Page 25 of After the Fall

Harper’s hand slipped to mine and my body relaxed. I hated it when she was angry with me.

“We’d put a stop to it. With or without your permission.”

We were stronger with the wolves. Right now, there was peace between us, but with the volatility of the wolves’ leadership, namely Bannon, who knew how long it would last?

“Connor. I want to show you something,” I said.

“No.” Harper jumped to her feet. “You’re not keeping me and Savannah in the dark.” She pulled Savannah up from where she was sitting and a wave of jasmine wafted in the breeze. It wasn’t a bad smell, but it was wrong for the season. Autumn smelled like decomposing leaves and nutmeg, not lilacs and jasmine.

Connor’s lips turned up at the sides, and he covered his smile with his hand. He was enjoying this.

“Can your girlfriend keep her mouth shut?” I asked.

“I can.” Savannah stepped beside Connor and held onto the crook of his arm. “I promise.”

“Are you okay with this?” I asked Harper.

She shrugged. “I don’t know what we’re walking into down there, but I trust Savannah.”

Harper and I were going to have to have a tough conversation. If Savannah started blabbing all over town, we would waste no time wiping her memory, whether Harper liked it or not.

“Alright, then.” I grabbed a walnut from the charcuterie board, popped it in my mouth, and led the group inside the house.

Tank stood next to the basement staircase. As we approached, his eyes widened. He furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes at me, but I knew he wouldn’t question me in front of anyone, especially not a member of the Dakota wolves. “What’s up, Boss?”

“I want to show Connor what we found.”

His lips narrowed. I could tell he wasn’t happy, but he stepped aside.

“What’s that smell?” Savannah crinkled her nose as I opened the door to the theater.

The hiker had pissed himself, and was still wearing the clothes he’d been in when we’d snagged him in our trap. They were tattered and dirty, and it looked like he could’ve been wearing them for a week or two.

“Come on.” I reached for Harper’s hand.

Her tiny hand was clammy, but she squeezed mine. “I’m not afraid.”

“I know,” I whispered. I wanted to tell her that there was no reason to be afraid, but what we’d discovered was fucking terrifying.

Savannah clutched Connor’s arm. “Is there a dead body down here? I don’t think I can handle looking at a corpse.”

“Do I need a weapon?” Connor’s hand rested on the waistband of his jeans. Had the guard at the front door notchecked for his gun? I didn’t have time to be furious about the lax security. It would have to be dealt with later. Right now, we had a much bigger problem on our hands.

“It’s safe. He’s restrained.”

Harper’s hand was holding onto mine like she’d fallen from a cliff, but when we rounded the corner and the scene came into view, it went limp. “It isn’t my dad.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” I whispered.

“I know. I just hoped…” She let out a heavy sigh. “Who is he?” she said, then looked up at me. “And why do you have a hiker chained up in your basement?”

Beside us, Connor’s lips curled. A deep growl rumbled from deep within his body. “He’s not human.”

Savannah’s hands were white as she held onto Connor. “If he’s not human, then what is he?”

Atticus leaned against the wall, sipping a beer. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. His words seem to come and go.”

Harper’s hand slipped from mine. “Just like my dad.”

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