Page 81 of Wolf's Endgame

I met Royce near the front door, and he looked at us both with concern. “What is it now?”

Kezia and I exchanged a sheepish look. “I didn’t know we had a now,” I tried to tease, but it sounded more petulant than I would have liked.

“Well, neither did I, but it’s a thing.” He folded his arms across his chest as he looked between us. “Out with it.”

“I need to go see the shaman, that’s all.”

Royce looked at Kezia with concern. “She back?”

“Not yet.”

He looked relieved and I saw Kezia straighten as she noticed his reaction too. Her eye caught mine and I saw her reluctant acceptance of what I had been trying to tell her. “I saw him earlier with Kris’s mate.”

“Cass,” Kezia said with a scowl of disapproval. “Her name is Cass.”

Royce wasn’t in the least bit ruffled. “Yeah, well, until she proves she’s as loyal as the rest, she can stay a stranger.”

Reaching back, I took hold of Kezia’s hand. “Come on, you can fight this battle another day,” I murmured as we headed out of the hall. “You got this?” I asked Royce over my shoulder.

“Always.”

It felt good to know my beta was so reliable. I’d already seen Nikan organizing one group of shifters. I was a lucky alpha to have such a loyal pack.

“Where’s Kris?” Kezia asked as we walked the empty streets.

“Last I saw of him, Leo was learning the layout of the Anterrio Pack.”

“Learning? Or interrogating?” Kezia asked dryly.

“Never quite sure with Leo,” I told her with a grin. “Can’t fault his enthusiasm.”

She didn’t say anything as we walked to my house, and under any other circumstances, it would have been a pleasant evening.

“Do you think we will win?” Kezia watched me expectantly.

“I don’t think we’ll lose.”

“Is that not winning?”

“Fighting pack against pack is never winning. There’s enough shit in the world without shifter against shifter.”

As we reached the front yard, Kezia pulled at my hand, bringing me to a sudden stop. “That’s exactly what makes you a good alpha,” she told me quietly. “It’s why I fell in love with you.”

Bending down, I kissed my mate slowly. As I pulled back, I looked her deep in the eyes and smiled. “Nice try, mate, but you’re still not coming with me.”

Kezia growled as she pushed me away, storming into the house ahead of me, leaving me laughing behind her.

I found her in the kitchen. The shaman was there, with a whole lot of herbs and things I didn’t recognize spread out in front of him.

“Alpha Cannon,” he greeted, completely at ease as my mate hugged him as she passed.

“Shaman.” I tried to remember my studies, but having never had a shaman in the pack, I hadn’t paid too much attention to herbs. “Do I want to know what you’re making?” I did remember that sometimes it was better not to ask.

“A drink for Cassandra,” he said happily. “Some herbs for my Kezia.” Reaching out, he patted her hand. “A few tricks for your pack to hide their scent in the coming days.”

“Scent erasers?” I leaned forward eagerly. “They work?”

The old shifter chuckled. “Of course they work; why do you think Kris asked me to make them?”

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