Page 40 of Happily Undead in Dark River

He nodded solemnly.

“You spoke. When you pulled me out of the house.” Again, another nod.

Brody’s jaw dropped. “He did?” He looked at his best friend like he was staring at an alien. He signed something to him in ASL, and Ghost frowned as he signed back. “Ghost says that he did. But it hurts to speak so he tries not to. He said his old Pack got him… ” Brody swallowed hard. “Debarked.”

My eyes swung to Ghost, but his face was completely shut down. I had no idea what he was thinking. “Brody, while we are looking for Tex’s family, can we look into Ghost’s family too? I’d like to pay them a visit.”

With that, Ghost curled one lip in a smirk. He may as well have laughed out loud. I winked and snuggled back into Tex.

There was a knock on the door before it swung open. Judge was tense, but Brody and Ghost were completely relaxed. There was only one person who would make them feel at ease. Nell.

“Stand down Death Dealer. I’m not here to hurt your Mate.” She came over, her eyes tracing my face for injury, pain or the meaning of life. You could never be sure with Nell. “You gave us a bit of a scare. The Alpha is ready to go door to door and sniff out the culprit in the ways of the Gestapo. I must admit, I am not overly inclined to stop him.”

“As if you could stop me if that is the course of action I chose,” Brody muttered. Ghost clicked and signed something to Brody, grinning, and it only made Brody scowl harder. Nell cackled heartily.

“What did he say?”

“He said he had fifty bucks on Nell kicking my ass.”

Having met the woman, I wasn’t going to disagree. She would have been one kick-ass warrior in her prime. But I wouldn’t tell Brody that. Instead, I squeezed his forearm. “Not everyone is guilty until proven innocent. There has to be a better way than shaking down every person in your Pack until one of them cracks. Maybe we should start with your mother?”

Nell looked pensive, the creases between her brows and around her eyes seemed deeper today. “I have pulled her in front of the Council of Elders while you were recuperating, but she had a very good alibi. She was at work. A dozen cameras were watching her. Do not worry, I had them verified. I love my daughter, and it is because I do that I do not underestimate her.” She sighed, seeming to look another century older. “However, for all her faults, she loves her son. While she’d happily see you drawn and quartered in the midday sun, she would never harm Brody.”

I only had one mother-in-law, and she had to turn out to be the mother-in-law from hell. Just my luck.

“No other suspects? Take my word for it when I say sometimes it’s the most unlikely of people.” Pain at Alice’s betrayal, at almost being killed, crept up on me once more. Dammit. Let it the fuck go, Raine!

Brody reached out, stroking my hair – no my stubble – as my emotions surged up. I felt sad about the loss of my hair, which was a completely stupid thing to feel sad about. I could have lost my life or the lives of Brody or Tex. That would have been a tragedy. Some hair was nothing. But still, the red locks had meant something when I’d done it months ago. It was the birth of Raine. What did it mean that it was now gone?

“Which is rougher do you think? Raine’s head or Brody’s tongue as a tiger?” Tex asked, breaking my pity spiral.

“Depends on what area you were conducting your experiment. On your hand, Brody’s tongue as a tiger. On your balls–”

“Judge!” Brody and I said at the same time.

“Dude, my grandmother is in the room,” Brody chastised gently.

Judge sent Nell a saucy wink. “I’m pretty sure she could give us all a run for our money.”

Nell sniffed haughtily but ruined it by grinning. “I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about Death Dealer.” Then she sashayed out of the room like a motherfucking Queen. I didn’t know how a person got her kind of brass balls, but I wanted to learn.

Judge laughed. “No wonder Nico speaks so highly of her.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead, then nipped Tex’s earlobe. “I need to get back to Dark River. Come with me. You aren’t any safer here.”

I looked between him and Brody, completely torn. He was right. I’d been here for two days, and someone had tried to kill me twice. I was significantly unsafer here. But I loved the Alpha of the Nîso Pack, and I was their Alpha Mate. Did I want to start what would hopefully be a long, long connection to this Pack by showing them I was a coward? By running away?

I reached forward, grabbing the front of Judge’s shirt and dragging him down towards me. I kissed him, my tongue exploring his mouth, giving him every ounce of passion and love I possessed for the enigmatic Drifter. When he pulled away, I sighed. “I can’t. I have to stay. I have to show them I’m not weak, otherwise they’ll never believe in me. But maybe you should take Tex home with you.”

The man in question wrapped both arms and legs around me. “Like fucking hell,” he grumbled.

Judge stared down at me, and I could almost see the war inside him. He wanted to just pick me up and carry me home, I could see it in the way his fingers kept curling and the tension in his shoulders. But he knew I was right. “He finally told you he was your Mate, hey?”

I glared at him, my eyebrows drew together in a frown. “You knew too?”

Judge nodded. “He’s the Alpha of the largest Shapeshifter Pack in North-West Canada, Rainey Day. And instead of being here in Nîso, Alpha-ing shit, he was in Dark River being a snack-pack. I was pretty sure it was love.” He laughed and danced away as Brody aimed a punch at his thigh. “I’m happy for you guys. You’ll be the best damn Alpha Mate this Pack has seen since Nell, if they stop trying to kill you for a minute. You have a fuckin’ huge heart, Rainey Day. Let them see it.”

He leaned forward and kissed me one more time, then kissed Tex. He looked at Brody and waggled his eyebrows, and Brody gave him the finger.

One more kiss and he was gone in a swirl of displaced air. I missed him already.

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