Page 93 of Wolf's Gambit

Kris looked at me and then at his hands. “Start at the beginning. Tell me everything,” he ordered, his voice firmer.

I told him it all. The fighting, the running, the thought I was being followed. The fight with Bullet, the new start, Maggie, Lottie, and then the night Bullet found me. I told him how I shifted in the truck and killed the guy in the back with me first. I told him how I cleared up the bodies and set the remains on fire, and then I shifted, and we stayed in the mountains for months. I told him when I shifted back, we made our way to Vance’s and that Cannon found me. I told him how I’d been in a cell for weeks because Cannon caught me as a rogue.

“I’m so sorry, brother,” I whispered, my voice hoarse with the tears I shed. “I…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

I blinked in surprise as my brother paced. “Um…because I killed humans?”

“Humans who were going to kill you after they raped and tried to break you,” he snapped. “I only want an apology if those fuckers are still breathing.”

“They’re definitely dead,” I said in a shocked whisper. I yelped when he grabbed me and held me tight, but eagerly returned the hug. “Kris?”

“Do not ever apologize for defending yourself, Kezia,” he whispered furiously as he held me. “I taught you better, didn’t I?”

He wasn’t mad at me. He wasn’t disappointed in me. My brother believed me and was glad I’d done what I had. The relief was so overwhelming that I burst into tears again.

“Goddess, how is there still water left in you?” he grumbled, pushing me back playfully.

“I thought you would disown me,” I confessed through my sniffles.

“Idiot!” He scoffed at me. Kris paced again. “Okay, I need to hear it all again, including everything that happened in the Blackridge Peak Pack.”

“All of it?”

“Leave out nothing. We need to plan.”

“As you know, I left and ran for a few weeks, but we shifted back. I quickly learned that the human world needs a lot of money, and a girl like me eats too much to never have any. I made my way, and then I found out there are fighting rings…” I didn’t look at him as I spoke, even though this wasn’t my first time telling it today, it was possibly the first time my brother was hearing it. Really hearing it. “I did okay in them…they pay well. I fought them as human, holding my true strength back as you taught me.”

He was frowning but listening.

“I knew to keep moving, though, so every few weeks, I would take my winnings that would keep me going until I needed to find the next fighting ring. I was at Vance’s. He runs good fights, and I made so much money on them, but I kinda, um, clashed with his emcee.”

Kris gave me a flat look, and I grinned at such a familiar welcome sight of my brother being unimpressed with me trying to downplay a situation.

“Bullet, the emcee, accused me of sleeping with Vance and basically cheating, and we started fighting.” I remembered the anger I had, but it was quickly replaced by the horror I felt when I realized that I’d killed him. “We fought, I won. Just.” I blew out a breath. “He was strong and fast.”

“Human?”

“Definitely human,” I confirmed. “I healed myself too quickly, considering the fight we had, and it aroused suspicion in a guy I worked with. He accused Vance of rigging the fights. Later that night, I got chased through the woods, and in the morning, I left town. I saw Vance had Bullet strung up, and I didn’t do anything. I found a new town. I met two women who might have cared for me, and I think I could have stayed there. But a few weeks later, Bullet caught me. Shot me three times with silver, and when I came to, I was in a truck, and they were going to, well, you know…”

“Silver?” Kris’s eyes were wide. “They had silver bullets?”

“Yes, but I didn’t figure it out until I was captured by Cannon.” I showed my brother my legs. “See, I’m marked.”

Kris studied the marks and my shoulder when I showed him. “You said three times, what’s this?” he asked, pressing the skin on my upper arm.

“That’s where Cannon shot me,” I told him.

My brother was on his feet. “He shot you with silver?”

“He was experimenting?—”

“He was what?”

“Calm down, I can explain.” Taking his hand, I tugged Kris back down to the grass to sit with me. “I was weak. The silver made me slow, and healing took longer. I woke up in the back of the truck, and I… She saved me.”

Kris was nodding. “You have the right to defend yourself. Being weak and injured, your wolf will panic and overcompensate.”

---