Page 75 of Chaos At Second Sight

She answered with

Yes, Rudy,

I shot back ten bunnies.

Only one thing left to do. “Listen up!” My voice boomed through the pack mind-link. “My mate’s coming over. Yes, she’s from Comet. Yes, she’s the Islander’s twin. But she is also my mate.”

You could’ve heard a pin drop.

“You look at her the wrong way, you’ll be banned from the arena and every game. You touch her, I’ll break your good leg. If you’re a girl, Bellatrix will deal with you. Understood?”

I tapped my foot once, my eyes scanning the room. “Oh, and be friendly.” Then I reconsidered. “But not too much.”

Some people saluted me. A couple of them looked paler. My friends? Just cracking up.

When I sat back down and grabbed a joystick, the chatting resumed.

“Killy, still free Friday?”

“Yep. Remember to moisturize your arm, and no sun for twenty-four hours.”

“Yes, Mom. Make sure you’ve got the ink ready.”

GRANDPA IAN

It was late afternoon, the weather angrier and more resentful than usual. A heavy rain flooded the Scottish Highlands and all its inhabitants. A chorus of howls filtered through shuttered windows, wild wolves daring real werewolves to join them under the storm.

“Riona,” I called from my seat at the head of the table. “Remember that boy, Paul, from the McDougals?”

A member of that pack had just reported the astonishing news, but I already knew. It was written on the Herald, first page.

“Oh, that kid who sent bottles to our rionnag.” Riona chuckled without looking at me.

I watched her pluck a fresh pheasant—her version of crochet.

“They found him two days ago.” I studied my soon-to-be wife’s strong, calloused hands at work. “Dead.”

She inhaled sharply. “Moon Goddess! Poor soul! I swear it, sooner or later we will have to deal with that infestation! Rogues are getting braver again.”

I shook my head. “Here’s the weird part.”

“Which is?” Her bird forgotten, she rested her bloody palms on the wooden table.

“It looked like he had a heart attack,” I told her through our mind-link while I sipped my apple cider.

Riona frowned. “Oh come on, a strong young boy like him? Maybe he’s got other wounds⁠—”

“He’s already had the autopsy done. Zero injuries. His heart just gave out.” I pointed to the Herald’s page. “He was found some miles away from the pub. His friends said they’d gotten into a brawl earlier that day, but Paul’d run off.”

For a moment, silence fell in the main living room of the packhouse, strangely empty. Even the wild wolves halted their laments.

“I wonder what the cause was.” Riona leaned back and gazed up at the ceiling. “For a werewolf to suffer a heart attack…it must have been something traumatizing.”

“Or someone traumatizing.”

Just then, lightning cracked somewhere out there in the distance, as if it wanted to confirm my words.

CHAPTER NINETEEN