28. Cannon

Two weekslater

Entering the house, I stopped short when I saw Cass in the kitchen. Her pregnancy was showing more, and in shorts and a simple T-shirt, she looked healthy. Turning, she jumped when she saw me. Our interactions were tepid at best.

“Cassandra.”

“She’s the same.”

I dipped my head in acknowledgment. “And your brother?” I didn’t manage to keep the scorn from my voice, but Cass ignored it. It seemed to be our thing: I ignored all the things about her I didn’t like, and she did the same to me. It was a shaky truce, but it was a truce nonetheless.

“He’s getting stronger. He may be able to shift soon.”

I said nothing, but I was sure I didn’t need to. My face was incapable of being blank when Landon the Prick was mentioned. “Good.”

It was good. It meant the little shit could be out of my house soon.

“Is Kris with you?” Cass looked past me, hoping that the reason we remained civil to each other was here too.

“He’s in the bunker again,” I told her. Walking to the fridge, I opened it, searching for my dinner from last night that I hadn’t had a chance to eat. “Where’s my food?”

“Oh.” Cass was bright red. “Was that yours?” She saw my scowl. “Um, Landon was hungry.”

“I’m hungry,” I snapped at her. “Tell the lazy shit to get up and get his own food.”

“Cannon!” Cass gasped. “He’s still healing!”

“Humans heal quicker than him!”

“Hey, guys.” Hannah walked into the house through the front door. “Good time?”

Cass practically deflated with relief when she saw Hannah. For some reason best known to my friend’s reasoning, Hannah and Cass had formed a friendship.

“Is it ever a good time?” I mumbled as I returned to the fridge. “I assume Landon also wanted the leftover chicken?”

“Um, no. That was me. The baby, really.”

Shutting the fridge closed with more force than necessary, I smiled humorlessly at both of them. “Excellent.” I gave Hannah a tight smile as I passed her and headed upstairs to see Kezia.

“How did it go?” Hannah called after me. “At the Anterrio Pack?”

Pausing on the stairs, I looked down at her. “They’re dense, bigoted, and beyond help,” I told her flatly. “But Kris thinks they’re getting better, so”—I shrugged—“who knows.” Resuming my climb, I made my way to my bedroom. Kezia lay exactly as I left her, laid out on her back, her white hair around her, her skin as white as the bedsheets, and her eyes closed. Dropping down, I brushed her pale pink lips with mine.

“Hey, sweetheart,” I greeted her. “Your old pack are a bunch of fools,” I told her as I stripped off my clothing. “They have been liberated from a tyrant, and they act like they’ve lost a martyr.” Kicking off my shoes, I pushed my jeans off. “How you lived amongst them amazes me.”

Kezia never answered.

“Kris is going gray trying to deal with them,” I carried on. “I can practically see him aging. I do not know why he keeps trying.” Grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my waist, I carried on. “Actually, I do. He thinks he owes them. He owes them nothing.” I went into the bathroom, got my toothbrush, started to brush my teeth, and came back out again. “Nikan and Leo finally caught up with the missing pack,” I added. I brushed the other side, taking the brush out to tell her more. “Rounded them up and added them to the bunker. There are so many cells now.” I grinned at her. “You’d have lots of company.”

Going back into the bathroom, I rinsed my mouth, switched on the shower, and returned to the room.

“We have thirteen held.” I hadn’t expected the Pack Council to take so long to come for retribution, if I was honest. I had thirteen prisoners, and although they said little, I still couldn’t kill them, as they were my proof that Bale was a psycho. “I don’t think Doc will cope if we find any more.”

I watched her as she lay there. With a sigh, I went into the shower, washing away the day’s fatigue.

Two weeks ago, I took charge of my pack again. With a plan set, my closest confidants and I cleaned up the aftermath of the pack war.

Ned had cleared the compound so thoroughly that we had a lot of evidence against Bale and the thirteen we held. Kris hadn’t known the code Bale had used, but he was familiar with his thinking, and he and Ned had decoded some damning evidence.

Nikan and Leo led teams of scouts and flushed out the remaining enemy pack from the mountains. I’d been a part of some of the scout teams, and pummeling my fists into Anterrio Pack faces had been a great stress reliever.

Royce and I had received word from some of the closer packs that Bale had been causing them trouble too. They had been willing to talk, and Hannah and he had gone and met with them. They were warier of me, and while I needed their cooperation, I had stayed away. I didn’t want to spook them when they could testify in front of the Pack Council.

Doc had driven through many of the towns in the state and neighboring ones and uncovered a lot of Bale’s fighting rings. As a male who passed for more human than shifter, he hadn’t raised any alarm bells. He had documented it all, taking pictures, and he’d even snagged a ledger of fights.

I had a mountain of evidence and no Pack Council to show it to.

