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My blood turns to ice. Selena's hand finds my arm. “Arlene?”
I don't answer her. My eyes are locked on Candice, and everything inside me is screaming. Fight. Kill her. But my body won't give me what I need. The poison has taken too much. My wolf is too weak.
“Relax,” Candice says, leaning against the bars. “I'm not here to hurt you. Not yet.”
“What do you want?”
“Straight to business.” She tilts her head, studying me. “I heard you fought well in the park. Sixteen of my wolves. Impressive.”
Sixteen.
“You trained them poorly.”
Something flashes in her eyes. Good. Her gaze slides past me toward Selena, and slowly, her smile returns. “Although I suppose I should thank you. I came for one prize and ended up with a two for one special. Revenge against Arlene and Selena from one abduction. I couldn't have planned that better if I tried.”
Selena steps closer behind me. “You didn't plan it.” Candice's smile falters. I glance at Selena, and the slight lift of her eyebrow tells me everything I need to know. She caught it too.
“No,” I say slowly. “She didn't.”
Candice's eyes narrow. “Excuse me?”
“You heard her.” I fold my arms despite the weakness still dragging through my body. “Twenty rogues, sixteen dead, and you ended up with someone you weren't expecting. Sounds more like luck than planning.”
“Luck?” Her voice sharpens. There it is.
Selena moves beside me. “If Arlene had killed the other four before they poisoned her, we'd be back at Silver Moon already.”
“And you lost sixteen wolves getting us here,” I add. “Not exactly impressive.”
Candice laughs, but there's nothing amused about it. “You really think twenty wolves walked that far into Silver Moon territory because we got lucky?”
I say nothing. She steps closer to the bars. “We knew where your warriors would be. We knew how many were moved. We knew your security rotations. Your pack activity. Darian's schedule. Yours. We knew exactly when Silver Moon would be vulnerable.”
Selena's fingers brush mine. Someone inside the pack. I keep my face blank. “And I'm supposed to believe you figured all of that out yourself?”
“Someone inside your precious Silver Moon has been very helpful.”
“Who?” Selena asks.
Candice smiles. “Nice try.”
She isn't giving us the name. Fine. Names aren't the only thing we need. I shrug. “So you had someone feeding you information. You still screwed up the abduction.”
“I didn't screw up anything.”
“You brought twenty wolves for two captives and lost sixteen.”
“I brought twenty wolves for one captive.”
Everything inside me stills. Beside me, Selena goes silent. Candice realizes what she said, but instead of retreating, satisfaction spreads across her face.
“That's right, Arlene. You.” Her finger points directly at me. “You were the only one we were supposed to take.”
My stomach drops. “Selena was never supposed to be at Cypress Moon Park.”
Selena stiffens. “Then how did you know Arlene would be there?” she asks.
Candice's smile widens. “Because you were supposed to send her there.”