Chapter 17

Billie

The sunshine was trickling through my bedroom curtains, brightening the balsamroot-yellow walls and making me feel as if I were lying in a wildflower meadow, an imagining that my sleep-hazed body was enjoying as I stretched out in my comfy double bed.

I'd been awake for a while but hadn't gotten up yet. I'd slept so deeply, and my body had that deliciously heavy feeling that only came from a good night's sleep.

Although the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit my nose, the deep olfactory senses of my wolf alerting me to it even through the closed door, I was seriously debating getting up.

A knock sounded on my door.

Scooting up in bed, I called out, "Come in."

Aislin appeared, carrying a pair of mugs. "I didn't know if you took milk, so I brought a jug," she said, setting down a little jug on my bedside table, too.

I beamed. "Wow. Coffee in bed. I'm loving the Mundy BnB experience."

"We aim to please," she said, her eyes warm. She took her own mug. "Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"Of course," I said, feeling upbeat. I found being around Aislin as cheering as being in this bright room. You couldn't help but feel perkier around her.

She shut the door before sitting down on the end of my bed.

I poured in some milk, appreciating her thoughtfulness. I preferred my coffee milky.

Aislin seemed preoccupied as she sipped hers, and my stomach tightened, sensing this wasn't just a social visit. "What's wrong?" I asked.

She raised her eyebrows as if surprised I'd picked up on her worry. Then she explained, "We've had some news about the Dalesbloom Pack."

Panic thumped through me. "Has something happened to Colt?" I blurted out, worry coiling through me.

Aislin shook her head. "No, I assume Colt's fine," she said, her jaw tightening. I knew she still felt strongly that my adoptive brother was as much to blame for what I'd suffered in the Hexen household with his silence as David and Catrina were for their oppression. But her assurance eased my tension.

"Both my mum and dad are Gavin's Betas," she explained. "My dad was staking out the borders of Dalesbloom last night. In addition, he keeps links with the rest of the community to stay informed of what's happening in the area."

"He had word this morning from the undertaker in Dalesbloom town that there'd been a death at Hexen Manor. Apparently, a packmate, Joseph, was found dead in the woods in the early hours this morning."

Shock punched me. I pictured the blond-haired young man. He was easy-going by nature and had always reminded me a lot of Colt. He'd only been a few years older than my adoptive brother. Colt had been good friends with him.

Had been.

The past tense felt rife with meaning. My head spun.

"Did you know him well?" Aislin asked gently.

I shook my head. "But he seemed like a nice guy. Colt hung out with him a lot." Worry twisted my stomach. Colt would be cut up about his friend's death. I took a deep breath before asking, "You have Colt's number on your mobile, right?"

She nodded.

"I should try and check in with him and see if he's okay." I hoped that despite the way she felt about him, Aislin would let me make my own decision about reaching out.

"Of course," she said. She fished her phone out of her leggings' pocket. "The passcode's 1947."

Aislin's pre-occupied expression returned. "Did Catrina ever mention Joseph to you?" she asked.

I blinked in confusion. "It was Colt who was friends with Joseph," I clarified. "Besides, Lady Catrina didn't really talk to me. We had a more tyrant/servant relationship, you know?"

Aislin's lips quirked, but she pressed. "But did Joseph and Catrina ever seem close? Like when they were young, before Catrina was fourteen?"

I was bewildered by the direction of Aislin's questioning—and her very specific ones. It was as if she were working on some conspiracy theory with regard to Dalesbloom Pack.

I racked my brains, trying to think about how Catrina was when she was fourteen. I'd have been twelve.

"Catrina was home-schooled like Colt and I," I said. "So, it was only the other packmates who she hung out with. I suppose when she was younger, she did hang out with Joseph and Colt a lot more than in later years."

Aislin exhaled heavily. "The thing is, there's something you should know about Joseph's death before you call Colt. The other day, when Gavin broke up with Catrina, she told him she was Joseph's fated mate."

