Blue gripped my hand as if sensing it.
Andy swaggered toward us, his eyes centered on mine. “Wasp,” he said, walking by to retrieve his knife some fifteen feet behind me.
I glanced down and saw the severed body of a yellowjacket by my shoe. This asshole wasn’t trying to save me from a sting but wanted to throw around all that macho dominance bullshit.
Blue gripped my wrist tighter. “Keep your cool,” she said under her breath.
People rarely pushed my buttons, but I was used to pushing back. I couldn’t even draw a weapon or retaliate with a few creative insults about his intelligence.
I reached in my back pocket for a small notepad and pencil. “Josiah mentioned your pack recently suffered two losses. One of old age and the other a heart attack. Is that correct?”
When he strode back, he pointed the knife at me. “I’ll give you one chance to rephrase your question, or this knife goes in your gullet.”
Baffled, I flicked a glance at Blue. What the hell was wrong with the way I asked the question? I’d done so as thoughtfully and politely as possible.
She signaled me with a look that she’d take over. “I know how painful it is to suffer the loss of a packmate. There’s nothing harder, and the pack is never the same.”
He stopped a few feet ahead and turned to face us. “You don’t strike me as a wolf.”
“Falcon,” she said, tucking her hands in her pockets. “My tribe divided us into smaller groups. When you live with someone for hundreds of years—love them and care for them—the loss changes you. It carves a hole in your heart that seems impossible to restore. The one who died of old age must have shaken everyone terribly.”
Andy lowered his head. “Teresa was a mother to many. She was an old wolf,” he said, a smile hovering on his lips. “Feisty. She used to say that the fates would have to drag her to the next life.”
Technically, we weren’t here to question him about the old woman. But Ren had given me the full list of names and made notes next to those who died from unsuspicious circumstances. Talking about her seemed to loosen him up.
“We had an old mother like that in our family,” Blue said, steering her gaze up to the treetops. “She used to spy on the young hunters and shit on the ones who boasted too much.”
Andy tossed his head back and laughed. “That sounds like our Teresa. They don’t make them like that anymore.”
“Truly,” Blue replied. “And the other loss—we have in our notes she was only thirty. That’ssoyoung.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I added.
His eyes glistened as he studied the blade of his knife. “Alisa was to be mine. But the fates took her from me.”
“We can’t bring her back,” I said, “but we can bring you justice if someone took her life. I know the Council lets the packs handle their own disputes, but that’s why we’re here. The higher authority wants to make some changes, so they’re looking at a sampling of recent data to see where they can help. If this was murder—”
“No, it was nothing like that,” he cut in. “She got sick one night after dinner.” Andy placed a hand over his heart. “Said her chest was bothering her, and she wanted to lie down. I gave her some heartburn medicine and went downstairs to play cards. When I returned to the room, she was asleep. At least I think she was asleep.” Andy turned his back to us and folded his arms.
Blue and I flanked him but kept a respectful distance.
“The next morning, she was still asleep. Alisa was always the first out of bed. She liked to have a cup of coffee before climbing back under the covers with me.” His lips thinned as he stared at the dirt, his knife still clutched in one hand. “Her skin was so cold when I kissed her. I thought she—”
Andy hurled his knife across the yard, and the handle knocked against the shed, grabbing everyone’s attention.
“The Relic said it was her heart.” Andy heaved a mournful sigh.
With his weapon out of the picture, I felt easier asking the next question. “Did he do an autopsy? How did they know the cause of death?”
“Fuck you if you think I’d let anyone cut her into pieces.” Andy stormed off without another word.
I put away my notepad. “Welp, that went well.”
“It actually did.” Blue gave the spectators a guarded look as if she expected them to jump us. “He told us a lot more than I thought he would given it was his mate. Had I known that, I would have asked to speak to someone else.”
We strolled toward the house. “Maybe the Relic will have more information. We’re supposed to meet him at Ruby’s Diner in an hour.”
“Good. I’m starving.”
