Tarnished by Rhiannon Held Read Free Book Online Page B

want power for power’s sake?” Andrew changed position in his chair, trying to ease muscles in his back that were aching from all the tension in the air. Did he need to show them the scars there? Would that make them understand that everything he did, he did to keep Were safe? To prevent what had happened to Silver, to Silver’s pack, to him, from happening to someone else?
    “You’re the one talking about how great being together in one big pack is. Maybe you do want to take over all of North America for everyone’s own good.” Michelle raised her eyebrows. “You took over Seattle days after arriving.”
    “And then gave it back.”
    “When you were too hurt to hold it.”
    Andrew slammed a fist on the table. “Because it wasn’t really mine! I needed to be able to track the madman without having to stop and persuade John into every step. But I didn’t really deserve it. John takes care of his people. I’m only going after Roanoke because someone needs to take care of them. ” He looked at Silver, one of the stories she’d told once drifting into his mind.
    “Sometimes someone has to be the one to get something done, even if people hate him for it at the time,” Silver said, obviously thinking in the same direction.
    “And there’s a difference between holding something together and being the first to unite it,” Andrew said. “One prevents upset, the other creates it. I’m trying to preserve the safety that already exists in Roanoke. Since I don’t want the power for power’s sake, there’s no way in the Lady’s name I’d want more of it.” Andrew let tense silence settle to see if Michelle would come up with any arguments he needed to counter, but she seemed content to consider his words, lips thin.
    “He’s telling the truth about when he challenged me.” John didn’t sound happy about it, but he was saying it. “I think he would have handed control back even if he hadn’t been injured. Nothing was easy or straightforward about dealing with that situation.”
    Andrew gave him a slow nod of thanks. A little less grudging would have been nice, but he’d take what he could get. Silence fell. Andrew finished his beer and started to peel off the label. Michelle’s scent was still too conflicted for him to pick out any one emotion.
    “I’ll think about it,” she said finally. “But it comes down to this, Dare. Sacramento’s on my border. If I support you, he’s going to make my life absolute hell. My people have jobs to go to, even if I could lock them in the house to keep them from being harassed by Sacramento’s bullies while going about their daily lives. If you can get him to give up his grudge about his son, in front of everyone, fine. I’m with you. But otherwise I can’t afford to.”
    “I understand,” Andrew said, his voice as neutral as he could make it. He did understand, after all. Borders in this day and age were always more a product of common agreement than something fought for and enforced. No patrol could keep someone from driving past on the freeway, smell contained by the car. You could only try to cover enough territory to notice when anyone left a vehicle. He didn’t blame Michelle but frustration still twisted his muscles. His problems kept circling around to Sacramento. It was clear he had to deal with the man somehow, but how?
    “Maybe you should think about taking over Sacramento’s territory,” Silver told Michelle. Michelle eyed her and Silver laughed. A moment later the other woman joined in. The joke broke the tension, though Andrew wasn’t entirely sure it had been a joke.
    Michelle lounged back in her chair and let the conversation lull long enough to make an obvious break between business and small talk. “Well, I’d ask if there were any exciting new additions to the pack lately, but it smells like you’re still with that same human woman?”
    John stopped with his bottle halfway to his lips, and Andrew stepped in to fill the silence.