Astonishment rebounded through me.

Catrina and Joseph had been fated mates.

Disbelief shuddered through me. I shook my head and all but laughed. I couldn't imagine my uptight, stubborn adoptive sister with such an easy-going partner.

"It's true," Aislin said, "But there's more."

I braced myself, her uneasy tone setting my teeth on edge. "Catrina confessed to Gavin that the night she and Joseph had their Moondream when she was fourteen years old, they'd met in the woods. She'd knocked Jospeh unconscious," she explained, "And when he woke, she threatened to murder him if he ever told anyone that they were fated mates."

I felt my face drain of color as the blood rushed away. Joseph had told the pack that he'd passed out in the woods, hitting his head on the stump and that's when he'd had his Moondream. That's how the stump had gotten its name.

"The pack nicknamed it Joseph's Stump," I said, my voice sounding washed out as I thought of how, just a week ago, Colt and I had used it as a marker during my shifter training.

"It's where Jospeh's body was found," Aislin said unwaveringly.

Sickness roiled through me. Catrina had made good on her threat. My mind whirled at the savagery of my adoptive sister. Gretel's words from last night rang through my head, "That girl's got darkness in her…" I stared at Aislin, feeling as if I'd walked into a dangerous and ruthless world I barely recognized. Heaviness pressed down on me. My pulse quickened as I tried to get my head around this. Confusion muddied my thoughts. Why had Catrina murdered Joseph?

Aislin gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I'm going to make pancakes. Give you a shout when they're ready?"

I nodded, staring at Aislin's mobile in my hands as she shut the door behind her. Hollowness gnawed at me as I wondered how there could be such normal moments, like talking to friends and cooking pancakes, when such terrible things like the unjust death of a young man were allowed to happen.

Unsure of what I was going to say to Colt, but needing to hear his voice and check he was okay, I tried to call him. But it rang out. Again and again. I wondered whether he wasn't picking up because it was Aislin's number showing. But he knew I was with Grandbay. Surely, he'd know it was me? Worry twisted my stomach, and I wished I could know that he was all right and not hurting too badly.

Aislin succeeded in making my world a little brighter with pancakes and syrup. After breakfast, I glanced out the living room window and noticed Muriel sitting down on the shore. I sought solace in the company of my other friend and being outside. As I drew over to her, Muriel's gaze roved my Bigfoot T-shirt, and it brought a sweet smile to her face. Muriel had another long bohemian dress on, which she'd pulled up to just above her knees as she was swirling her legs in the river.

With the sun beating down on us, I rolled up my jeans, joining her.

"Helen told me that the river in the Grandbay area is blessed with healing properties," I said. I breathed in deeply as I enjoyed the cool water lapping my feet and up my calves. "It really feels like it," I confided as I felt the river taking some of my strain.

Muriel agreed with a distracted nod, but her usually sweet expression seemed pensive. Was it because of the news about Joseph? "Did you hear about Joseph's death?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm very sorry," she said, gifting me with a tender look.

Although any death was tragic, I realized it wasn't that that was burdening her.

"Are you all right, Muriel?" I asked.

She breathed out a sigh. "Sorry, my dear, I have a lot on my mind. Gavin explained to me that the Mythguard representative who is looking out for me with these dragons reckons that they want my horn for a ritual."

My skin crawled. "What kind of ritual?" I asked, the thought of these dragons hunting my friend for the sake of her horn disgusting.

"A ritual that would unlock another Lycan form. Apparently, it would give them a form that's something monstrous, one that is between human and beast and gives them even more power than that which is held in either their human or beast form alone."

Dread tightened my stomach. And the worry that the news of Joseph's death had awoken grew at this news. But I smothered it.

"You've got Mythguard protecting you and all the wolves of Grandbay, Muriel." I reached over and squeezed her hand. "We won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise."

Muriel needed my support, and I tried to suffuse my voice with confidence.

