Echoes of Fire (The Mercury Pack #4)(88)

And then Madisyn understood. “You believe that if you have Bracken’s protection, you’ll have the Movement’s protection. Sponsoring them didn’t gain you that, huh?” It wouldn’t surprise Madisyn to learn that Claudia had tried seducing Cain before moving on to Bracken.

“No, it didn’t. Think of it this way. If Bracken’s part of my team, he’s not hunting with his fellow members of the Movement. You won’t have to worry about him going on missions with them. You won’t have to worry that he might one day not come home to you.”

Madisyn tilted her head. “I see it now. You want him in your bed, but that’s mostly because you were hoping you could use sex to control him. To get what you want from him. Only it didn’t work. And his rejection pissed you off, didn’t it?”

Claudia’s lips tightened. “I wasn’t planning to control him with sex. But yes, his rejection hurt my ego—I’m a dominant female, after all. And yes, maybe I wanted to show him tonight what he was missing. But that was dumb and juvenile, and I only cheapened myself in doing it.”

She truly did seem shamefaced by her behavior, but Madisyn wasn’t buying it at all. No, Claudia had realized that making him jealous was fruitless, so she was now trying something else.

“He won’t join my pack for me,” Claudia added. “But he’ll do it for you. And I think you know I’m right—that the best thing for him is a fresh start.”

Madisyn stepped right into her personal space. “The best thing for him . . . is to be away from manipulative users like you. I see you, Claudia. You might truly support the Movement, but you don’t sponsor them out of the goodness of your heart. You might be set on representing shifters everywhere when you go on TV and present yourself as the regular girl next door. But you don’t do it for our kind; you do it because you relish the attention. You’re not interested in Bracken’s emotional state or whether our mating bond fully forms. In fact, you’re probably thinking you can sever the bond with time, since it’s only partially formed.”

Claudia’s eyes hardened. “You’ve got me all wrong.”

“I don’t think so. But I do think you’ll go far in the acting business, if that helps.” Madisyn went nose to nose with her. “Now stay the fuck away from my mate. No more gazing at him, trying to get his attention, or attempting to recruit him for your team. He has no interest in you on any level—”

Claudia barked a laugh. “Oh, he’s interested. Initially, he only turned me down because he was set on making himself suffer, so he deprived himself of the things he wanted. If he hadn’t realized you were his mate—and Lord, he took his time coming to that realization—he’d have eventually come to me.”

Claudia tilted her head. “As for you . . . I watched him plenty, so I know he showed no interest in you until now. He wouldn’t let himself have me, but he let himself have you. I guess he didn’t see that as denying himself pleasure or happiness—you simply weren’t that important.” Claudia gave her a look of mock sympathy. “That must hurt. And it must play on your mind, must make you wonder if the bond will ever truly snap into place or if you’re just not enough for him.”

Once upon a time, it might have. But now? “No, it really doesn’t. And I’m done here. Like I said, you need to stay the fuck away from him. If you don’t—”

“You’ll do what, bobcat?” Claudia laughed. “Go ahead. Tell me what you’ll do.”

Subtly grabbing the newspaper, Madisyn gave her a feral smile. “I’d rather just show you. Oh, by the way, I’m not a bobcat.”

“Really? Then what are you?” asked Claudia, though she didn’t sound particularly interested.

Madisyn smirked. “I’m a pallas cat.”

Claudia’s grin faltered, and then Madisyn struck.

Planting his hands on the bar, Bracken looked at Ally, tension in every line of his body. “Where’s Madisyn?”

Pausing in drying a glass with a cloth, the Beta frowned. “She’s on her break. Why?”

Turning away, Bracken stalked through the crowd toward the break room. His wolf paced, just as anxious.

Derren caught up to him, asking, “What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong with Madisyn,” said Bracken, flexing his fingers. “I can feel it through the bond. It’s not so much anger as . . . battle adrenaline, maybe.”

“Fuck,” Derren bit out.

As they neared the break room and Bracken saw four of Claudia’s guards lingering near the door, he rumbled a growl. “Out of my fucking way.”

One of the guards raised a placatory hand. “Claudia just wants to talk to her. Your cat was a little upset after Claudia asked to send you a drink to congratulate you on finding your mate. They’ll be fine in there and—”

Crash.

Heart leaping into his throat, Bracken pushed through the guards and kicked the door open, making it ram into the wall. And he stopped dead. Hell, they all stopped dead. Because Madisyn was dragging Claudia along the floor by a fistful of her hair—a floor that was covered in the litter that had tumbled out of the fallen trash can.

The she-wolf’s cries were muffled, thanks to the wad of newspaper that had been stuffed in her mouth. Claudia managed to pull the wad out just as Madisyn hauled her to her feet and started ramming Claudia’s head against the locker.