“Annie. You know Annie,” she said, and the man stiffened.
“Is she okay?” he asked. “What’s happening?”
“You don’t go near her!” Cat said and then grimaced. It was an automatic response built from a thousand old fears. She tried to tell herself she wasn’t alarmed because he was a werewolf. He was in some kind of doomsday cult in the middle of the woods. Even if he’d been completely human, she would’ve objected. She glanced at Mateo. She had no grounds to object.
“Sorry. Sorry,” she whispered.
“What are you doing on my territory?” Mateo asked.
“You think you can just come here and claim half the woods?” the man said, sounding defiant and terrified.
“Well, since I own half the woods, yes.”
“That’s not how territory works.”
Cat braced, but Mateo only smirked. “Are you going to take it from me?”
“I can call the pack,” he said stubbornly.
Cat gasped, realizing he had never intended to get caught. This was a reconnaissance mission. If it hadn’t been for her vision, no one would’ve ever known he was out here.
“I’m looking for my brother,” the boy said, and Cat got another flash of a kid after school with a wicked laugh and dead eyes. He was a year ahead of them.
“I have no idea who your brother is,” Mateo said with bone-deep conviction in his voice, and Cat frowned. He’d lied with the truth. Was he really going to let this kid walk away without telling him his brother was dead?
“Mateo…”
“Go home to your pack. Tell them we’ll fight for what’s ours. We own it, and we can defend it.”
“You don’t touch her!” the blond said.
“She’s not yours to guard,” Mateo said and physically stepped in front of her. Cat couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the possessive display, though her heart was breaking. She wasn’t Mateo’s to guard either.
“I meant Annie. You leave her be.”
Mateo sighed. “That’s how it is? Of course, I’m not the only one.”
“The only one what?” Cat asked.
“You have my word,” Mateo said formally. “But if you come here again, it’s war.”
There was a whisper in the snow, and she realized there were more wolves behind them now.
Would they really fight? Was such a threat so normal in their world? It sounded barbaric and ridiculous.
The kid threw the coat and literally disappeared. She knew that wasn’t what happened. She knew he had shifted and bounded away, and in the dim and the snow, her human eyes couldn’t distinguish a white wolf. Mateo’s eyes tracked it, though, and a single finger lifted at his side. Most of the wolves ran after it.
One wolf didn’t move, the gigantic one with the scar, and in seconds, he was a scarred, naked, gigantic man. Cat’s eyes flew to the black above her. She hadn’t seen this many naked men in her life before the wolves came to town.
“He came from upwind,” the man said. “There’s a cliff at the end of this valley. I had no idea it was even possible to scale.”
“I’m not angry. I don’t think he’s ever left these woods.”
“Doesn’t smell like it,” the giant muttered.
“He was always going to be able to reach us, Nico,” Mateo said.
“So we prepare for war?” Nico asked with far too much glee.
