Page 76 of Haunted By the Shadow of Death

“How are you two?” she said.

“We’re good,” Kicks said.

“We heard some crazy stories,” Crackers said, joining us.

“They’re probably all true,” I said.

“Wow, badass.” Crackers nodded.

Kicks glanced at me. I’d given him the broad strokes on the trip home. I had a feeling he’d be getting a more embellished version soon.

Death had wanted the story to spread, and it looked like it was moving faster than the plague in the Middle Ages.

“You want to go get washed up?” Kicks asked, giving me an out to go tuck myself away in the cabin.

“No. I need to say something first, and I want to do it now.”

He knew that the last thing I’d ever wanted to do in the past was address the pack. “Should we talk about this first?”

“No.” It wouldn’t change anything, so I was doing this now.

Both of us were dead on our feet, but I felt surer of this than anything I’d done in a year. I walked over to one of the picnic tables and called out, “I need your attention.”

It didn’t take long to get it, since most of them hadn’t stopped staring at us since we walked in. Still, I waited until every last set of eyes were focused on me because I was only going to say this once. If they didn’t hear it, that was their problem.

“I’m sure all of you here want to know what’s going on, where we’ve been. Some of you have probably already heard some gossip.”

I was pretty sure anyone with a satellite phone had called everyone they could after the bloodbath at Dirkin’s. From some of the evasive looks, it was clear they’d heard.

“This is Kicks’ home. He grew up here. You’re his pack, and that runs deep for an alpha, especially one such as him. He didn’t want to leave here, ever, and I know you didn’t want him to go. The same can’t be said for me. At least some of you want me gone.” There were no denials from the hushed crowd. “Well, I’ve got bad news for you, because I’m not going anywhere. If this is where Kicks wants to be, I’ll be staying as well.”

I let that sink in, waiting to see if there was a revolt. When the crowd didn’t seem to go wild, I continued. “If your intentions toward me and my family are pure, we won’t have a problem. If you’re okay with humans, that bodes well for you. If you don’t like me or Charlie, if you don’t like humans, come and find me. It’ll be easy, because I won’t be hiding. Odds are, you won’t live long enough to cause me a problem. On the other end of the spectrum, if your intent is good, we’ll be fine. Just know this place is going to be my son’s home and I will protect it with my life.”

The crowd looked stunned. I could see Evangeline and Crackers in the back, looking at each other and then nodding, as if they could live with my terms.

I’d turned to climb off the table when a lone voice in the crowd called, “Wait.”

I turned out of curiosity. It didn’t matter what they wanted or what they thought of me anymore. I’d made my choices, and I was good with them.

A girl stepped forward. I’d seen her before, but she’d never spoken to me, always seeming to leave a buffer between us.

I waited for her to speak, not bothering to soften my expression. I no longer cared enough.

“Is it true that they poisoned Kicks? That they threw him in a hole to die?” Her eyes were large, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

“Yes. That’s exactly what shifters did to him.” They might not have been of the same pack, but they were shifters. They weren’t other, like me. For so long I’d been treated as less than because they could shift. Well, there was her kind in action. Let her claim them.

“And you saved him?” she said, not reacting or smarting from the barb I’d thrown her way.

I scanned the rest of the crowd, and no one seemed insulted by my words, at least not outwardly.

“Yes. In a manner of speaking, I did.” It felt strange to claim that deed when it had truly been Death’s doing, but try explaining that to this crowd. It was easier to just own it. And after all, I’d be paying the price for it. Why shouldn’t I take credit?

An older woman, one I remembered for her sharp looks, stepped forward. This was probably where the witch hunt would start. It would end quickly, because I wasn’t going anywhere, not right away, not until it was time, and good luck to anyone who thought they could make me.

“There’s a rumor that some among our kind had a hand in Death Day. Is that true?” Her voice held a wobble, as if the truth truly rattled her to her core.

It didn’t make me soften to her at all.

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