Page 95 of Wolf's Gambit

“And the fact someone covered that up? And we don’t know who or why? Won’t they know the truth?”

He stood and stretched. “And when they appear, we’ll ask our questions.” He offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet, surprising me by embracing me. “I’ve missed your smart mouth, your remarkable ability to get into shit, and…” He squeezed me tighter. “I’ve missed my sister.”

“I’m crying again,” I warned as I hugged him back. “Just letting you know.”

He pulled away from me, but he was laughing. “I need to take all this to Bale,” he told me more seriously. “He is the pack leader, and we need him on our side. I think we need to do what Cannon was threatening you with too…”

My brain stopped, and I froze. Had I let slip he thought I was his mate?

“We tell the Pack Council. They’re the only ones with enough power to make a wolf shifter disappear from human attention.”

“They’re scary.”

“You haven’t seen Cass at seven in the morning with no coffee,” Kris said with a wry grin.

I’d been walking back to the hiking packs that we hid here in the cave, when he spoke. “Are you at the cottage?” I asked, trying to sound casual, but although Cass was my friend and I loved her, I didn’t want to live with her.

“No, it was horrible without you,” he answered truthfully. “We have one of the new houses on the opposite end of town now.”

I turned to face him. “Am I to come back with you?” I saw his guilty look, and I was already nodding. “You want to break it to Bale first?”

“Yeah, I think that would be best.” My brother suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. “Plus, eh…shit! I don’t know how to tell you this…Landon…”

Alarm swept through me, and I reached out to grab my brother. “Is he hurt? Did something happen to him?”

Kris looked guilty. “I may have punched him.” He took a step back. “Three or four times.” He held up his hands as if in defense. “No more than five. Maybe six…definitely not seven. Okay, it’s been eight.”

His behavior was confusing me, but he was making me laugh. “Why do you look bothered about that? Landon’s a big boy. He can take a few punches.”

Kris took a deep breath and then blew it out.

“HeisyourmateandhatesthatIletyougoandhepissesmeoffsoeverynowandthenIpunchhim.”

The world was spinning. I sat on a rock, missed, and fell off onto the ground. “Say that slower…”

Kris looked like he would rather poke sticks in his eyes. “He’s your mate.”

“Bullshit.”

Kris blinked in surprise. “He insists he is, and he has been insufferable ever since you left. He blames me for letting you go, and when he pisses me off, I…yeah, I punch him.”

“Total bullshit,” I told him, regaining my senses. “Landon?”

Kris nodded mournfully. “I’m sorry.”

“How does he know? I didn’t even go into heat properly!”

“The same way I knew about Cass, I guess. I haven’t sat down and discussed feelings with Landon, Kezia!”

My mouth opened and closed several times. Landon was my mate. Not Cannon. I inhaled sharply. What was that? What was that uneasiness inside me? Was I…disappointed?

Hell no. I’d rather have Landon. I knew Landon. It made sense. Landon was my friend. Sure.

My mate was Landon.

Not Cannon.

Excellent. All my problems were solved.

---