Page 16 of Cast in Shadow
I made it to the foot of the porch before the front door flew open, and a fiery woman with gorgeous cinnamon hair stepped out with a shotgun aimed at my chest.
“You are trespassing on private property. Get lost or get shot.” Power rolled over me with the words, and all at once, I understood why she’d secluded herself out in the woods.
“You’re an alpha,” I said, holding my hands up to show her I wasn’t armed.
Her eyes narrowed. “And you’re a witch.” She sniffed the air, inhaling deeply. A new emotion flickered across her face before it hardened again. “An old witch who doesn’t look old.”
I gave her a little shrug. “You don’t exactly look like grandmother material to me.” The scowl twisting her mouth and pinching her brow aged her some, but she still could have passed for a woman in her mid-thirties.
The average lifespan of any magical being was a hard thing to pin down, and it varied with the species. Wolves could outlive humans by double on the high end. Bears weren’t quite that lucky, but despite their animal’s size, they were still more likely to break the century barrier than a human.
The barrel of the shotgun dipped a little, and her features softened. “Did Naomi send you?”
“Put down the gun and we can talk about it.”
“Talk first,” she said, raising it again.
I motioned to the Jeep, glancing over my shoulder. “I have a file in there. Mind if I get it?”
“I do mind. You’ve got three seconds to tell me why the hell you’re here before I riddle your body with birdshot.”
Ouch.Birdshot from that distance would embed small projectiles through my entire body, head to toe. It was a viciousway to get rid of trespassers, but I supposed it wasn’t necessarily fatal.
I rubbed my hands over my face before leveling her with a tired stare. “My team tried to extract Naomi from her pack after we got word that she was being abused. The alpha sent his people after them, and she slipped away in the chaos.”
The worry in her expression warred with the anger simmering beneath it, but she held that damned gun in hands that were as steady as ever. “She was abused?” Her already husky voice took on an unnatural rumble.
I had to be careful with this. It was one thing to deal with a domestic shifter who felt secure in her pack and home. Bridget was a lone wolf. A female alpha who’d cut herself off from the rest of her people. And from the look of it, she was just this side of feral.
“You suspected what she was when she was younger, didn’t you?”
She stared at me, giving nothing away.
“We found the letter you wrote to her. She kept it. That’s why we think she’s headed here.” I tipped my head back toward the Jeep again. “I can show you, if you like.”
The shotgun stayed exactly as it was for another beat before she let the barrel dip a few inches. “Fine, but if I get a whiff that you’re up to something, I’ll bury you behind this cabin with the other idiots who made the mistake of crossing me.”
“Cheerful,” I said, filing away the information about those potential dead bodies for another time.
The woman had a right to defend herself on her own property. As long as that was how things had gone down, I wouldn’t be the one to turn her in.
I moved slowly, keeping my hands where she could see them until I got to the passenger door. “I’m going to open the doorand grab the file off the seat, then I’ll hold it up over my head where you can see it and shut the door. Okay?”
She motioned with the shotgun. “Get on with it.”
I grabbed the file, made my way back to her, and tossed the folder at her feet. “I’ll wait.”
“One false move, witch…”
“And you’ll blow my head off. I get it. Threat received.”
She glared at me, the corner of her lips twitching up. “You’re not afraid of me.”
“No reflection on you. I’ve just seen enough that not much scares me anymore.”
“Hmm.” She studied me until I dropped my gaze to the folder on the porch, and she let out a huff.
The power inside me wanted to take up the challenge she was issuing with that huff, but respect was the best way to ensure her help. Since she was our only real lead for finding her granddaughter and getting her to safety, I kept my eyes on the folder. “Let me know if you have questions.”
