Wild Hunger (The Phoenix Pack, #7)(84)

Perched on the edge of the desk, Dominic said, “He could have someone watching our territory from a distance, or he could even have tagged Drake’s body the way he tagged our SUVs.”

“Both those scenarios are possible,” agreed Trick. “Morelli might have worried that Drake would talk—or he wasn’t prepared to take chances—so he did a runner. He could have burned down the buildings just so that no one else could claim them. He’s spiteful that way.”

Leaning against the wall, Marcus scratched at his stubbly jaw. “I didn’t figure Morelli for someone to run.”

“He’s not a guy who’s ruled by pride,” Dante pointed out. “He’s realistic enough to know that we have far more powerful alliances than he could dream of having. As we’ve said before, he has a plan.”

Ryan grunted in agreement. “His mind is centered on that. If hiding means preserving that plan, he’ll do it. But I think he’ll adapt it to include us being wiped out—probably at his hand.”

Trick turned to Trey. “You’re my Alpha, I respect you, but if you wanted me to flee with you and hide somewhere, I’d expect there to be a damn good reason. Otherwise you’d lose a great deal of my respect. That makes me wonder if Morelli’s pack is hiding with him. If they are, what reason would he give them?”

Dominic tossed a paperweight from one hand to the other. “I think we’re right that Morelli burned down the buildings, but I don’t think his pack knows it was him. I think he blamed it on someone else. Possibly us. His pack would leave with him and agree to hide if he gave them some spiel about lying low while they plotted revenge or some shit like that.”

“It’s probable,” said Ryan. “Whatever the case, I think he’ll launch an attack at some point. Not just because we messed up his plan, but because he truly wants our territory. His style is to take out the strongest members and try to recruit the others.” He looked at Trey and Dante. “That means you two will be his main targets. But you’ll need to watch out too, Trick. You and your mate both thwarted him. And in doing so, you made it impossible for his plan to work. Trey didn’t come to him for help like Morelli wanted. You also ensured that Drake was hunted down, which lost Morelli one of his wolves. In other words, you’ll be on his shit list.”

The knock at the door made Trey frown. Still, he called out, “Come in.”

Lydia took shy steps inside, teeth nibbling her lower lip. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“Everything okay?” asked Dante.

She sighed. “Well, not really.”

Trick narrowed his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I was talking to Frankie at her studio. I just wanted to see her work and stuff. While I was there, she got a phone call. And then her face just went all weird. I asked what was wrong, but she blew me off and went back to work.”

Trick checked her through their bond. She seemed calm enough, but he knew that she could throw herself so deeply into a project that her emotions took a back seat. His wolf urged Trick to find her, check on her.

“Go see your mate,” Trey told him. “Make sure she’s okay.”

With a curt nod, Trick left the office and stalked out of the caves and through the woods. As he neared the studio, he heard rock music blasting out of her speakers. Honestly, he didn’t know how the noise could possibly help her concentrate, but whatever worked.

In the studio she was bent over a huge, shapeless clump of clay. Slowly and cautiously he crossed to her and said, “Hey, baby. What’s that going to be?”

“No idea.” She flicked him a sideways glance. “Lydia went to see you, huh?” she guessed.

Taking her by the shoulders, Trick gently turned her to face him, taking in her pinched expression and pained stare. “Who called you, and what did they say to upset you?”

“It was my grandparents’ housekeeper, Edna.” She swallowed. “Geoffrey was admitted into the hospital this morning. He was shot in the shoulder outside the court building.”

“Shot?” he echoed.

“He’s okay. The shooter either had a shit aim or hadn’t wanted to kill him.” Frankie took in a shaky breath. “At first I was just shocked. I couldn’t feel anything. I didn’t know what to feel. It has to make me a shitty person that I went right back to my project like—”

“You’re not a shitty person. You went back to your project the way someone else would have reached for a bottle of whiskey or a Valium. What you do here calms you and gives you an outlet. So now that the shock is subsiding, how do you feel?”

“Worried, even though he’s okay. And . . . well, pissed.” The moment she admitted to the emotion, her anger truly hit her. She hissed through her teeth. “They didn’t even call to tell me about it, Trick. It’s one thing to disapprove of me and need to make their point by giving me the cold shoulder. It’s a whole other thing to not even call me when my grandfather is hurt.”

Trick drew her against him and held her close, stroking her hair. “Breathe with me, Frankie. Nice and slow. That’s it.” When she seemed to have found her calm, he pulled back to meet her gaze. “Come on. We’ll lock this place up and go back to our room so you can get changed.”

“Changed for what?”