Page 21 of The Thief

I scratched my head, surprised that it wasn’t about the jerk whose lights he’d punched out. “I’m not sure. He seems to know me.”

“He stopped by the house.”

My stomach knotted at the thought of anyone visiting our home that I couldn’t vouch for.

“He wanted to speak to you,” Bear continued. “But he didn’t want to deal with Tak. I’m an excellent judge of character, and I don’t trust this guy.”

“When did this happen?”

“Last night. I meant to tell you, but we never had a moment alone. Then I forgot, and you went to bed.”

My heart plummeted as I realized my past was now colliding with my future. “I need to talk to y’all about something.”

“Talk to who?”

“Tak and anyone else he’s with. Call them in for me. Please?”

Bear rose from his seat and left the room.

How am I going to explain this? On short notice, my mind drew a blank. That planted a seed of doubt, which was blossoming into a monstrous, soul-eating entity. Each second that ticked by made my nerves coil even tighter.

After a few minutes, an army of footfalls approached from the kitchen. Bear, Tak, Archer, and Salem filed in. Since there were only four chairs per table, Salem pulled up an extra chair and sat beside me. By their casual attire, they must have been sitting out on the back deck, swapping stories about battle scars in love and war.

Seated to my left, Archer tipped back his chair, his eyes glassy from too much alcohol. “Count me out for cards. I can’t keep my eyes open,” he said to Tak as if finishing a conversation from earlier.

Bear returned to his seat across from me and cast a quick glance at the Packmaster.

Tak rubbed the corner of his eye. “Bear says there’s something you wish to discuss.”

“I want to tell you something, but I’m afraid.”

He dipped his chin. “You can speak to me about anything.”

I steeled myself and looked to Bear, who was just as in the dark as everyone else.

“You can trust me to listen with an open mind.” Tak held his fist over his heart. “My word is my bond.”

This felt about as comfortable as falling backward and expecting people to catch me. “I never joined this pack with the intention of deceiving anyone, but there’s a piece of my life I’ve kept private. I suppose it was going to come out eventually when people started asking questions about my past, but since I wanted a fresh start, I never mentioned it.”

“Go on,” he said.

“I have amnesia.”

Salem leaned in, his gentle eyes assessing me. “Diagnosed?”

I shook my head. “Something happened a few years ago, and I lost a huge chunk of my memories. It was probably a head injury. I remember my childhood up until I was a young woman, but everything after that is gone.”

Bear folded his arms on the table. “How many years are you talking?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “More than seventy. I’m a hundred and three, but I can only remember a fraction of my life. My wolf must have gotten into an accident or suffered a brain injury. I don’t know. It’s not like we can recover from everything.”

“Did you see a Relic?” Salem asked.

“No. I didn’t realize I had a problem at first. There’s no easy way to explain it. I got a job working in a flower shop, but something didn’t feel right. So I traveled around, searching for a place that felt like home.” I slumped down in my seat. “There was no sense dwelling on it. I couldn’t do anything about it, so I just kept living.” I stole a glance at Tak’s expression, searching for clues as to what he was thinking. Is this the deal-breaker? “I-I never meant to lie. Since I wanted to put it behind me, it wasn’t worth mentioning.”

Tak canted his head. “The absence of your entire life?”

“I figured you’d base your decision on who we are and not who we were. I’m not running from anything. At least, not that I know of. I’ve just got a disability I’m trying to live with.”

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