Moon Claimed (Werewolf Dens #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,47

before now, right?”

Here it was. The opening to reveal all and tell her the sordid truth—that Herc’s death was partially my fault. That I could have prevented it.

Was there anything I could tell her without revealing too much? “That’s everything, sister. If it means a lot to you, I’ll fill you in on the small things from now on.”

“I’d like that,” she answered after a beat.

I wrapped my arms around her, waiting stubbornly until she gave up and hugged me back.

“Ready for Timber tonight?” she asked.

Nope. “Bring it on.”

13

This grid brought back a whole heap of memories—and regrets. I might never have encountered Sascha if not for entering Timber on the wrong night.

One fucking sniff. That’s why I was here.

The thought made my gums ache, so I forced my attention to the here and now.

“Visibility is an issue in Timber as you see,” Pascal said from beside me. “We wait here until the end. Tallying the points takes longer as we must go through the grid after, but there’s nothing for it.”

The less people I could see, then the less people could see me. Ideal. Because the high emotion was getting to me—the mounting tension and smell of adrenaline urged my wolf to the surface.

She wanted to run in the trees. To chase and catch prey.

Let’s get through the next two hours, I pleaded with her again. Sascha said not to shift until we’ve healed, but if you can wait a few hours, we’ll go for a run after Grids.

But I could just go now, she answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

You could. If you want me to be hurt.

Human politics?

Yep.

She sighed. After the game then.

Thanking the presence in my head, I replied to Pascal, “How long until the Luthers enter?”

“Five minutes.”

The stewards were currently split into four teams. One team was fixing traps that the Luthers located and tampered with between times. That wasn’t something we usually had to deal with—what with normally having Timber in our possession between games.

Gentle rolling hills made up this terrain. Those hills were crammed tight with the oldest trees Deception Valley had to offer. Virgin forest splayed out, the master of this place since far before my birth. Thick roots jutted and dipped under the thick layer of leaves and pine needles blanketing the ground. The canopy was so thick barely any of the remaining sunlight could make it through.

I could feel my power to resist four-legged form dwindle as twilight deepened, and I inwardly kicked myself for being so confident after a day without issue in the manor.

The sun was my power, and the growing darkness called to us both. It wanted to sharpen our senses. To protect us.

I’d be stronger in four-legged form.

Boom.

My ears picked up the distant sound of seven hundred running Luthers even over the frequency generators. That meant human ears could pick up the sound too. The footsteps came from the south and north where the pack entered the grid.

Tonight, I’d use my new senses to better understand their strategy. The frequency generators limited me, but I had my sight and sense of smell, and one day as a Luther had shown me smell was my most powerful tool.

Correct, my wolf said.

Can you help?

All the better to eat Greyson’s heart with.

Whatever floats your boat. I felt her slide to occupy my nose, ears, eyes. Without knowing exactly how, I understood she navigated those systems now, leaving me to control movement and speech. Which was for the best. A quick test revealed she was as bad at walking in two-legged form as I was in four-legged, and no matter what she sounded like in my mind, she didn’t actually speak any form of human.

As she took over my senses, I realised how exhausted I was from controlling everything all day. Sharing like this did feel easy and right.

We couldn’t do this all the time, but…

Maybe once I get used to four-legged form, I can work on letting you have complete control for stints too, I told her.

I’d like that.

I didn’t want to always lock her up. For all I’d said to Sascha that morning, there was now one being that wouldn’t leave me.

We inhaled deeply, and I caught a curious look from Pascal.

Easy with the sniffer. We have company.

Our enemy are advancing and creating a line from the river to where they entered. Like a crescent moon.

It’s what they did last time too. It was a favourite of Sascha’s—to unify his pack on the battlefield and work through the grid