Page 32 of After Darkness Falls

“No, actually. One of them helped me cross the village undetected.”

They asked her to tell, and retell, every moment of her interaction with the wolf. Chloe didn't know why, but something told her to keep Avani's name out of it. If there really was an issue between wolves and huntsmen, it wouldn't do to say who had helped her. What if Avani got told off for it?

Gwen arrived second to last, racing fast against a blonde huntsman who lost at the last second. Chloe found herself feeling rather guilty. The moment Jack had said "Go," she'd raced forward, completely forgetting about Gwen and leaving her behind.

The witch didn't seem to mind, though.

The walk back to Adairford was a lot of fun; the huntsmen were into teasing each other, punching each other, and no one excluded her or Gwen.

“Love the hair, by the way,” said one of the girls. Natalie? Something like that. “Good luck getting an ombre like that in town, though.”

Chloe laughed. Truth was, she’d had her hair cut but not colored. It grew dark at the roots, and then all its color faded, turning to dishwater blonde. Her father’s and brother’s hair was the same, but they'd both kept it short—and dark.

She didn't mind now, but as a kid, it had sucked. Children have a way of teasing each other for being different. The prom queen types had many things to say about her bad dye job until she gave up and just started to color it brown.

These days, she didn't care, and no one else seemed to either.

“That won't be a problem,” she said, pointing to her head. “Natural color.”

“Cool,” Natalie told her.

The creature watching at the edge of the Wolvswoods narrowed his eyes.

15

An Unexpected Bequest

The Snuggy Snot, the one pub in town, was a three-story building with red bricks and wooden beams—positively charming, like so many things in Oldcrest.

"Is it your first time here, Cheetah?" Jack asked as they passed the threshold and entered the warm foyer.

Chloe sighed delightfully, rubbing her poor frozen hands together.

Scotland in January, to a woman used to Louisiana, felt downright arctic.

"Yes. Won't be the last," she predicted.

Jack laughed, gesturing to the bar. "That's old Lewis Campbell, his son Joe, and his daughter Mairi. Lewis left the pack in the Wolvswoods to build this place twenty years ago. Smartest man in town. He's probably a millionaire now. It's the only place we can relax. Most of us come once a day at least."

"Nice!" She followed Jack, eager to ask her questions now that she had him to herself for a minute. "Hey, what was that about? The race. The wolves think you do it to annoy them. And you're sponsoring it yourself with a wad of cash…"

"Curiosity killed the cat," he replied.

Chloe had heard that about a billion times in her life.

She pointed to her derriere. "No tail. Come on, spill. Are you really just trying to get on their nerves?"

Jack sighed.

"Hey, Cheetah!"

Was that nickname really sticking? She hoped not.

She turned to the blonde who'd lost the race. The woman didn't seem to mind. Smiling, she asked, "What's your poison?"

"Anything on tap, please."

"Good girl!" she replied before moving on to the other runners.

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