Page 122 of Hawke

“Hawke, he knows Duke Idris. Shane knows him.”

Yup, I was deflecting. But anything to get him off my butt right now.

There was a long pause. The only sound between us was the rushing of the shower beating down on my body, and his panting breath. His heart raced, his paws pounding on the ground. It was a strange feeling this bond we shared. I knew when he was far, yet I knew what direction he was going. Now, I felt the bond not as stretched, the distance between us now shorter.

He was coming back to me.

Part of me was selfish to run to this cabin and think I could save Bram. But I couldn’t just sit there. After all that man had done for us. He had used magic to make us feel safe and comfortable, when obviously it was hurting him and keeping him weak all this time.

Or he was just a stubborn man that thought he would use his magic like he could in the past.

But that was beside the point. All of this was.

Duke Idris was evil. And my soon to be dead husband, ex-husband, used to work for him.

A few nights ago, Hawke explained to Bram and me how Grim and Journey fought the Dark Fae that started a sex trafficking ring that involved shifters just weeks ago. But now they were involving humans as well. Journey was one of the first humans. They were slowly working on the west coast, but how Idris got into the human sector and pulled the strings to make it happen was a mystery.

Now that didn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

Shane had his fingers in everything. Shane must be the first connection Idris made in the human world to get him started.

But Idris was gone now. He was dead.

Or so said Switch when I had brief contact with him several days ago.

Journey ripped into him like butter. Her bite was venomous because the goddess made her into a priestess. His body turned to ashes weeks ago, along with most of his followers.

Switch couldn’t be mistaken, could he?

So, was Shane running the show now? He wasn’t normal now. He was different.

“Hawke, Shane is–”

“Different, yeah,”he interrupted while his bones popped.“He has no smell. I saw he punched Bram in the face.”

“He has fangs, claws,”I whispered into the shower.

Banging on the door shook me out of my trance, and Chad shouted into the door. “Get out of the shower, get dressed!”

Butthead.

“Who the fuck is that?” Hawke snapped.

“Chad being a bossy butt. Where are you?” I turned off the running water, then reached for the towel sitting on the toilet.

It was fresh cloth; it didn’t smell of any fragrances just like the shampoo, conditioners, and soaps. There were no scent on anything, even the clothing inside the bags. Normally, Shane would have some sort of expensive fragrance inside.

Hmm, sensitive nose maybe?

“At the edge of the tree line. I see five men outside. I can take them out. How many are inside?”

I shimmied, putting on the lace thong. Shane loved lavender and maybe that was why I hated the color so much. I rolled my eyes as I put them on. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of going thongless. He’d like that just as much.

“Chad, Shane, and Bram are the only ones here. I haven’t seen or heard anyone else. My wolf has been less than cooperative since I’ve been in the cabin.”

I could hear Hawke’s amusement. “Your wolf? How?”

I chuckled, putting on the cream cardigan. “Yeah, that voice I’ve heard all this time? It’s her. She admitted it. I guess I’m not crazy after all.”

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