Page 43 of Happily Undead in Dark River

“First lesson in ASL. That one means fu-”

Annie arrived, bounding over all smiles. She handed her plate absently to Ghost and hugged me. “God, I’m so glad you are okay. I’ve seen what happens when one Mate dies, and the other one just pines away, and its fucking awful. Not that I wouldn’t have been sad that you were dead, because I would have been. You’re pretty cool. But you know, Brody is my cousin and my Alpha.”

I wasn’t sure if I needed to respond to that tirade of words, and when I looked over at Ghost, he had a snarky expression on his face.

One point to Mr. Silent but Deadly.

Annie took her plate back off Ghost, giving him a bright, beautiful smile that left him looking a little stunned. “Thanks, Casper,” she teased, and Ghost gave her a mock-snarl.

I grinned again, and Ghost gave me another wary look. Yeah, buddy, that look is totally warranted. Call me the Love Doctor, because I was going to match-make the shit out of these two.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Iwent three whole days without getting shot at, blown up or otherwise murdered in my sleep. Instead of feeling relieved, I felt more on edge. I was riding Brody the Horse, I mean he was shifted into a horse, not hung like a horse. Well actually… Anyway, I was riding him up to the top of the rise, the only place in town where you got proper reception. I needed to talk to Walker. I missed his voice. I missed his face. I hadn’t realized how much I now just wanted him around. I even missed X and the dirty innuendos. I missed Nico and our bonding sessions. I missed Dark River and my life there, even though I was learning to love Brody’s town. It just wasn’t home.

I slid from Brody’s back and grinned as he shifted back to a man. “You know, when I said I wanted to ride bareback, I didn’t mean you should turn into a horse,” I teased, giving him a saucy wink. He laughed, kissing me so hard that my back bowed and my chuckles turned to moans. I pushed against his chest, determined not to be distracted by my sexy Alpha. I tucked a hat on my head and pulled up my hoodie. Today was overcast, and I felt like I could get away with the look. I didn’t want to scare the guys that I’d had a mental breakdown and shaved my head.

I pulled out my phone and hesitated. I FaceTimed Walker, because I missed his face, and held my breath as it rang. I hadn’t gotten any messages from Judge saying they’d been executed for their impudence or anything like that. Still, I wouldn’t breathe until someone answered on the other line. It rang, and rang, and rang before the call finally dropped.

Brody turned back and frowned. “Try X,” he said, and I flicked through my phone for his number. Finding it under Fucking Hot Asshole in my phone, I rang it, my heart in my throat. When he answered, I almost whimpered with relief.

“Love, is that you?” he said, staring at his phone intently.

I gave him a self-conscious wave. “Hey X.”

He let out a huge shuddering sigh. “Woman, you are a sight for sore eyes. I’ve seen more wang bunking with these two than I have in ten years, and I gotta say, I miss your sweet face.” Someone grumbled something from the other side of the room, then Walker was there, pushing his face into the camera view.

“Raine?” he said like he just can’t quite believe it was me. X rolled his eyes and held the phone out further until I could see all three of them. Both Nico and Walker had huge dark circles under their eyes. Had they been feeding? Sleeping?

Instead of asking these questions, I just smile at him. “Hi, Sheriff. You look like shit, but fuck I miss you.”

He grinned at me sadly, his face lighting up like I’d given him the best present ever. “I miss you too.”

X makes a gagging noise in the background. “Fuck me, you guys are so sweet I am going to get the diabeetus. Though, I miss you too, Love. I’m ready to be done with this place and back in your little utopia. Has the shifter been good to you? They pull out the whole welcome wagon for you up there?”

I looked at Brody, who was frowning. I silently told him to keep the last few days on the down-low from the guys. They had enough on their plates. “It’s been great. I miss you guys though.”

Nico cleared his throat, his brows drawn together. “Raine, what happened?”

I gave him my best innocent look, moving my hand to my chest. My cast covered hand. Whoops. Brody just shook his head.

“Raine…” Walker was using his no-nonsense Sheriff's voice. Uh oh.

“Do not make me compel you,” Nico said, his voice as exhausted as his face.

That’s what convinced me. Whatever they imagined would probably be worse than the truth. Though I did almost die, so maybe not. “Raine,” Nico prompted again.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’m pretty sure you can’t compel me over FaceTime, Nico.” I wasn’t actually sure at all. “Look, it’s no big deal okay. I just accidentally broke my arm.”

They all spoke at once, except X who was looking past me to Brody, whose arm was still in a sling. I’d have to ask him why the injury didn’t affect his Horse form. The answer would probably be ‘magic’ but one day I was going to find someone who could tell me the science behind all this shit.

“If it was an accident, why is your Alpha all bandaged up too?” X said, and I poked my tongue out at him.

I shouldn’t have called them. This was selfish. But now I had to tell them. “Someone is kinda trying to kill me and they accidentally on purpose exploded Brody’s house with us inside. But I’m okay. So is Brody and Tex.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and the beauty of FaceTime meant I could see them all gaping at me like codfish. I pressed the button that would take a picture of the screen. I was keeping that one and doodling dicks beside each of their mouths.

“What makes Brody think it wasn’t just an accident?” Walker asked, his voice cool and professional, but his eyes burning embers of rage.

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