87. Revelations Part II

*How the fuck am I supposed to take that in?*
Seff was completely numb in heart, mind, and body.
Her pack leader killed her parents. He tried to kill *her*.
*Why*?
It was Hawthorn who said it first: “He wanted to save his own ass. That two-faced bastard.”
Wisteria’s green eyes were glossy with tears. “Linden shouldn’t have told him. We all know Hyacinth lets the Alphas do whatever they want, but it’s only because they pay him to. He believed the secret could threaten the Magnolia. Killing you and your parents was his way of ending conflict before it started.”
Hawthorn bared his teeth, the protective and quick-to-anger instinct of an Alpha a way of coping. “How could’ve he known there was even going to *be* fucking conflict?”
“He didn’t,” Wisteria said darkly.
Her packmates started to blur in her vision. The floor started to rock beneath her feet and she stumbled. She felt the world tilt and suddenly Hawthorn’s arms slammed into her torso as he caught her. Then she was lying across the couch with her head in his lap, hand stroking her hair.
Through half-closed eyes, she saw Wisteria crouch in front of her and kiss her forehead gently. “I’m so sorry, little wolf. Losing your mother was the hardest thing we could ever endure. You deserve to grieve and process all this shit, but right now you need to be brave and stand like the true wolf you are. Werewolves howl at the moon as a call of freedom—we are *strong*. *You* are strong. Powerful enough to end this cycle of love and hate forever.”
*Be brave*. The words pounding in Seff’s head. *I have to be brave*.
*I’ll be proud of the wolf you are*.
Wisteria took her hand, and she knew she could cry herself dry if she let herself. “I miss her.”
“I miss her too, sweetheart.”
Salty tears tracked down her nose and onto her lips. “What do I do?”
Wisteria’s gaze flicked up to Hawthorn and back down. “*We* are going to hide the key until we steal the box back.”
“Back from Hyacinth?” Seff managed to sit up with Hawthorn’s assistance, scrubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. “The Manor is too far—”
“Either Selene or Kiran made it there. One of them managed to torment Hyacinth enough for him to give it up as if it was his to give.” Wisteria rose to her feet and plucked the key off the cushion. “We can only hope it was Kiran.”
Hawthorn’s arms locked around her waist, Seff stood with her, able to take her mother’s letters and hide them carefully under the couch. Damn her if she lost them. *Be brave*. “Where do we hide it?”
Wisteria smiled. Seff only realized then how age was beginning to grace her: smile lines drawn from the corners of her nose, faint crinkles from the corners of her eyes. But the look in them was young and alive. “In Hawthorn’s pocket.”
Seff twisted quickly. His mouth was agape as he stared at Wisteria like she was crazy. “Sorry, what?”
“Along with a match,” she added.
His eyes widened. “Are you trying to set my—”
“Do not finish that sentence.”
“Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. Seff didn’t blame him for disconcertion. “Is your plan really to steal the box from the hands of *Kiran Cyrus the immortal Alpha* and while he’s not looking we unlock it and set fire to everything inside?”
Now her smile was wistful. She nodded once. “That’s exactly it. And here is how—”
Hawthorn’s heart and body jerked into Seff’s when he flinched as a fist slammed into the door. “Open up, little Magnolias,” sang Sienna. “Plotting against the king of the Sun harem is punishable! I have great sway in the *by*.”
Wisteria was only an Omega, curvy but lean and not strengthened by muscle—but by intelligence and the ferocity of a mother. She stormed to the door despite Seff and Hawthorn’s protests. She flung it open mid-knock and was dwarfed by Sienna’s tall and broad Alpha figure.
“What do you say to a deal, Sun Delta?”
Sienna’s eyebrows shot up before she threw her head back and laughed. It was short-lived. She Shifted her face toward her wolf form’s and snapped her muzzle of teeth an inch from Wisteria’s. Only seeing her straightened back, Seff’s admiration bloomed—she hadn’t even winced.
Sienna withdrew and grunted, fully human-form by lip still curled. “You dull my fun. What the fuck do you want?”
*I’m done feeling helpless*.
Seff tugged out of Hawthorn’s arms and strode up beside Wisteria. The floor wasn’t rolling anymore and her vision was sharp. Her green eyes met Sienna’s fiery gold ones.
“Kiran sent you here.”
“Yes,” the Delta sneered. “To get some key. I don’t give a fuck why or what it’s to, so make life easy for all of us and hand it over.”
“No.”
“*No*?”
“No. I can’t ever let him have it.”
Sienna crossed her arms. “I obey Kiran’s orders, little flower, not your defiance.”
*Be brave!*
Seff took a deep breath. On the exhale she said, “It unlocks the secret why he is so obsessed with me—a box that belongs to my family.”
She ignored her packmates’ hisses of shock. She focused only on Sienna, whose interest was immediately piqued. “He already knows he’s obsessed with you, stupid little bitch, so why—”
“He might want to destroy what’s inside it so no one will ever know,” Seff interrupted her. “But I might *not* want him to. He’s not supposed to see what’s inside the box.”
Sienna’s eyes narrowed, looking from one Magnolia to the other. “I can’t believe I’m even listening to you. You are only telling me this because you want me involved. Why the fuck would I? How does helping you benefit me?”
Confidence was like a creature controlling Seff’s voice. Somewhere in the depths of her, she was channeling a charm she didn’t think she was capable of. Deal-making suddenly seemed like fun game.
She even almost smiled. “Because it could get rid of me forever. Whether he gets what he wants or he doesn’t, I plan to leave the Keep forever.”
“I told you before,” Sienna growled. “The only way he’ll go back to how things used to be is your *death*. I could just kill you now and save everyone the trouble.”
Seff was pushed back by Hawthorn and Wisteria putting themselves between her and the Alpha female, who was only amused.
“If you kill Seff,” Wisteria began in a low tone, “Kiran will kill *you*. If he gets what is inside that box, he will try to keep Seff here far longer than you want. If he *doesn’t* get inside, there is a chance he might let her leave.”
Seff admired Wisteria’s intuition—though it wasn’t hard to pick up on Sienna’s hatred and desire for Seff to be out of the picture.
Sienna stuck her tongue in her cheek in consideration. “So you want to either not let him have the key or destroy the box before he can open it.”
“That’s the gist,” Seff said.
“What is it that you really want, Magnolia bitch?”
“Stop calling me that,” she answered neutrally, feeling her gaze flatten. “All I want is to live without two Alphas hounding me and trying to control me. I want nothing to do with them anymore.”
Hawthorn looked back at her with such tenderness and relief that Seff almost caved in to the same emotions. But she had to remain stone until a deal was made.
And maybe offering up her own life was the way to convince Sienna. She was beginning to grin. “What I’m hearing is what I’ve been waiting to hear: kick your ass out of Apollo’s Keep.”
“Yes.”
Not a second passed before Sienna fully grinned. “I’m in. What do you want me to do?”