Muriel smiled more fully again, squeezing my hand back. "You remind me of my Kiara." As her eyes met my questioning stare, she added. "My daughter."

"Where is she?" I asked, curiosity beating through me.

Muriel shook her head. "I don't know. We got separated when the Inkscales were hunting us."

Once again, Muriel's preoccupied expression returned, and I knew that it would take all of the torrents of the Gunnison to heal the heartache she was experiencing from not knowing where her daughter was. After all, it was an ache we shared. My thoughts went to my parents, Shannon and Tobi, wondering if they were out there somewhere, too. But that led me to think of what Gavin had said last night about Shannon being delighted to be a mother, and that hope flickered away. In the dark world I was in, I'd settle for knowing what had happened to them.

As I sat there, my thoughts fell back to the news of the death that had made me feel so gloomy. Again, I wondered why Catrina had murdered Joseph. Had Joseph finally threatened to tell everyone about the Moondream and who Catrina was to him? But then I thought about how hell-bent she'd been on killing me, too.

As the thought hit me, I realized what she'd been wanting. My heart raced with surety. I suspected Joseph's death was Catrina's attempt to gain a new fated mate. Knowing beat through me, and I jumped to my feet, pulling my socks on and stuffing my feet into my sneakers. Gavin needed to know what Catrina was trying to do.

Running up the steps, I knocked on his door, and as he opened it, I strode in. The agitated energy made it impossible not to launch straight into what had just occurred to me. "She did it because she's trying to get a new fated mate," I said.

Gavin shut the door and turned around, blinking me in as if he was shocked to see me here and hadn't heard a word I'd said.

To be fair, I realized I'd barged in and hadn't given him any context before I'd started rambling.

Fixing my eyes on him, I started again, "I just realized why Catrina–"

"I don't want to talk about her," he growled, his voice rumbling gruffly as if his wolf were near the surface. His mouth tightened, and his brow furrowed.

Surprise beat through me. Was he angry at me for mentioning her?

Then, I put myself in his shoes. He'd just found out that the woman that he'd been dating for the last few months had killed someone. My throat went dry. Was it really that surprising that he didn't want to talk about her? I tucked away my hunch about Catrina and decided that I'd share it with Aislin instead later.

Judging by Gavin's heaving chest and the scowl deepening his face, he really wasn't in the mood to discuss her.

Searching for a distraction, my gaze hit upon the "corny" pack rules sign we were standing near. I hadn't read past number 4). "5) teach the young," I read aloud, "6) Howl at the moon." My lips twitched, and my gaze admired the little engraving of the crescent moon at the end of the words. "7) respect your elders. Guess you keeping this corny sign up shows you're even respecting their memory."

Gavin moved over toward the wall, drawing close enough that I felt his body heat. The awareness of his body prickled over me, my skin pebbling.

His hazel stare brushed the sign, and I noticed with relief that the glower that had been on his face had disappeared. Instead, the same softness that had come over him the last time we talked about his father suffused his expression.

"After you mentioned it the other day," he said, "I actually had a memory about my dad carving this. He spent hours doing all these little carvings."

He reached out to the crescent moon, his large hand tracing the artwork gently. As his strong fingers stroked the arc of the moon, a tingle shot down my spine, and my mouth went dry. Something about the tenderness in his voice and expression, paired with the strength radiating from his tall, muscled body, sent a wave of heat and longing through me. I couldn't help imagining his deft fingers caressing the artwork with such care, sweeping over me.

A stupid thing to imagine as my traitorous heart reacted instantly to the idea and went crazy in my chest. I was about to blurt out something about needing to get back to the Mundys when Gavin turned to me. Heat glimmered in his eyes, so much so that I thought I'd strayed into my Moondream.

The heady look he was giving me now was just the way he'd looked at me in my dream. His pupils were dilated with desire, and I swore that with my heightened shifter senses, his heartbeat raced with mine. My breathing shallowed as I waited for whatever this charged moment that was happening between us to burst.