Free Pride by Rachel Vincent Page B

on his head, but he’d have to admit to trying to stop me, and I’d be cleared of suspicion in at least one crime. Which was a damn good start.
    “…bitch is crazy. Homicidal. She nearly took my head off.” Colin’s voice floated to me from the bedroom.
    “Now, that’s hardly fair.” I glanced around for support from my fellow enforcers. “It was just a little left hook.”
    Marc frowned and shushed me. Jace turned off the radio.
    My irritation mounted as I realized no one was yelling at Colin for cussing in front of four different Alphas. Which was just plain wrong. I’d probably be brought up on more charges.
    I crossed the room silently, and Michael scooted to make room for me in front of the closed door.
    “Do you remember why she hit you?” Paul Blackwell asked, and I tensed, bracing myself for vindication. Absolution. Complete exoneration.
    What I got was total bullshit.
    “Yeah.” Springs creaked as Colin shifted on the bed. “I was trying to stop her from going out. Just doing my job.”
    Yeah, right, you worthless lump of fur. Tell them why I was going out.
    “Where was she going?” Malone asked. “Was she trying to get away?”
    Objection, Your Honor? Leading the witness? I glanced at Michael, but he only frowned and shook his head, telling me to keep my mouth shut. Clenched jaws kept my complaint locked up tight. Clenched fists kept my temper in check. Barely.
    “Yeah.” Colin grasped eagerly at the straw Malone had just given him. “That’s exactly what she was doing. She was trying to escape.”
    Fury blazed its way through my veins, scorching me from the inside out. The rotten bastard was outright lying to a room full of Alphas! On those not-so-rare occasions when I needed to avoid telling the whole truth, I simply evaded the question, but Colin was pinning his lie to his chest like a fucking medal of honor. And he seemed completely unaware that such a badge was not of courage, but of cowardice and shame. Or maybe he didn’t care. Either way, enforcers should not possess such traits. Ever.
    I opened my mouth to protest, but again Michael shook his head, this time adding a severe frown to his silent warning.
    “What about the stray?” Uncle Rick asked, and when Colin made no reply, he continued. “Wasn’t Faythe trying to save Brett Malone from a stray in cat form?”
    Colin hesitated for a moment. Then he cackled with laughter so sudden and forced that everyone surely knew it was fake. That he was overcompensating. But no one questioned Colin’s sincerity. Not aloud, anyway.
    But the bedroom door opened, and I jumped back to avoid Dr. Carver when he stomped out, a disgusted look plastered on his normally jolly face. When no one closed the doorbehind him, Michael and I stepped silently into the room, where all four Alphas stood around the twin bed on which the towheaded tom lay propped against several pillows.
    “ Faythe? Save Brett? Is that what she said?” Colin glanced from face to face in overplayed incredulity, daring a grin when he caught sight of me watching. “No. I was trying to save Brett. She was trying to get away while I was distracted.”
    “Are you sure that’s what happened?” my father asked, and the disbelief thick in his voice did little to smother the flames of anger shooting up and down my spine. My Alpha wasn’t the one I needed to convince.
    “Of course I’m sure. I was about to go out after Brett when Faythe took off for the front door. I had to choose between the two of them. Her stupid stunt could have gotten him killed.”
    My fingernails bit into my palm. My teeth ground together. My nostrils flared as my body demanded more oxygen to feed the fire of indignation burning deep in my chest. If Colin didn’t spit the truth out soon, I was either going to spontaneously combust or lose my temper. I could not stand there and watch that lying coward of a pussycat ground my name and reputation beneath his filthy paws.
    I should have hit him harder.
    “If