Page 57 of Pack Kasen: Part 1

“Has Finan been spilling our secrets?”

“No,” I deny.

His lips thin. “Fine, don’t tell me then.”

He pulls me along, harder now, as if he wants me to fall. I stumble along, too surprised to care if I fell. I couldn’t have told him how I knew about the schoolroom if I wanted to. It just… slipped out.

We walk up the same steps Finan took, and into an open concept, rustic looking cabin with a massive gray stone fireplace.

My eyes go to a long, roughhewn wooden table big enough to seat twenty. I’d thought it was only men at the table, but a woman sits among them. She has a short white-blonde pixie haircut, and all appear focused on a card game.

They continue their game as the Wolf King leads me past them, but I feel their eyes linger on my back.

We pass through the open concept space.

This place is as beautiful inside as I thought it was outside.

There’s a large wall of glass that faces mountains and the creek. It’s like there’s no separation between inside and out.

As we head toward the decking outside the wall of glass, a woman on the other side of the room, in a pair of black skinny jeans and a navy T-shirt, is looking for someone. She’s doing it dramatically, peering in one corner then sighing heavily before she moves to the next.

I don’t understand why until I give the room another sweep and spot a little boy, maybe six or seven, with light brown hair and big blue eyes, hiding on one side of a large unlit fireplace. He’s clutching a lion cuddly toy almost as big as he is.

Our gazes connect, and he lifts a finger to his lips.

Hide and seek.

My eyes dart back to the woman who is slowly creeping around the room, doing a terrible job of looking for someone.

I refocus on the boy and mime zipping my mouth shut.

He flashes me a grin and I wince when the Wolf King yanks my chain.

“This way.” He continues to pull me to the sliding glass door and the decking that overlooks mountains in the distance.

As I follow him out, I feel someone staring and glance back at the table. It’s the woman with a blonde pixie haircut.

She’s holding cards in her hands, but her expression is thoughtful as she studies me.

“Aren?” a woman calls out.

“Marisa?”

A beautiful woman comes into sight, and her scent, orange and jasmine, is familiar.Her. She doesn’t look at me as she aims a bright smile at the Wolf King. “Finan was looking for you. He said something about an urgent phone call. He’s near the generator.”

The Wolf King’s expression darkens. “When will that man learn?” he mutters.

“I can watch the feral if you want?” she offers.

After the way she spoke to me before?

Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that, but I like the thought of going back to the cage even less.

The Wolf King’s hand tightens around the end of the chain, and I sense a refusal is on its way.

“I mean, unless you wanted to keep hold of the feral for another reason,” Marisa says, watching him closely.

The smile he aims at her is so false she has to see through it. And he slowly, and I think reluctantly, passes the end of my chain to the woman, not letting go until she’s gripping it. “Hold it tight,” he warns her. “Stay on the decking. I won’t be long.”

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