Traitor in the basket

“I’m not hurt,” I said.
Dean climbed into the bathtub with me. I was a tab astonished after being sucked in completely by Sinkara and her Locus Lake powers but my skin wasn’t corpse-like as the first time I stepped into a Locus Lake.
Dean placed his arm over my chest as hot water filled the tub. Our legs tangled in a quiet dance. Dean still hadn’t explained what led to his Father’s death. Since I’d known him he never mentioned his parents. I didn’t know if Gabe and Dean shared the same parents or just one.
“Do you and Gabe have the same parents?” I blurted out.
A soft laugh rumbled through his chest. “Yes. Sinkara was right. I killed my Father.”
“She wasn’t lying about being your sister, huh?” I whispered.
Dean grunted. “That part’s a lie. He made her a hybrid but he didn’t Father her.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. That was not the sister in law I needed.
“I don’t understand why he would make them?”
“Dad was an Alpha and he wanted to dominate other packs. In order to do that he needed the strongest wolves. Naturally, hybrids wolf parts are weak but their other half excels. He found a way around that.”
“But he made wild and uncontrollable wolves.”
“They’ve evolved since their leader was killed but yeah. They have flaws.”
“What’s Sinkara mixed with?”
“She has demon blood it’s not the same with the others. I’ve come across vampire hybrids; witches you name it. Their mixed DNA makes them harder to kill.”
“Dean, Sinkara wants me to bring your Dad back to life.”
My mate’s hold around my neck tightened. “We’ve kept a lot to ourselves thus far mate. This is another thing we shouldn’t share.”
“Why? Shouldn’t everyone know what they’re planning?”
“My Father caused a lot of damage and there are wolves that’ll do anything to prevent him from rising including to kill you.”
I pried Dean’s arm away and sat up and gawked at him.
“It would have been easier if the goddess’s power was still in the stone. We could have chucked it in the sea and forgotten about it.”
“All right we have to get rid of her before an angry mob comes after me.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.” He squeezed my thigh and lifted me off him so he could climb out of the bathtub.
He grabbed a towel from the counter and wrapped it around his waist. I didn’t even get to marvel at his firm ass. I shrugged and climbed out of the warm water.
“Ouch.” I slipped and smacked my head on the tiled floor.
“Layla!”
I cradled my head. “Ouch, I might be hurt now.”
My head filled with static and my ears felt like a swarm of bees invaded them. Images of a locked room with young girls filled my mind. Dean’s arms on my shoulders disrupted the channel and the room vanished.
“Where does it hurt?” He asked.
“I remembered something… I was captured.”
“I thought you got all your memories back?”
“Not all of them. I think this is important.”
He carried me back to the bedroom and lay me on the mattress while he disappeared to get dressed. I knew the girls in the grey monotonous room. Kate, Monica and Cora. It was my idea to fight what followed was ripped lace skirts and blood in an abandoned warehouse.
Dean marched into the room, pulling a white shirt over his head.
“I’ll call the doctor,” Dean said.
“No, we need Matt.”
“The rogue?”
“I need to speak to him now Dean.”
***
I leaned out the window and had the wind blowing in my face. Somehow two of my friends were killed and Cora and I survived but only barely. That was the part I was missing and my gut told me I needed to know how that happened.
Dean’s rubbed my thigh. His touch settled me.
“Did you call him?” I asked.
“No answer.”
“I have to know what happened. It’s just a gut feeling.”
We drove into Matt’s driveway. The lights out front and inside the house were on. We climbed out of the truck. Dean ground to a halt before he reached the door.
“What?”
“Stay behind me.”
Dean turned the knob and the door gave way. I wasn’t sure that was a good sign. Dean barged in while I stumbled at the stench of decay and a dead dog. The living room was undisturbed while Dean wandered into the bedroom I entered the kitchen.
“Dare wolves,” I spat.
The kitchen was spotless but their prints and their scent created a crime scene.
“Dean!” I turned and caught him leaving the bedroom.
He grabbed my shoulders and dragged me into the living room.
“He’s dead.”
I cringed. “How? When?”
“He’s been here for days. In the state of the place, someone came back on the cleaned the house.”
I settled on the couch. Who would want Matt dead? Why would they leave him here for us to find? I cradled my head as Dean watched me helplessly. The domineering stench in the room wasn’t helping my spinning head. The scent was so strong in here… and familiar. It carried me back months to when the girls and I attacked our captures. Monica and Kate were slaughtered.
Cora and I separated in the woods. Another wolf was hot on my tail. He caught me. His voice, his eyes.
“Your fighting spirit won’t do you good, girl,” he told me.
“I’ll die fighting,” I said.
The rest was the reason I found half dead happened next.
“Dean… he tried to kill me. I would have died.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
He knelt in front of me and took my hands.
“Who tried to kill you?” His wolf flashed in his eyes.
“Killian,” I choked.
Every encounter I had with him flashed in my mind. The most recent one stood out.
“He’s Sinkara’s right hand.”
“Fuck. Fuck him. I’m going to kill him.”
Dean ripped his phone out of his back pocket. “Gabe, where the hell is Killian?”
“Forget him. Dare wolves broke into the castle,” Gabe barked.
Dean killed the call.
“What did they take?” I asked as he marched out of the house.
“Damn it,” he spat. “Their leader.”
I paused. “They took your Dad?” I gasped.
“Yes, now all they need is you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. This was not how I wanted things to go.