Page 65 of Wolf Hunter

“I knew it.” I resume my exploration of her skin and all the soft places I planned to nibble tonight. “I knew all of this was too good to be true.”

That makes her pause, and I instantly regret making the stupid joke.

She glances away. In the sudden silence, I struggle to regain what we just had. “Is there… anything else I should know about you?” I ask cautiously.

Her gaze swings my way again. “Tons.”

“Anything that may get me killed?”

A beautiful, mischievous smile lifts her lips. “Tons.”

“Perfect. A little danger makes it more fun.”

I have a sinking feeling that I’m entering dangerous uncharted territory with Tasha. Not only with her magic, but with my heart as well.

“Reid?”

“Hmm?” I peer down at her.

“How about you take me through what happened?” she begins softly. “I mean, I understand if it’s hard for you. But it might help give me a better idea about her death. Maybe together we can answer some of your questions.”

Questions. No answers. I haven’t been able to help her find her sister and she still offers this? It means more than I can ever admit. But still, with her and my body relaxed, it feels a little safer to talk about my mother. About what I saw.

Swallowing over a giant rock in my throat, I tell her what I can. “With my father’s death, I won the mantle of alpha for this pack fairly. I saw it as a new beginning. A silver lining in an otherwise black world of crap, where each day, I woke up wondering if I’d survive. If I’d make it through. With him gone…it felt like the first step of a journey to a life I wanted. A life I made for myself.”

Tasha nods against me. “I get that.”

“Finally, the shackles dropped. Mom, my brothers, and I were all free to be who we wanted instead of what he wanted. Except… it didn’t last. We hadn’t heard from Mom for most of the morning, and Liam urged me to go out in the woods and look for her. She always found peace in her walks. That’s when I saw the smoke, and I knew something was wrong. The fire wasn’t natural, Tasha.”

“So maybe itwaswitches who killed your mother. How do you know it was the local coven?” she prompts.

Pain slashes through me at those words.Killed my mother.

“There are no other witches in the area, and it’s the only logical explanation I can think of,” I tell her.

“But the magic surrounding this place is meant to shield outsiders from getting in. Even the Buson witches,” she replies.

“True.” I never was able to figure that one out. “But still, who else could it be?”

Tasha’s nose scrunches up as she thinks. It’s an adorable look on her, some softness in the hard façade she wears so well, and the fact that she’s even trying to help me sort this out makes my chest warm. Realistically, it has nothing to do with her.

“I guess that’s a good point, but if the witches had managed to break through the wards, you have another huge problem on your hands,” she says. “What I don’t get is why your mom? She had nothing to do with the treaty, and with your father already gone, there’s no connection to him and his power. Unless her death was accidental. In the wrong place at the wrong time, kind of thing.”

She’s too clever. She’s asking all the right questions, the same ones I’ve been searching for answers for since the day my mother died. But do I tell her everything? Do I give into the comfort of her company and let her know my suspicions?

I find myself speaking the words out loud, regardless of any hesitations. “I think, honestly, it was because of my father.”

She pushes up onto an elbow to look at me fully. “Your father? What does he have to do with anything?”

“He was a notorious cheat, as I’m sure you’ve heard,” I say and she nods again. “He bedded any who would have him, and those who would not, depending on his mood. My mother was a prisoner to him, chosen by fate and forced to endure the numerous females he paraded in front of her face. If he took a lover from the local coven—”

“Jealousy,” Tasha answers.

“Exactly my thought,” I agree. “If a witch was having an affair with my father, angry when he wouldn’t leave his wife… It’s a drastic measure to take, but it explains the way I found her. It explains the absolute air of hatred I felt in the clearing. And for the longest time, I thought it was me. I thought I was just sensing my own fury at whoever had taken her from me.”

“I’m still not sure I believe you.” Tasha shifts and gathers the sheets close to cover her nakedness. “It’s quite a stretch to make, although there are a few loose ends I can’t quite piece together.”

I want to rip the damn sheet right off her and have my way with her a second time. A third and a fourth. I want a lot of things I probably should not.

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