Page 74 of Wolf Hunter

I shrug off the overly long pause. “I am just trying to understand.”

“You seem to be quite focused on it,” a woman with frizzy lavender hair puts in with a laugh. “Are you thinking of rejoining the coven? Using your magic again?”

“Oh, hell no,” I reply a little too sharply.

Whispers and comments rush through the room like a breeze before an oncoming thunderstorm.

“Sorry,” I try again, a bit easier. “I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

Or ever.

“How about you tell us what happened once the alpha caught you.” Mae places her hands serenely on her lap. “We were worried. It took you much longer than expected based on your past… victories, I’ll say. What went on, exactly?”

They were so worried they sent a warning spell to get me to move my ass. Almost as effective as a literal fire.

“I’m sure you were,” I say with a sweet smile, the greatest weapon in my arsenal at the moment.

“Tell us, then,” another woman urges. “How did it happen? How did you manage to take down the alpha?”

My stomach begins to knot up. This is most definitely not good. I drew too much attention to myself. “Have I done something wrong, ladies?”

The rest of the coven had scattered when Reid and I attacked each other, with the wolves chasing them from the clearing. None of them saw anything. They certainly didn’t see him take me down with a bite.

This is my stage to set. So why does it feel like the temperature inside the room has dropped by fifty degrees? A cold numbness sweeps over my face, and I try to ignore the chill that slicks the hairs on the back of my neck.

My gaze sweeps over each of them, trying to get a read on their expressions but failing. “It went well. We fought a bit, he captured me. I bided my time, waited for the perfect moment, and then took him out.”

Vague and partly true.

Maybe if I keep things as close to the truth as possible, it’ll be okay. But the way they’re looking at me… The way they all seem to crowd closer until I feel cornered, trapped… It’s not reassuring at all.

I swallow, but my throat muscles don’t seem to be working properly.

“How did you do it?” The same questionagain; this time, from lavender hair.

Doggy style. Missionary. Howdidn’twe do it?

Holy shit. Get it together, Tash.

I cough to hide my embarrassment. “A blow to the head,” I reply. “He went down instantly when he wasn’t expecting it. Right when he dropped his guard, I ended him.”

“Seems like such a man like Alpha Holden would put up much more of a fight. He trusted you enough to let you close?” Mae asks.

“He did. I only had to play the part.” With all this prying, I haven’t gotten what I really want to know, like about Reid’s mother. Mae expertly dodged that one. So how to work it back into conversation? Do I just blurt it out and throw it to the wind?

“Now, about Edmund Holden’s mate—”

“Grab her.”

The command shoots across my skin like the blast from a shotgun. In an instant, two witches have me by the arms and haul me over the back of the couch.

ChapterTwenty-One

Tasha

“What the fuck?” I kick out to loosen their grip as the entire coven swarms me. “What are you doing?”

Mae takes her time standing and brushes her hand down the front of her skirt to smooth away any wrinkles. “It seems to me there are certain aspects of this that aren’t adding up. You were gone for much longer than any of us anticipated, Miss Ward.”

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