Page 61 of Clash of Sin and Secret

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to check the caller on the screen. The picture that flashes up at me is my only genuine friend from my life up north—my pack brother, Koda.

“Koda? Is everything all right?”

“T-man.” Koda’s voice is quiet and holds none of his usual bravado. “I don’t think so, no.”

“What does that mean? Are you in trouble?”

Koda and I were always in trouble, but in all those times, he never sounded freaked out or panicked. “I found something in your cabin. With both of you gone, Bronze Claw offered it up, and I moved in.”

“I’m sorry for your luck. That is the shittiest cabin in the village.” Living there was a part of my mother’s penance for demeaning herself with a human and getting knocked up to boot.

“It’s fine. I’m allowed to fix it up.”

Which we never were.

“Anyway, I pulled out the shelves in her bedroom closet to prep for one of those space-saver organizing systems—you know the ones I mean?”

I close my eyes and chuckle. Koda flies off on random tangents like this and while it can be annoying, at least he’s calming down, which means he’s not in the life-or-death kind of trouble—just his normal, poor decision kind.

“Yeah, buddy, I know the closet organizers you mean.”

“So, I pulled the closet apart, and I found a compartment with some stuff your mom was obviously hiding.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Letters. Threatening ones.”

I grip the phone tighter. “What kind of threats?”

“About her leaving the pack and her humiliation behind. About you.” Papers rustle on his end. “They basically say that if she ditches you, she’ll be forgiven and taken to live life as a queen of the Polar Council.”

The cool night air suddenly feels like ice in my lungs. “I didn’t know she was in touch with anyone from the Council.”

“Apparently, she was. And Tuck…the last letter came two days before we found her. It’s a warning for her to reconsider. That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like it.” I lean against the hood of the truck and focus. “Are they signed? Do you know who sent them?”

“They’re from someone high in the Northern Clans. The paper has their watermark. There are no names, but they’re all signed with the same symbol. It’s a bear paw print with some kind of rune inside it.”

My free hand curls into a fist. I knew the pack never approved of me, but why would they kill her for refusing to send me away almost thirty years later? No. There must be more to it.

“Koda, bundle up all the letters and mail them to me on the next run into Yellowknife. When are you scheduled to make a run?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

“Okay, then play it cool. Say nothing to anyone and send it all to me.”

“You got it, T-man.”

“I mean it, brother. Say nothing. I don’t want you caught up in whatever they killed my mom about.”

“Consider it done.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Scottie

Ifall into step between Zane and Huntley as we exit the old stone building and emerge from DonorWatch into the night, feeling lighter than I have in days. “That went very well.”

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