Page 42 of So I Fell for Bigfoot

Bibi didn’t flinch. Hannah clutched me tightly.

“Lars has spoken very highly of you when he’s told us about the fascinating history of this valley. Some of the things that have drawn us to Lars are his love for tradition and the way he’s kept his home true to its original design for all these years,” Bibi said. “It’s truly amazing what you were able to build with limited access to equipment and technology.”

My brother’s gaze shifted to me. “You call this wolf Queen?”

“I call her a friend and a colleague. She accepted me when the rest of world no longer understood me.”

“You still claim no one understands you. Some things don’t change.” Leif chuckled, but only for a moment. “Maybe this queen won’t be so understanding anymore when she finds out what you’re hiding from her.”

Shit. He knew I had the Scepter.

“I’m not hiding anything from her.” That wasn’t exactly true, but I needed to completely assess the situation before I revealed the Scepter. If Armand and his pack had been resurrected by the Hudaknocker, and moon only knew what had brought my brother back, there was no telling what the Scepter would unleash.

Leif took a step forward. “Because you’re afraid of her.”

“I’m not afraid of anyone. Including you.”

“Maybe the brothers would like some time alone to catch up,” Bibi suggested, looping her arm into Hannah’s to peel her away from my body. “It’s been what, centuries since you’ve seen each other? So many things have happened. No wonder there have been some misunderstandings.”

“Is Lars safe if we leave him?” Hannah asked. Those blue eyes were wide and unblinking, absolutely beautiful as she looked back and forth between me and my brother.

“Maybe the little human is more astute than I give her credit for,” Leif said. “Lars is my brother. Blood. We fight together, not each other.”

Hannah let out a sigh before squeezing my hand and turning to Bibi.

“I don’t trust him,” she said in a low voice as she walked away.

Marissa and Bjorn didn’t move. They had my back.

“We’ll be waiting outside when you’re ready to join us,” Bibi said. “All of us. Leif, if you’re willing to join us in filming the show, we’d love to have you. But that’s not something you need to think about right now. When the time is right.”

With that, they all left.

Leif scrubbed his forehead with his hand. “What the hell just happened?”

“I should be the one asking you that question.” I strode forward. In my human form, I was much smaller than him. But it didn’t put me at the disadvantage he hoped for. “You should be dead. Not like those wolves you put a lazy curse on. I watched humans destroy you. So now that we’re alone, please tell me, what are you doing here? Or maybe, the better question is, how can I trust you’re really my brother?”

His expression sobered. “You don’t know your own blood?”

“Of course I do.” I moved passed the wall of fur and fury. At one time, he’d lived in the mountain beside mine. He’d been in my home all the time. But this unexpected visit felt like a violation. “There’s just no logical explanation for why you’re here. Alive.”

“Once I disposed of our idols, we all grew weaker. There’s no denying the power that each of them contained. The power you’ve benefitted from all these years.” He paced in front of me, something he’d done all too often when things weren’t going his away.

“The Scepter should remain our secret,” I said. “Things are different now. If we bring that idol to light, all hell could literally break loose.”

“Different.” He scoffed. “You’ve formed your own pack with wolf queen drag fairies that are content to keep you in a cage under the guise of your safety.”

I tipped my head. Leif hadn’t seemed to accept that anything had changed since he’d been gone. “You know more about my whereabouts than you let on.”

“Of course I do. I lay underground for ages, my body rotting into the earth. But that was the only thing that died, Lars. My spirit was still very much alive. My soul.” He pounded on his chest. “I was trapped there. Thinking about all the things I should have done differently. I can assure you, the punishment was far worse than any crime I’d ever been accused of. Then one day, everything started to change. My body began to regenerate. Knit itself back together. At first, I thought it was a special kind of hell, to be trapped underground but fully functional—”

“Like you’d done to Armand and his pack.”

Leif chuckled. “Are you sympathetic toward the wolves? Because they don’t seem to think so. But they didn’t think you’d be happy to see me, either. And look at us. Like no time has passed.”

So he was working with them in some capacity. “Hardly. But karma has her ways of playing games.”

“No. This was redemption.” His eyes lit up in an all-too-familiar way. It was like he’d never been gone. He was as headstrong as he always was, but this time, no one was playing by his rules. “Finally, I was strong enough to dig myself out of my grave. I wasn’t full strength yet, but once I fed—”

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