Sword of Mercy by Sydney Addae

was. I think she was
drugged or something.”
    “Stop making things up, she wants no part of
you.” Hawke yanked Niall closer and snarled in his face. “Worse,
you dragged me into that bullshit when you knew I wanted no part of
it. That’s over. Do whatever you want to do.” He released
him.
    Niall stumbled back a few feet and touched a
pole behind him to steady himself. “I will.”
    Hawke turned and headed toward the driver’s
seat. Asia looked at Niall, shrugged, turned and slid into the
passenger’s seat. Hawke started the engine.
    “I’m sorry ,” Asia said. “ I pushed
you to go there, I didn’t smell deceit then or now, if he’s lying
it’s on an Alpha level because I cannot tell.”
    Hawke took her hand and kissed the back of it.
“ Let’s leave the family matters alone until we finish this
assignment, we wasted a lot of time and went out of the way for
this. Let’s agree to focus on the finding the Liege and stopping
them from stealing pups .”
    She smiled. “ Agreed .”
    The back door opened and a tall, dark woman
with hazel eyes slid in the back-seat. Hawke spun around and met
the woman’s too sure gaze.
    “Thanks for waiting, it would’ve taken too
long to track you down,” she said moving over as Niall slid in
beside her.
    “Let me guess,” Hawke said. “You’re his
mam.”
    She smiled. “Is that what you told him?” She
looked at Niall who returned her smile. “I’m Granira, a simple
healer.”
    “There is nothing simple about her ,”
Asia said. “ She’s lying.”
    “I know.”
    “Get out,” Asia said without turning around.
“You’re lying and we don’t have time to deal with your
lies.”
    “No, I suppose not. You’ve got to find who’s
stealing pups and stop them. If you take us to Strith, it’s on your
way, I promise to give you information that will help
you.”
    “That wasn’t a lie ,” Asia
said.
     

Chapter 13
     
    “What do you know about the missing pups?”
Asia asked as Hawke pulled onto the highway.
    “Stealing or taking a pup is not new, it goes
back decades.” Granari paused. “Even before Omari or Hawke as he’s
called now, was given away. There is an old agreement in place that
the Liege has twisted over time and used to their advantage. For
the most part, full-bloods see things in black and white. Hungry,
we eat. Tired, we sleep. The Liege understands this and operates in
gray areas, so that they do not violate the letter of the agreement
but the spirit.”
    Asia glanced at Hawke. “ Why am I not
surprised she knows the Liege and speaks of them with ease and
disgust?”
    “She is old. Can you sense it? No
doubt she has seen much,” Asia said.
    “Her ability to lie at will, and
hide the deception fascinates me. Perhaps she is a
witch.”
    “Perhaps. Is she lying? I smell no
deception. Not even when she said I was given away.”
    “We will deal with that issue
later, remember? Right now we focus on the missing pups. I think
she’s hiding something,” Hawke reminded her.
    “Who did the Liege have an agreement with?”
Asia asked.
    “The pack. A century past, packs worked
together, the high council had honor and convinced everyone the
agreement would work. For a season it worked well and we all lived
in peace. If Konstantin could have cloned himself through the
years, it would have been successful. He had a heart and passion
for packs. But humans are greedy and full-bloods prefer to keep
life simple.”
    Asia glanced at Hawke. “ She sounds as if
she knew him personally. It’s possible, La Patron is over three
hundred, so is Angus.”
    “Could be. ”
    “The Liege twisted an old agreement in their
favor and is taking pups. How do we stop them?” Hawke
asked.
    “You can’t. Not without closing a few
loopholes first. In his desire to protect the wolves Konstantin
installed safety measures which would allow the Roundtable, sorry,
Liege members to access pack lands to save them from outsiders. The
Liege use that agreement to steal