Page 10 of A Shifter Disaster Thanksgiving

Sylvester grunted and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t trust his brother, not that he had any reason to. They might belong to the same clan, but he and Gregory had never been close, even as children. Sylvester mostly kept to himself, while Gregory had picked fights with whomever he could. And he was still the same. He was a natural-born leader, but not when it came to maintaining peace.

Again, he entertained the notion of avenging his father’s death by taking down Gregory, the man who had murdered him. It wouldn’t be easy, but he could try. He could forge a new weaponfrom the very blade that his brother had used on Malcolm and use it to slit Gregory’s throat.

But he knew he would never go through with that plan. If he murdered his brother, he would be breaking the promise both he and Gregory had made to their mother as she lay dying: Never attack each other.

Taking his brother out was not an option, no matter how much the idea appealed to him. He simply needed to find another way to get at Gregory, like exposing him and finding a way to make him admit his guilt. Sylvester swore he would never rest until their father got the justice he deserved.

“Whatever you’re thinking, you probably shouldn’t go ahead with it,” Jon said, shooting him a skeptical look.

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

“I don’t. I just know it won’t work, so why don’t you put it off until the war is over?”

Sylvester waved at Jon dismissively. “The war hasn’t even begun yet.”

“Well, it’s only a matter of time,” Jon said. “We should be expecting an attack at any moment. It could come tomorrow or in a few days.” Jon smiled. “Personally, I’d rather it came in a few days, after Thanksgiving. Quinta is already making preparations for a special dinner.” His eyes suddenly lit up as an idea occurred to him. “Why don’t you and your wife join us? Gregory could come along, too—”

“Diane and I will be happy to join you,” Sylvester said. “I doubt my brother would be interested in any celebrations with a possible war pending.”

Jon regarded him for a moment, smiled, and returned to his longsword without a word. Sylvester turned away, reaching for the weapons he’d submerged in the water. The sword and axe looked perfect. He ran his finger along the edge of one of the blades. Sharp. The image of him creeping up on Gregory andswinging it at his neck crept into his mind, but he quickly squelched it. Instead, he redirected his thoughts to Diane, wondering what she was doing at the moment.

Chapter Five

Real Housewives of Frost Mountain

Diane remained frozen to the spot at the sound of the voice. Time passed but she was barely conscious of it what with her heart pounding and her brain churning. She felt her terror grow. Who could that be?

It dawned on her then that the voice she’d heard was a woman’s. Somehow, she found that a little less terrifying. She drew a deep breath and turned around.

Sure enough, a woman stood barely ten feet away on a nearby porch, hands on her hips. The first thing Diane noticed about her was that she was beautiful. The woman looked somewhat younger than her and had silver hair that skimmed her shoulders. She was fair-skinned with kind, grey eyes that peered at her. The woman wore a brown, fur coat over black trousers.

For the next few seconds, neither of them uttered a word. Diane felt the woman’s gaze pierce right through her.

“Who are you?” the woman asked finally. Her voice was calm, but there was an undertone of danger that set off Diane’s internal alarms. “I’ve never seen you before. What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” Diane struggled to come up with an answer, but nothing was forthcoming.

“I saw you leave that cabin just now,” the woman said, pointing across the street to Sylvester’s cabin. “What were you doing in there?”

“Uh…” What was she supposed to say? That she’d come outside because she was looking for food? Right now, she had no idea who she could trust, or whether she was really safe here. For all she knew, this woman with the kind eyes could pose a serious threat to her. She’d already encountered a dragon. Perhaps thiswoman was going to turn into a wolf or something and try to eat her like the big bad wolf in “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Diane silently cursed herself. She should have stayed in the cabin like Sylvester had told her to. Her new husband had warned her that she wasn’t safe unless she was with him.

Then an idea occurred to her. “I... I, uh, I’m Diane. I’m Sylvester’s wife.”

The woman’s expression turned skeptical. “Sylvester doesn’t have a wife.”

“He does,” Diane assured her. “He asked me to be his wife, and I agreed,” she said as if it were just that simple. “He already left for the, uh, forge.”

The woman seemed to decide she was telling the truth and her features relaxed slowly. “It’s nice to meet you. I am Quinta, wife of Jon.” When Diane simply frowned, she added, “Sylvester’s friend.”

“Quinta? I’ve never heard a name like that before.”

“I’ve never heard of anyone called Diane either,” Quinta countered.

Diane smiled. “You’re right. I’ll, uh, just be heading back to the cabin.”

The woman smiled. “Why don’t you come in? I was just making preparations for our Thanksgiving dinner. It’s mostly some vegetables, but I also made some other food. You must be hungry.”

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