Of their deception and corruption, I had found no proof, and I was beginning to doubt that they were involved at all. However, the fact that the murder of the three humans had been covered up so well, kept me suspicious of them, but I was now considering only some were corrupt, not all.

Stepping out of the shower, I dried off, ran my fingers through my wet hair, and pulled on fresh sweatpants. I was starving and wanted to head to the food hall before it got too busy.

My pack hadn’t judged me for my absence, but I still felt guilty that I had chosen to wallow when they were in pain too. Coming back into the bedroom, I wasn’t surprised to find the shaman there.

“You’re back.”

“You miss nothing,” I joked. Opening a drawer, I got a gray T-shirt out and pulled it on. “It’s been a few days.” While I made sure I was here every night, I didn’t always see the shaman.

“I’ve been restless,” he admitted.

Taking a seat, I watched him closely. “Why? Kezia?”

He shook his head, his frail old hand taking hold of hers. “No, I…I don’t know.” The simplicity of his uncertainty concerned me. “I tested her blood yesterday. The same.”

He’d started drawing blood from Kezia a few weeks ago, and while I wasn’t a fan of the practice, it was very similar to what humans did in hospitals for patients. Kezia was similar to a patient in one of those hospitals, only her malady held a little more of the magic variety than the common human illness.

“Luna?”

His mouth turned down in a frown. “I know the touch of my Goddess.”

We sat in silence, and I opted to miss dinner and keep him company. Keep them both company. But as time passed, I couldn’t deny I was hungry, and my mind wandered to what they were serving tonight in the food hall. I wanted a big bowl of stew.

“What did you end up doing with that rabbit?” I asked suddenly.

The shaman startled in his chair. I wasn’t sure if I’d woken him. “Rabbit?”

Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees. “Yeah, you sent us to find a big white rabbit with red eyes. We put it in the study. What did you do with it?”

The shaman was watching me with a keen alertness. “Nothing.”

Leaning back, I frowned. “You let it go? I almost broke my neck catching the damn thing.”

The shaman let go of Kezia’s hand and stood. “I didn’t let it go.” He motioned to me. “Get up.”

Pushing to my feet, I followed him wordlessly as he hurried down the stairs and out of the house. The shaman had taken a small cottage on the outskirts of the town, and his speed surprised me as he hastened through the street. I’d pushed my feet into sneakers as we headed out, but while I tugged them on as I followed him, I saw a few of my pack watch us curiously.

He opened his door with a bang, and I felt my unease grow as I followed him into the one bedroom cottage. “Care to share?” Closing the door behind me, I looked around. The room looked similar to his cottage at the Anterrio Pack. It hadn’t surprised me that he chose to remain here. Whether it was because Kris and Kezia were still here, I wasn’t sure, but I knew a lot of my pack were hoping he would stay.

The shaman placed his hands on the kitchen counter, his milky eyes watching me with unnerving intensity. “Strip.”

I blinked. “What?”

He was nodding to himself, muttering under his breath. Turning, he started to pull out bags of herbs, a rolling pin, and what I was sure were chicken bones. Looking up at me, he frowned. “Take your clothes off.” I remained in place, jumping when he smacked the rolling pin off the counter. “Clothes, Cannon, now!”

I quickly undressed. “Why am I getting naked?”

“The rabbit!”

Folding my clothes, I looked at him. “You need to give me more, old man.”

“Luna sent you both to get that rabbit, a white rabbit with red eyes.”

I nodded. “Yup, I was there.” I’d also had amazing sex with my mate during the hunt for it.

“You had a druid in your pack,” he told me with a sneer. “Tricky things, druids.”

I remembered Barbara’s trick with the cookies, but neither of these incidents made sense together. “I’m still not following.”

The shaman looked at me as if I were dense. “Rabbits can be seen as guides. These guides can assist individuals in navigating their spiritual paths and accessing their inner psyche, their inner wisdom.” He looked at me expectantly. “Rabbits, Cannon! In certain druid and even shamanic traditions, a rabbit can be associated with intuition and transformation.”

It took me a moment, and then I was sure I was the one who was looking at the shaman as if he were dense. “The rabbit… No?”

He was nodding as he made a potion. “The rabbit has her spirit.” Crushing petals into a thick gloopy mixture, he was still nodding. “The Goddess sent you to find a vessel; the druid performed the rite.”

“Kezia’s spirit is in the rabbit?” I asked him again dubiously.

Thrusting the drink out to me, he nodded. “Yes, drink this.”

I must be as crazy as him, but I drank the potion in one go.

“Find it, bring her home.”

“The rabbit?”

The shaman swatted me with the rolling pin. “Get my Kezia and bring her to me and her body. I should be able to put her back.”

I left his cottage and shifted immediately. I stood indecisive for a moment and then realized it had been one month since she was gone from me. Looking up at the darkening sky, I knew it was the full moon and I was a creature of Luna, and if the Goddess wanted me to hunt rabbits, well…I was hunting rabbits.

