The frigid breeze that blew over me as he left had nothing to do with the displacement of air by the closing door and everything to do with the handsome man stepping away and shoving me out if his life.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chuck
So, it turns out that I’m a coward.
You would think that after the number of years I spent in service with the Böxenwolf Brigade, I would have already known that. Except, I’ve never backed down from a fight, never run from an altercation, never hidden from an unpleasant conversation. I’d never done any of those things until I stepped out of the shower and found myself staring at the sleep-rumpled Omega who had casually stomped all over my heart.
Apparently, I’m a bit of a drama queen, also.
Which -the coward part, not the drama queen part- is why less than twenty minutes after announcing that I was going to take a break and get some rest, I was back in my office freshly showered but in dirty clothes with the door closed, hoping no one would realize I was there.
Spoiler, it didn’t work.
When a faint knock came at the door, I cringed, assuming that Jules had followed me to force the conversation that I’d fled. Then there was another knock, harder, followed by a familiar voice.
“Seriously, Chuck?” Kade sounded annoyed which is extremely unusual. “Open the damn door or I’m coming through it.”
Okay, annoyedandaggressive are definitely not Kade’s normal disposition. Sighing, I stood to unlock the door and then retook my seat. “Come on in.”
Kade walked in with Connery a few steps behind him and Fang so close to the boy’s back that it seemed slightly pushy.
“We went by your room, but you weren’t there,” Kade sounded almost accusatory.
I nodded as though that was perfectly normal. “No, I showered and came back to go over a few things. What do you need?”
Kade’s narrowed eyes were definitely calling bullshit, but he held his tongue and gestured the other two to sit. “The littlest Hunter has some information to share.”
My eyebrows crept up when Fang snarled at the description and while his reaction might be over the top, he had a point. “Kade, that’s a rather offensive way to refer to Connery, don’t you think?”
Kade’s cheeks pinked slightly and he gave a short nod. “Sorry.”
Connery never lifted his head, his eyes trained on the floor by my feet, and Fang gave a sharp huff of acknowledgement. Between that and the video footage from the camera that morning, it appeared that there might be something between the two of them and for the life of me I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a really, really bad idea. What I did know was that unless it was the reason that they were in my office, I wasn’t touching it right then.
“Connery?” I waited for the young man to raise his head. “Do you have something to tell me?”
“I..yes,” he said quietly. “I overheard some people talking about the hounds in the camp.” He hesitated and Kade spoke up.
“Colby and Pete,” Kade filled in before motioning for Connery to continue.
“The hounds are trained to attack and pin the prey,” Connery mumbled, “but not to kill it.”
“Okay but what happens after they have their prey pinned?” I asked, trying to keep my voice gentle.
He looked up, his brow furrowed and eyes glossy with unshed tears. “Serbo has a magic rope,” he managed to get out, his voice trembling. “He said it immobilizes shifters.”
Kade and I exchanged a glance. Granted, warded items aren’t all that rare. In fact, they are common tools in law enforcement and even for military groups, but to control a werewolf, they typically had to be made of silver. Although, I didn’t know for sure that there wasn’t a method of weaving silver into a rope.
“I see. And once they have the prey immobilized?” I pressed.
Connery choked, tears beginning to run down his face. Fang leaned over to rub his back in silent encouragement. “The Sha..Shaman has a special knife,” Connery spat the words. “He’s going to skin you with it.”
The boy trembled in his seat, his eyes back to focusing on the carpet at my feet while I considered his words.
“Is he trying to skin me, personally, or just any shifter he can catch?” I asked, deciding clarification might be key.
He shook his head. “All of the werewolves,” he muttered. “He wants to catch and skin all of the werewolves. He thinks if he does it with the right incantation, the skins will make him invincible.”
