Moon Claimed (Werewolf Dens #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,13
or him trying to find the right time, we won’t ever know.”
A tear slipped over her cheek. “I hate him so much sometimes. I feel like you’re handling it so much better than me.”
I smiled. “Don’t believe what you see on TV, sis.”
Rhona eyed me. “Right. Dad was good at hiding emotions too.”
“What are you doing today?” Probably best if we didn’t linger on that subject either.
“I took your advice,” she said. “I’m working with Gerry and taking over some of the dawn trainings.”
Once Gerry retired, I’d look after the strategy and Rhona would look after the execution of those strategies. Playing to our strengths made sense, and this job gave her responsibility. “Good. You’ll be great at it.”
“People are too afraid of me to mention if I’m bad. Anyway, I’ll let you get back to ruling the world.” She winked, leaving the office.
I scrubbed at my face. “Fuck.”
That was too close.
Rhona wasn’t the only smart steward around. If she thought the exchange with Sascha was weird, others could think the same.
Picking up my phone, I unblocked the number from the other day and dialled.
One ring.
“Andie.”
I shivered at his smooth voice, hating myself for the reaction. “I thought you might be interested to know that your behaviour at the lake was noticed and commented upon. I don’t care if I’m dying, drowning, or being mauled, do not pull that shit again.”
His reply was immediate. “Impossible.”
“This is the part where you make up some Luther bullshit to justify ruining my life, right?”
“I can’t not protect you from life-threatening situations. We are an instinctual race, and in some situations, our wolves take the lead.”
Greyson.
I rolled my eyes. “There’s a new one. Now you’re saying you had to kill Herc. It just happened. Give me a break, Sascha.”
“My life is also tied to yours, as you know.”
“So you say.”
“If a male dies, his female mate must live on to care for any young she has birthed. If a female dies, nature deems the male’s existence unnecessary as he will not sire more children.
Oh, brother.
“You always know what to say to turn me on,” I quipped before hanging up.
His number flashed again, and I declined the call.
A message came through.
Remember.
I will make everything alright again.
Delete and block.
He was pretty fast at texting though. Couldn’t deny that.
Turning to the list of importers, I dialled the top name. Something about it seemed vaguely familiar. Le Spyre.
Kind of fancy.
“Hello, you’re speaking with Evie.”
I double-checked the name. “Sorry, must be a wrong number. I’m looking for Basilia Le Spyre.”
“I’m one of her secretaries.”
One of. “Right. Is she around?”
“Mrs Le Spyre is a very busy woman. Can I ask what this call is in regard to?”
“I wanted to introduce myself as the new CEO of Deception Valley Exports. My father recently passed.”
There was a pause. “Please hold.”
The line was answered a second later. “Yello, this is Mrs Le Spyre.”
“Uh, yello. I’m Andie Thana, the—”
“Yeah, I heard. Nice to meet you and all that.”
How did she hear? This lady sounded young. My age, maybe a little older. “The same to you. I wanted to touch base and let you know that my father recently passed. I’ve taken over the CEO role of our export companies.”
“My sympathies. And empathies. A similar thing happened to me not long ago.”
This lady was eccentric, no doubt about it, but her words were heartfelt. “My sympathies and empathies back to you, Mrs Le Spyre.”
“Real talk time. My mate says your family is at war with werewolves. True or false?”
My heart hammered. “What?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I know about all the supernatural stuff.”
She did?
Something else stole my attention though. “Did you say mate?”
“Kyros is a vampire. I am too. One week old.”
What. The. Fuck.
Vampires exist?
My body chilled. I mean, I knew other stuff had to be out there, but this woman was from Bluff City.
Five hours away.
“So,” she drew out in the silence. “Vampires—Vissimo—are kind of territorial. And a little elitist. They’re a bit snobby about discussing other races. What’s the go with werewolves?”
Swallowing hard, my mind rushed for an out. For all I knew, she was recording this conversation. “You’ll need to excuse me, Mrs Le Spyre. I only found out recently.”
That was vague enough. I hoped.
Her voice lowered. “You didn’t know?”
“Nope.”
“And you grew up in the valley? That’s bullshit. Been there, done that. Hated it. All I can say is that things do get better. If you need to talk, well, I actually am really busy and super rich, but leave a message with Evie