Page 16 of Teeth To Rip & Tear

“I’ve heard the name,” I admitted, forcing my eyes forward so I didn’t look at Kaleb. “My grandmother taught me many things. The Aos Sí. The Sídhe, and Wild Fae.”

Dean nodded understandingly, rubbing the back of his shorn head as he gathered his thoughts. The other wolves shifted restlessly, making themselves comfortable.

“I am only telling you this because of the token,” Dean warned. “Your grandmother was trusted by the Beast-King, so I am trusting you now. If you betray that trust, there isn’t a corner of the world you can hide.”

I kept my mouth shut and nodded, though the magic in the room grew oppressive, pressing down on me like an anvil between my shoulder blades. An Alpha’s domination.

“The Huntsman is a very old Sídhe. Older than most of the royalty that rules over the fae courts.” Dean said, his voicegaining a faraway quality. “He serves a purpose, and because of that, he cannot be killed. When the barrier between worlds is thinnest, the wild hunt rides.”

“Okay...” I had no idea where he was going with the story. “What about the dead animals?” I asked, my stomach sinking even more as dread slowly filled my blood like cold water. “What do the dead animals have to do with the Huntsman?”

“Our pack is based in Locket for a reason. The Huntsman stationed us here.” Kaleb said gravely, finally looking at me. His eyes bored into mine. “There is a Gate between the Human Realities and the Aos Sí. We guard the Gate, but sometimes the durrach slip through. Our pack patrols the woods and protects the town.”

“Do you think something else is leaving dead things on my car?” I frowned. “Some fae monster?”

“We patrol.” Dean’s lip curled distastefully. “But sometimes they slip through. The Tanner boy was taken last year by a particularly nasty durrach. A Chimaera. Locket is not a safe place, no matter how much the humans who have settled here wish it so.”

I was surrounded by Wolfkin, who could sense every spike in adrenaline and smell my panic like sour milk. “My house is warded,” I said through numb lips.

“But not your store.” Dean nodded as if I had answered some unspoken question.

“Not my store. Or my car.” I echoed. “Or my back porch.”

“Do you have the ability to set wards?” Mitchell asked—all business.

I shook my head. “My grandmother set the wards on the house. They’ve built up over the years. Blood and bone. I don’t have that kind of magic. Can we ask the Huntsman for help? He’s your boss, right?”

Each of the wolves exchanged a loaded look that I didn’t understand.

“We are in service to the Huntsman,” Wyatt replied carefully. “It would not be wise to bother him so close to Samhain.”

In service?I wondered what he meant by that.

My grandmother hadn’t taught me much about Wolfkin and the wild fae. I thought that wolves ran in packs under the authority of the Alpha. I’d only heard of the Huntsman in passing, and even then, I struggled to conjure any solid information from my memory.

My grandmother had warned me about the Fae, even though we were Sídhe. She told me that most fae were tricksy and would steal your mind and body if you gave them a chance.

There were so many types of Sídhe that it was hard to keep track.

I was a Weaver, a broad term for imbuing magic into items I could braid, weave, or sew. It wasn’t combat magic, primarily defensive, and whatever I wove with would dissolve once the magic was spent.

There were Sídhe that could control blood. Sídhe that could wear any face. Even Sídhe that could feed on emotions like pain and rage.

“We’ve established that Joel McGowen isn’t involved. Should we pull Mallory’s bodyguard detail?” Wyatt glanced at me.

“What about whoever is targeting her?” Mitchell added in. “The pack still offers protection until we can catch whatever durrach is behind this.”

“And the boon owed to her grandmother?” Kaleb’s voice was quiet but somehow the heaviest in the room. He swung his legs off the filing cabinet and slid to the floor, his eyes fixed onmine. “I’ll take you home.” He told me. “You don’t need to be here for these petty squabbles.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I whispered.

Kaleb shook his head and laughed to himself. “I forget your kind don’t say thank you.”

I gave him a close-lipped smile before I followed the silver wolf from the room without saying goodbye to the others.

Chapter Five

Kaleb walked me to my car as I rubbed my arms, using the sensation of the hand-knitted sweater to ground me. I had so many questions. As my grandmother used to say, my curiosity was my worst quality. Along with my refusal to throw out cardboard boxes, just in case I needed them later.

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