Page 93 of Wolf's Endgame

I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and as I slumped forward, I remember being surprised at the strength of the female in front of me as she caught me, and then it all went dark.

CHAPTER 24

Kezia

Walking through the town, I tried to keep my face free of the anger currently coursing through my veins. I waved and smiled at the pack who, had I not been burning with fury, I would have noticed were casting me strange looks. They were preparing for a tactical strike, the whole pack was subdued, and I was waving at them like I was ready to go on a picnic.

Had anyone asked me why I seemed so overtly cheery, a phrase that had never been associated with me before, I would not have been able to lie. Because I was an honest and fair person.

Unlike the brute that was my mate.

And when I found the male whom I was bonded to, I was going to tear strips off him. Cass woke me last night, sobbing her heart out, and when I finally had her calmed down, she told me all the horrible things that Cannon had said to her.

When she had finally settled, I had gone in search of my mate…only to find the fucker wasn’t in the house.

Where was he? I hated that my first thought went to Koda, and I gave myself a stern talking-to about that. He may be harsh and cruel to people I cared about, but I knew he would never do that.

But still, it burned deep within me that he was not home and that I couldn’t reach him through the mate bond. I couldn’t ask anyone either. Because I was his mate, and I had a hotlink right to him.

Or I was supposed to.

He had blocked me.

Blocked me.

I was going to make him suffer for this. No sex. Not even a hand job. He was going to feel my frustration until I was sure he was as furious as me.

I saw Hannah approach me, her daughters in tow, and I pushed the rage down so I didn’t snarl at her when she said something nice about my mate. Because she would; she was his number one fan.

Ugh.

“Morning, Kezia,” she greeted. “I’m just taking these two to the hall to help prepare the last of the packs.” She wasn’t smiling, and she smelled anxious. “Their daddy went out last night and hasn’t come back yet, but when he does, he’ll need some extra packs.”

Fear penetrated my anger. Her fear, and I focused on something other than kicking my mate in the nuts. “Royce went out with the team?”

She nodded, pulling her youngest daughter into her hip. “Yeah, he always does. If Cannon doesn’t go, Royce does.” Anxiety was tight across her eyes.

“They need to be thorough,” I reminded her, having no idea if that was the right thing to say. “You know Royce, he’ll be so thorough he’d rather take that extra time now than lose it later.” Which was complete speculation on my part, but Hannah nodded.

“I know.” She blew out a low breath, careful not to alert her girls she was freaking out. “But…”

“You worry.” I smiled, pretty sure all I did was bare my teeth at her, but she gave me a small smile back. “As soon as I find Cannon, I’ll ask.”

“Find him? Where is he?”

Fuckity fuck fuck. “Helping.”

Hannah looked at me expectantly, and when I didn’t say anything else, she looked down at her girls quickly. “Helping? With what? I thought everything was more or less ready?”

It was?

“Yeah, but you know him, he’s…” Stumped, I rocked back on my heels.

“Thorough.”

We both looked down at Hannah’s oldest daughter, who was looking up at us with wide eyes the same color of brown as her father’s.

I felt guilty and I hadn’t even done anything. “That’s right, he is, just like your daddy.”

---