Ripper (Hunter #1)(107)

I shook my head. “I don’t need to. I’m fine.”

His fingers played soothingly with mine. “You don’t have to be strong.”

“I’m not,” I replied. “I just don’t care.”

I didn’t. Since that moment that Gray had walked out, I’d been blissfully numb. It hadn’t hurt that Quinn had delivered a tea that he claimed would flush the drugs from my system. I didn’t care about anything and I found it freeing. I’d always known that it wouldn’t work out. I’d always known I would be alone. It turned out my father, well, the dude who raised me, had been right. I was a freak and a dangerous one at that. My friends and family thought I belonged in a prison under supervision.

I’d realized something important though. The king could put me in prison, but he couldn’t force me to become the Nex Apparatus. I would sit here, ignore anything he wanted me to do, and there wasn’t anything the king could do about it.

“I don’t believe you,” Marcus said. “You’re in shock. When the time comes, you will cry and I’ll be there for you.”

I doubted that. It seemed to me the king and Marcus had some serious issues. I doubted Donovan was going to allow Marcus to stay with me for any length of time. He would handpick the people to be around me and I would ignore all of them. I would find it very amusing. The king would never know that the one person who might be able to convince me was the one person he would never allow around me.

The door opened and the king entered.

“We have a problem.” The king looked tired, like the stress of the day was taking its toll. I didn’t feel at all sorry for him. The door opened again and Zack strode through.

“This is not a problem, master,” Zack was saying.

“It sure as hell is,” Donovan shot back. “Castle is demanding full wolf rights.”

“For what?” The question was merely curious. I didn’t really care. “I thought the Council cleared me.”

“They cleared you for the killing of Darren Castle. That’s not what the alpha is demanding rights over. It’s the accusation. It’s a completely archaic law, but my lawyers claim he can do it,” Donovan explained.

Marcus stood up. “You cannot expect her to do that.”

The king shook his head. “We have no physical proof, Marcus. She’s accused him and I believe her, but I can’t convict him without proof. I would let him go and keep an eye on him, but he is pushing me. He won’t relinquish the right. He wants me to prepare the arena for tonight.”

“He wants vengeance,” Marcus declared.

“Of course he does, but he has the right to face his accuser according to all wolf laws. If I refuse, Castle will use it as a rallying cry to gather the wolves to his side.” He turned to me. “Kelsey, will you take back the accusation that Castle killed those girls? If you publically rescind the accusation, he won’t have grounds to demand a fight. He wants to get you into the arena where he’ll fight you. He has the right to demand tooth and claw. You’ll be forced to go in without any weapons.”

I shrugged. “He did it. I won’t say otherwise.”

Zack kneeled down to get eye level with me. I took in his brown hair and eyes. I could see it, the resemblance between us. I wondered briefly what my bio dad looked like and how he’d died.

“Kelsey, please,” Zack said. “Castle is an alpha, a true alpha. He’s got a hundred and fifty pounds on you. Rescind the accusation and I promise you, I’ll make sure he sees justice. I’ll do it quietly, but as painfully as you see fit.”

“Zack,” Dan warned.

“She’s my niece.” Zack glanced back at his master. “She’s the only blood I have left.”

“Do you think I don’t know that, Zack?” Daniel said bitterly. “Do you think this isn’t costing me? I know everything I owe Lee Owens. Even as we speak, Dev is trying to calm Z down because she is so pissed off at us she’s threatening to kick us out if anything happens to her. Damn it, my son is named for her father. Do you honestly believe I want to hurt her?”

“Then allow me to take her place,” Zack said.

“No.” He had a wife and a little girl. I remembered him talking about her. I supposed she was my cousin. If this guy was such a badass, I wasn’t going to let someone with a kid take my place. “I’ll meet him.”

“No, you will not.” Marcus turned to the king. “Can you not see that she is devastated? She will use this as an excuse to commit suicide. She’s at a delicate stage. I have more experience with Hunters than you do. They’re emotional creatures. You dealt her a blow today that she hasn’t even processed yet. If you allow this to happen, you are killing her.”

“I have no choice,” Donovan said with a sigh. “If she won’t publically take back her accusation, I have no option but to allow the ritual. Kelsey, please, take back what you said. I’ll put everyone I have on digging up evidence and then we can go after Castle. I promise you, I will bring him to justice.”

In this, the wolf inside me and I were of the same mind. There would be no retraction. I wasn’t going to lie. “No. He did it. If he wants to try to kill me, then good for him.”

“You’re so stubborn,” Donovan cursed under his breath. “Do what you can to get her ready, Marcus. This takes place in two hours. Is there anything I can get you?”