Chapter 106

Grace

I stormed down the hall. As I entered the conference room, Eason had the nerve to not even look up as I entered. He was on the phone. There was a tiny fan on the table blowing at top speed at him as he talked. The cooler he'd been lugging around was sitting beside him. A frosty drink sat in front of him, half empty. Seeing him, I wondered how much of his fever was even real. Witches made all sorts of potions to do all sorts of things, and werewolves rarely got sick. I'd never heard of the shift making someone have a fever. Had he really shifted in that house? Had it all just been an act? I didn't know, but I was going to find out right now.

"I'll get it over to the west team. Thanks, Frank."

He hung up with another sigh, reaching into the cooler beside him. His hand was shaking as he pushed it through his hair. I locked the door behind him.

"Something up?" Eason asked, grabbing a pen and starting to write.

The phone started to ring again, and I shoved it away from him. He looked up at me, cocking an eyebrow at me as he set the pen down.

"Grace?"

"You've always thought you were smarter than me, but you're not. I've figured you out, and I'll be having the police come to get your ass soon, but first, I want to know why."

Eason blinked. "You've officially lost me."

"You've betrayed me and all of Mooncrest. You've betrayed our entire family because of what? Jealousy? You didn't feel important enough? A grudge? Tell me, Eason, what could possibly be worth all of the pain and suffering you've caused me, my children, and the pack? What could I have possibly done to you to make you hate me so much?"

Eason blinked slowly. Then, he sat back in his seat. The phone kept ringing as he looked up at me.

"You're going to have to start from the beginning with some context, Grace," Eason said as he opened another popsicle. "Preferably with something that makes sense."

I snatched it out of his hand and tossed it over my shoulder. "You're a liar. I know this whole fever thing is some sort of potion, so take the fucking antidote already and stop playing around."

Eason tilted his head. "I had no idea you got an M.D. overnight, Grace. Congrats. The pharmaceutical Ph.D. or a J.D. would be more useful, though, considering, but who am I to judge?"

I hissed at him. "Are you mocking me?"

"You make it easy by acting like a fucking psycho."

"You're not going to be saying that when I have your ass arrested."

"For...?"

"Treason against your alpha."

Eason blinked. "You can't charge someone with treason if they're not actually your citizen. You might get sedition or sabotage... criminal syndicalism even, given the situation. Maybe all three."

Not a citizen? I drew back. "How far have you planned this out?"

"Planned what? Your psychotic break?"

"Your quest to take over Mooncrest!"

Eason sighed. "Really, Grace?"

"Don't try and tell me it's not true, Eason. I know you."

"Do you?"

"You're cunning."

"Yes."

"Vicious."

"Only when I need to be."

"And ambitious."

"True on all counts. What do any of my sterling qualities have to do with betraying all of Mooncrest and our family?"

"How long have you been planning to take Mooncrest from me? When did it start? The day you learned you were never going to be alpha? Some time in high school after mom died? Did it burn you so much that I'm the eldest and was always going to be alpha? That no matter how smart you thought you were no one was ever going to see you as worthy to be alpha?"

Eason tilted his head. "Are you talking to me or yourself?"

"Stop mocking me!" I screamed at him. "Just answer."

"You answer." Eason met my gaze unflinchingly. My gut turned.

"You have a lot of nerve." I sneered at him. "You sent me to that bar to meet Charles. You--"

"Did I also send you to meet Devin?"

"No, but you took advantage of my grief and got a chance to play alpha. Devin just threw a wrench in your plans."

He scoffed. "Devin couldn't throw a wrench in my plans."

"So, you knew who Devin was," I stared at him. "All that time. That's why you pulled back from making all those announcements because it serves you better with this WSU and Blood Moon bullshit. You probably knew about Amy, too. Did it make you feel better about never having a family of your own to see mine ruined? Did it make you feel like more of a real man, Eason?"

His eyes hardened, and he rose from his seat, slowly, towering over me. When had he gotten so tall? Had he grown in the past week? His eyes started to glow a bright, violent purple. What the hell was that about?

