It’s an honorary title, to the best of my knowledge.”

“How strong is your beta? Could he have done this?” I ask, stepping over a familiar face.

Literally. Just the face is on the ground and staring back at me with only one partial eyeball.

She was one of Idun’s finest.

Damien lifts his phone, the line already ringing. I hear Talbot’s voice come over the line.

“Alpha, how can I oblige you this morning?” Talbot asks too cheerfully.

“Any word from your sister?” Damien asks, his tone giving nothing away.

“How kind of you to ask, Alpha. She’s been safely delivered to Sanctuary, as of just a few moments ago, and Violet is in the process of setting up a meeting with the Neopry House to discuss the attack my sister met along her way,” he says with far too much casualness.

Damien and I both blink at each other a few times.

“We literally just left her behind in the woods. It certainly didn’t take that long for us to reach this,” I point out, motioning to the carnage. “We’re gone for ten bloody minutes and she’s preparing for war?”

I turn and quickly climb back up to the vehicle, impatiently drumming my fingers, as I wait on Damien to finally catch up.

He’s angrily jerking the door open, spraying a litany of curses, as he sits down, grips the steering wheel, and glares over at me.

“Why do I feel like we’re missing something?” he asks as he cranks the car and spins us around.

“Because we’re missing something big. Maybe you should get to know your beta a little better. I’ll have Shera dig up some stuff on him as well.”

As he drives us back, I pull out my phone, getting some important things done to make this day more productive. And to distract myself from the fact our errant little monster is not making any damn sense this day.

“Are you texting Vance or Emit?” Damien asks, his entire tone and body tense.

“Neither. I’m shopping for Violet’s wedding gift.” I pause, holding up a finger. “Actually, I just found her gift. I do love the ease of purchases these days,” I tell him, feeling all too merry now that I’ve found this gem.

It’s a pencil holder with a ribbon corset around it. I think someone had us in mind when they designed it.

“Are you fucking serious right now? There’s a small pack of dead shifters, and our girlfriend is going to once again press Idun’s buttons. All while failing to mention any of this to us,” he gripes.

Smiling too broadly, I hold my phone up to show him the pencil holder. “Isn’t it perfect?”

His eyes cut to me and narrow.

“I only picked you to come with me because of your desperate need for bloodshed and worrisome speed. Not your stupid fucking random train of thought,” he says between