Moon Claimed (Werewolf Dens #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,107
my mouth shut and help him. If I didn’t, the tribe would learn the truth. Herc had sprayed him with wolfsbane and cut the rope. We switched the ropes and tampered with the belaying station to make our story plausible. He wasn’t dying fast enough, so…” Pascal swallowed. “Herc smashed the back of his head against the rock until he was gone.”
A crawling sensation crept over my skin.
“I should have been stronger that day,” she said. “That one experience shaped me so completely. After that day, I realised that Luthers weren’t the only monsters in this valley. Seven mating meets didn’t achieve that, but Herc’s actions did.”
That wasn’t all. “I’ve never lived in Bluff City.”
She arched a brow. “It was a nice day when Herc made the discovery. The address never gave him any lead. It made me happy that you and Ragna could be free of this.”
“She was never free after Murphy left.”
“No. His words played in my mind often as you can imagine. This is because your mate bit me. This is what he did to me and Ragna. For a long time, I assumed he meant that Ragna had to leave the valley for him. But they always shared a bond unlike any other I’d seen, even while he was human. How did Murphy know what a mate was?”
“They mated,” I said.
“You know this for sure?”
“I think his death broke her. His absence broke her to a degree that I can now see was unnatural. When he died, she stopped doing mostly everything and started gambling. She always tried her best but could never quite manage it. I guess that makes sense now.” Tears burned behind my eyes. This was the truth. I felt it. This was why my mother did those things. To herself and me.
Pascal rested a hand on my shoulder, and it felt strange coming from the composed woman. “It’s a good thing when the world makes sense. Often, it doesn’t.”
We sat for a time.
“Why did you tell me all this?” I asked.
She looked at me. “When I turned Daniil down, he was never the same, but his change in behaviour not long after you entered the valley was startling. I believe when he learned of the connection between you and the pack leader, the information changed him.”
“What happened that day in Water?”
“I found an empty boat waiting at the bottom. There was no one in sight, so I took it, believing a steward left it for my use. Daniil met me later after confirming some of the underwater points. I didn’t think anything of it.”
He’d come to meet her and then jumped overboard. Clever bastard.
“But then Rhona forced you to bring the theory of Sascha Greyson’s obsession to the head team. I knew what that meant. You were going through a mating call together. At that point, I wondered if that explained Daniil’s sudden change. But rather than come clean, I decided to monitor the situation and swallowed my concerns.”
I’d never told the head team about the black wolf’s other attacks. She wouldn’t have known about anything other than what happened in Water. “It’s not your fault. He chose to act that way.”
Pascal dipped her head. “He did.”
I inhaled her pain. “You’re mourning him.”
“Strange thing that mating call,” she said quietly. “It never quite leaves you. I wasn’t able to complete one of the meets—the scenting meet. Daniil believes this might have disrupted the process for us and left us in limbo.”
Standing, she dipped her head and turned away.
“Pascal?” I called.
She peered back.
“If you could go back to that moment with Daniil. Would you change your mind?” I didn’t bother specifying which moment.
The older woman regarded me. “It was harder to choose him than not. I found out later that the hardest path is usually the one worth taking. A few decades bring clarity that youth doesn’t have.”
Nature was so very cold. Really, we had no choice in the mating call at all.
To create a Daniil.
To become a Pascal.
To end as Murphy.
To exist like Ragna.
I searched her face. “Daniil attacked Rhona to force me to shift. Other times, I was sure he wanted me dead.”
“I’m not sure Daniil knew what he wanted. Did he want to force you and Sascha together or tear you apart? I’m undecided.”
Daniil turned me into a Luther. That would only help us to progress through the mating call.
But he took Wade to lure me out alone.
In my mind, he attacked Rhona to reveal my true nature to the tribe. Something that landed me here.
His scent was spicy to me and not to Sascha.
Of course, Daniil then tried to kill me in the challenge.
No one would ever know the truth.
Part of my heart ached on Daniil’s behalf, which only proved I’d lost my damn mind. “I’m sorry you lost someone you loved, Pascal.”
She blinked several times. “You deserved more from a tribe and sister that you broke your back to help, Andie.” She turned toward the bungalows. “My condolences to this pack who lost someone they loved dearly.”
The marshal walked slowly away, and a huge part of me longed to follow and comfort her.
Sascha joined me on the bench and pulled me onto his lap. “Are you alright?”
Am I?
I hadn’t paused for breath since Ragna’s death. I certainly hadn’t processed what happened in Sandstone.
For the first time maybe ever, I had absolutely no plan or idea of my future.
I did recognise that this moment was a happy bubble in what was a harsh, centuries-old war. That war wouldn’t stop just because the tribe had cast me out.
At any second this happy bubble could pop.
“I’d given up on getting any answers about Ragna and Murphy.” I looked up into gorgeous honey eyes.
Sascha held me close. “Then I’m happy for you. Pascal gave the pack closure, too, and I’m grateful to her. We never had any idea Daniil had entered a mating call, but it explains a lot.”
I toyed with the ends of his dark-brown hair. Something I’d always wanted to try, but never dared do with so many barriers between us.
In this bubble though, I could do such things.
I rested my cheek against his chest. “Sascha? What happens tomorrow?”
He kissed my temple. “I’m not sure, beautiful wolf. But we’ll get through it together. How about that?”
Another happy bubble.
Forcing the thought away for now, I closed my eyes. “That sounds like a dream I’d like to share.”
WOLF ROULETTE
Supernatural Battle: Werewolf Dens, #3
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Books By Kelly St. Clare
Supernatural Battle
Vampire Towers (Paranormal urban romance)
Blood Trial
Vampire Debt
Death Game
Werewolf Dens (Paranormal urban romance)
Shifter Wars
Moon Claimed
Wolf Roulette
The Darkest Drae (Dragon shifter romance)
with Raye Wagner
Blood Oath
Shadow Wings
Black Crown
The Tainted Accords (Royal fantasy romance):
Fantasy of Frost
Fantasy of Flight
Fantasy of Fire
Fantasy of Freedom
The Tri-World Exchange
(The Tainted Accords Novellas):
Sin
Olandon
Rhone
Shard
The Tri-World Exchange Set
Pirates of Felicity (Pirate fantasy romance):
Immortal Plunder
Stolen Princess
Pillars of Six
Dynami’s Wrath
Veritas
Eternal Gambit
Mortal Trinity
Last Battle for Earth (Dystopian romance):
Earth’s Warrior
Rebel’s Crusade
Traitor’s Mandate
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