"I've put up with a lot of shit from you, Grace." His voice was a low, seething sound that felt like electricity in the air. "But this takes the fucking cake. Knock it off."

"You don't get to play the victim here, Eason. I see straight through all your crap about Jackson, about the WSU, about what you've gone through--it's all lies."

Eason didn't blink. The air around him grew hot, almost burning. His face grew more red. Sweat trickled down from his temples and started to turn dark like he was sweating black tar. I stepped back at the sharp scent that started to come from him. He turned and picked up his frozen drink before downing the rest of it as the phone started ringing again.

"You know, it takes a special kind of lunatic to project to the level you're projecting," Eason said, his voice rumbling. "You'd rather convince yourself that everyone is out to get you than take any responsibility for what you've done. I can see why you don't have any real friends."

"All I'm doing is calling you out. You don't like being on the other side much, do you? Well, it's going to be really fucking hard for you when you're tried at the State-level for treason."

He sighed, took a deep breath, and looked down at me. The glow in his eyes flickered like a storm. His sweat had started to stain his white shirt black, and it was dripping off him onto the floor.

Eason took a deep breath. "One, Mooncrest isn't important enough to get anything tried at the State level. Two, you can't try a non-citizen for treason."

"You're a natural citizen of the States--"

"Who has no natural record," Eason hissed. "Do you know what that means, Grace?"

I glared at him. "You're full of shit. Your records don't just disappear!"

Eason shook his head. "I wasn't born in the States, Grace. Don't you remember?"

I blinked at him.

"And my registration with Mooncrest was deleted five years ago," Eason hissed. "I'm here on a visitation visa. My business is classified as a foreign entity. Even if I had this grand plan to become alpha of Mooncrest, I couldn't."

I blinked at him. "You're--"

"And for the record, deleting my citizen record in Mooncrest was one of Devin's first fucking acts as alpha while you were warming up Shake and Bake at the pack house."

My face heated. "Devin didn't have the power to do that."

Eason scoffed. "Do you know anything about the powers of an alpha over the citizen records or how the system works?"

"Dad taught me plenty."

"We both know you missed more than your fair share of lessons." Eason hissed.

"This is what I'm talking about. You--"

"Haven't done a damn thing but be here at a great cost to my health and sanity because my entitled, selfish sister needed someone on her side after she married an idiot and burned every bridge she had because of her stupid pride and insecurity."

I glared at him.

"Tell me, Grace, is it me who always thought I was smarter or you?" Eason asked. "Is it me who was jealous because you would be alpha, or you who was jealous because if you were male, becoming alpha would be easier for you?"

My heart lurched, and I clenched my fists.

"Don't try and turn this around on me. Maybe you've just been jealous of me being a woman. Would certainly make liking men easier."

"Not with your figure."

I flushed. "Bitch."

"I'm the best bitch you know," Eason said. "And you're still a fucking psycho."

I reared back to slap him, and he caught my hand. I gasped as I felt something crack as he tightened his grip and shoved me back.

"But sure, blame me for everything." He shoved my hand away. "Go ahead and believe I killed Dad while you're at it."

"Did you?" I hissed, cradling my hand.

"You fucking--"

"Amira!" I called

Amira came into the conference room, looking between the two of us.

"Get the chief of police on the phone."

Amira's eyes widened. "Uhm... Boss--"

I snarled at her. "Call him!"

"Well, the chief of police was on the line, and no one picked up. I've already told him about the new picketers."

"And why are you sending chief of police calls to the conference room instead of to my office?"

She blinked. "Because you were in here."

My face heated, feeling a bit stupid. I snatched the phone off the cradle and redialed the number.

"Chief of--"

"This is Alpha Wolfe. Send a unit to Wolfe Medical for an arrest."

"I'll get on that, but we have a more pressing situation."

"What's more pressing than a traitor in Wolfe Medical?"

"The police escort van that's been hijacked and is barreling towards Mooncrest with a bomb."