“So, he is supposed to be the King of all? Again? Why?” Yuri asked, his mind going the same way as mine. Scott just shrugged.

“That doesn’t really matter right now.” I shook my head going back to the more important things. “So, let’s say Elliot hears about this and gets mad, like seriously mad, because judging by the speech he made he thinks himself more powerful and more suited to be King of all than Alistair.”

“It would explain his sudden recruiting and expanding of territory.” Yuri nodded, thinking hard about it. “And getting a Ghealach wolf to submit to him would make him look even more powerful.”

“Especially the one, not even Alistair could make behave,” Scott added with a grin. “The infamously rebellious son of Alistair Ghealach, reined in by the Silver Heart alpha. That would spread quickly. Werewolves are worse than very bored old ladies when it comes to gossiping.”

I knuckled my eyes, feeling tired. “But I came later. First, it was just about getting territory and numbers, but Father doesn’t want to give him anymore.”

“So Elliot orders a hit on our most important pack member…” Yuri said sadly. “But Bran’s death is not enough, he wants to truly ruin us, so he orders the Mercenaries to keep going. Attacking Jack, leaving the wolf at our doorstep…”

“It sounds logical.” Scott nodded. And it did. Except the wolf got there by non-physical means… Father wasn’t stupid and thanks to the wolf, Baltazar seemed like the most probable suspect. Because the King of Vampires had one very special ability… One that not many people knew about, including Yuri and Scott.

“We need proof,” Yuri said, breaking my chain of thoughts. “We can’t just accuse Elliot, it would start a war.”

“He already started a war by killing Bran!” Scott growled then. It was rare for him to get that mad about something.

“We have to find the Mercenaries. We find them and get them to confess who paid them,” I said calmly before we could all get railed up.

“They won’t just tell you who paid them.” Yuri shook his head, frowning.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I can be very persuasive.” I smiled at him, showing my teeth in a threatening gesture, though humans would probably just see it as a grin. Yuri’s eyes flickered amber then, his wolf calling for a hunt as much as mine did.

“Well, that’s a great plan, except the pack hasn’t been able to find them,” Scott pointed out.

“We searched the whole territory and the city and even the forests around,” Yuri said, the hunt quickly fading away from his gaze.

“But you haven’t searched the other territories…” I suggested. “The pack is limited. They can’t ask Elliot or Baltazar about the Mercenaries for several reasons. Alistair would seem weak if he admitted that he is not capable of finding the killer of his own beta. And Elliot and Baltazar could get seriously offended if he suggested that they let Mercenaries stay in their territory.” I bit my lip, a plan forming in my mind. “But I’m a lone wolf… And I just had a bad fight with Diego… Maybe, just maybe I would run to the one who offered me a place by his side.”

“You want to join Elliot’s pack?” Scott said horrified by the mere thought.

“Hell no, but maybe I can convince him to take me out for a run,” I told them.

They thought about it, their expressions clearly saying they weren’t happy about it, but they didn’t have many reasons to say no either. “Look, I’m the misfit son, right? And I’m so damn mad at the pack for not protecting Bran, for chasing me away… So mad I could kill them,” I said with a wicked smile. “It’s a perfect opportunity for Elliot to get me in on his devilish plan. And if not, maybe I can at least search his territory.”

“Do you seriously think he’ll believe it?” Yuri asked and I could already see he was in on the plan.

“If we play it right, if we make enough of a scene. Like Scotty here said, werewolves are worse than old ladies. If we make enough drama Elliot will find me on his own. Let’s make him think it was his own idea to find me and tell me everything.”

“God, this is the worst plan on the planet…” Scott shook his head with a sigh. “It better work, you bastard.” He smiled. “Alright, how do we make enough drama?”