Page 146 of Conner's Luna

I tune Velia out a little. My fear when I thought I lost the diary makes me skip right to the last page. I hate skipping pages. It rubs me the wrong way, but I want to know ifBisabuelaCharlotte gave me a nice synopsis of the diary. Wouldn't that be nice?

I stare at the words on the page, carefully decipheringBisabuelaCharlotte's loopy handwriting, then translating it all to English.

The greatest threat in all the world is the eldest. More than wolves, definitely. More than witches. More than demons.

Oof. Demons.

She is the biggest- no, that's not quite right -most serious -maybe- killer the world has ever known, but no one will ever truly know, will they? I only hope that we never run afoul of the Sea. And that the wolves who insulted Tía will never, ever return here.

Welp. Uncle-alpha Alex already did that, so...

Wolves. Dogs, more like, and the eldest loathes them because of Daryle, but I suppose they can be redeemed? Only by my family, and who among my nieces will ever fall in love with a dog?

"What is that?" Velia asks.

Startled, I try to look nonchalant. "My Great-Grandmother Charlotte's diary. It's fascinating, but in Spanish," I hurry to add when Velia leans over me to look closer.

I hold my breath, hoping she doesn't recognize the Spanish word for 'dog,' but she just shrugs her shoulders. "Give it to one of the LoboGris. They can translate it. Well, ask one of the females. I wouldn't trust most of the males to be able to read any language."

I hide the diary under my pillow. It sounds like only I can redeem a wolf. Good thing I have a conveniently sexy one.

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Conner

I answer my cell with one hand, steering my truck down the highway toward C State at 90 miles per hour with the other.

"Yo," I greet my little sister.

"Just want you to know that Bailey is totally amazing and don't fuck it up,"Velia says cheerfully.

I grunt, my hands slick with sweat. I'm male enough to admit that the news of a dead body in Bailey's old house has terrified me on an instinctual level. That was her den just hours ago. My wolf is completely on-edge, ready for anything, especially if it involves hurting whoever wanted to hurt his female.

"That's it? Really? Anyway, Mom invited her to dinner tomorrow. I'm leaving Bailey's house now, so-"

"-No," I croak. Velia pauses. I clear my throat, "who is guarding her?"

"Half the pack. Seriously. Even Uncle Alex is outside. It's adorable how she doesn't know about it, either."

"Make sure they all know to stay there. No one goes home tonight," I command.

I can hear her roll her eyes."No one is letting Bailey get hurt. Not after..."her voice trails off.

"Lydia flaked out and betrayed me? Don't try to protect me from that shit. Murders have started stacking up, Velia. Protect my mate, yeah?" I snap.

I hear a sniffle."You called her your mate,"she whispers.

The tiniest flame of warmth flickers to life. My wolf settles, just a bit. Calling Bailey 'ours' comes so naturally that he doesn't even question it.

---

Bailey's former house is crawling with wolves. RedMoon, ClearHowl, I think I spot some LoboGris and a few others, too. I throw my truck in park and approach, knocking a few shoulders aside as I walk inside the house that just hours ago, my girl was living in. Immediately, I see Uncle Devel's entire team milling around.

"The fuck?" I mutter to the closest wolf, Sam. He used to be muscle for Uncle Dev, but ever since he hooked up with some human female, he's taken to processing scenes for the team.

"Female's been id'd as Nicole Dean," he replies in a short, clipped tone. "Time of death is less than four hours ago. Body was moved here post-mortem. First scene is unknown."

The name rings a bell. It hits me and I swear softly, searching for my uncle. I find him in front of the body, standing next to a glowering Sarj.

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