* * *
"And that's how I ruined the entire pack's lives."Tears run down my face.
My uncle had been so happy when I walked up to him minutes ago, gesturing at the crop and enthusing about how after we were done, we could move on to the apple trees.
And now I’ve just dropped a bomb that’s going to blow up our entire pack.
Uncle Silas's face goes grim.He stares off into the distance, jaw tight.I wipe tears from my face with my sleeve.The silence stretches out.
Finally he says, "It's not your fault.It's my brother's fault.He's left us with a stain on our reputation all these years."
I stare at him."What are you saying?You believe Kieran Holt?"
Silas heaves a tortured sigh."He's an asshole with no ability to be tactful, just like most Alphas, but I've never known him to lie.And why would he?"
"The women in his family were threatened by the plants that my father gathered!It was a threat to his family!"
Even as I say it, I picture Amaryllis's cool, confident gaze.She didn't strike me as someone who'd be threatened by anyone or anything.
Uncle Silas frowns, avoiding my gaze."I wasn't there in the forest with your father, so I don't know.I'd had my suspicions for years, though."
The words hit me in the chest.Hurt and humiliation rise up hot and choking.Why is everyone attacking my father when he's dead and unable to defend himself?
"You're lying!"I yell at him.“How could you betray his memory like that?”
I turn and storm off.
As I run, the rows of corn next to me wither and die.
Chapter Thirteen
Andrew
Henrietta shows up on Moonstone property at mid-morning.I already know something’s wrong.I’ve felt second-hand stress all morning, boiling up inside me.
My mate is suffering and I can’t fix it.
My wolf’s going crazy.
Now she's walking fast across the field toward where I'm standing near the equipment shed, fists clenched, eyes are blazing with anger.
Before I can say anything, she shifts.
No warning.Just the change rolling through her, clothes shredding, and then her wolf is there—gray and white and furious—and she's already running toward the tree line.
I shift and follow.
The woods are thick here, all towering pine and underbrush, and she's fast.I catch up to her about a quarter mile in, and we run side by side for a moment, and then she wheels around and bites me.
Hard.
Right on the ass.
I spin to face her.She's already shifting back, and I shift too because I have no idea what's happening but I'm pretty sure we need words for it.
We're both standing there naked in the middle of the forest.She's breathing hard.My right butt cheek itches with healing as my bite marks seal closed.
"I had no idea you liked your foreplay so rough," I say with a grin.