I sent a vague holding command to Royce, and then I did my best to retrace my steps all those weeks ago when Kezia and I had chased down a massive white, red-eyed rabbit.

I was a good hunter, one of the best in my pack, and as I searched high and low for an elusive white rabbit that may be holding the spirit of my mate, I found my patience wearing thin.

Hours later, I sat on a bluff overlooking a town I’d been to only once before. Cautiously, I approached, my wolf too big to be natural, and the option of running through the woods naked wasn’t an option. Picking my way through the dense underbrush, slinking low, I found myself at the back of some log cabins.

Night had fallen long ago, and I was grateful it allowed me to blend more into the darkness.

The door opened and the old woman stood uncertainly in the doorway, a blanket in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

“You coming out?” She dropped the blanket. “Door’s open.” She went back inside.

Luna, grant me your grace.

Wrapping the blanket around my waist, I went inside. She’d been watching me from the window and grinned.

“Well, you’re a fine looking thing,” she said with admiration.

My day had been crazy, and now a woman old enough to be my grandmother had just openly objectified me. “Lottie? Right?”

“Yup.” She smacked her lips together, still openly appreciating my bare chest.

“This is going to sound strange?—”

“The rabbit’s out back.”

She walked past me, back out the back door, and led me to the smallest of the cabins. “Zia stayed here the first time around,” she told me easily as she unlocked the door. “Thought this would be the best place for it.”

Inside, she closed the door firmly. “Never seen anything like it.”

“A rabbit?” I asked cautiously, searching the dim cabin.

“Oh, it’s not just any rabbit,” she told me and flicked the light on.

“Holy Luna…”

It was as big as I remembered, only its coat had changed, now streaked with black. Its eyes were no longer bright red, but deep burgundy. It watched me with an intensity that would have been unnerving if I hadn’t experienced it before.

“It’s her, isn’t it?”

I had no answer.

“I know it is,” Lottie continued. “Won’t eat a scrap of my cooking.”

It was the most bizarre thing to say on an already bizarre day, and it made me laugh. The old woman said nothing and just eyed me warily, but as I wiped my eyes of the tears of laughter, I edged closer to the cage the rabbit was in.

“Why the cage if it’s in here alone?”

“Slippery fish escaped twice now.” Lottie sniffed. “Comes back right enough, but still, it’s a tasty meal for any predators out there.” She gave me a pointed look. “You took your time.”

“I’m sorry.” I was speaking more to the rabbit.

“So? Is it my Zia?”

Looking at the older woman, I looked back at the cage, at the rabbit that stared at me patiently. “I have no fucking clue,” I told her honestly.

“You gonna take it?”

“Yes.”

“All right then, I’ll get some carrots.”

I blinked. “It eats them?”

“Nope. But you look freaked out, and I thought I’d give you some time to pull yourself together.”

I snorted another laugh. “I know now why she keeps coming back to you.”

“I’m her family, that’s why.” She closed the door behind her, and I turned back to the rabbit.

“Kezia?” The rabbit didn’t move. “I’ve lost my mind. I’m so desperate to believe you’ll come back to me that I think you’re a rabbit.” Opening the cage door, I hissed when the thing bit me. “Luna, if this is a joke, it isn’t funny,” I muttered as I grabbed the rabbit by the scruff of its neck and lifted it out of the cage.

I held it up to my eye level, and it squirmed and struggled, but my grip was firm. It was the same rabbit, but different. “Fuck it, you’re coming home with me.”

Walking outside, I met Lottie’s skeptical stare. “You carrying her back like that?”

I looked down at the rabbit in my hand. “Pretty much.” I handed it to Lottie. “I need to shift. When I do, keep a tight hold of it. I need to grab its scruff.”

“You’re going to eat her?”

“No!” I told her hastily. “Here.” I demonstrated the loose skin around the rabbit’s neck. “My wolf can travel quicker than me. I need to carry it, and it’ll be easier for me if you hand her to me like this.” I demonstrated. “My wolf is big. I need a little help to take hold.”

“You won’t harm it?”

“Never.”

Lottie held the rabbit protectively as it squirmed in her arms. I shifted, ignoring her protests about her ruined blanket. She took a few steps back when she saw how big I was up close. After a long pause, she took hold of the rabbit as I showed her. With great care on my part, I secured the rabbit in my teeth.

Lottie stepped back. “Well, I seen it all now,” she murmured. “Bring her back when she’s herself again.”

I couldn’t answer, so I simply turned and started the long trek home, with a white rabbit dangling terrified from my mouth.

The run was quicker given I was headed back to the pack in as straight a line as possible. I had a few encounters with some predators who thought the rabbit was an invite to fight for it, but I either ran over them or avoided them.

As my packlands came into view, I slowed to a stop as a thin, murky gray wolf stepped out of the tree line.

Druid.

I’ve been waiting. Come, it is time.