Page 178 of Moon Claimed

Because it definitely did with what we were giving off.

I glanced down. “I’m naked.”

Leroy shrugged. “Normal here.”

Sascha strode to a wardrobe and tossed me sweatpants and a huge shirt. The sweatpants didn’t work, so I shrugged on the shirt and followed Leroy out, Sascha at my back.

I looked from Ella F to the grey-haired marshal just beyond. “Pascal. What are you doing here?”

She’d turned from her vigil over the harvest fields visible in the distance. “Andie, how are you?”

“Alive. How is the tribe?”

“Alive.”

My heart sank. “Is Wade okay? And Cameron.” She’d spoken for me—who knew what Rhona might do to her.

“Wade is awake and healing in your cabin. He asked me to convey that he’ll bring over your things when he’s up and about. He’s very unhappy with how you were treated.”

I waved a hand. “Cam?”

“She’s fine. Rhona’s battle was with you.”

I paused. “Is she okay?”

“Rhona hasn’t been okay for a long time.”

A sigh left my lips. “Thanks for bringing my car.”

“I thought it best before angry tribe members got a hold of it. I wanted to come to explain a few things that may be unclear.”

She glanced at Sascha and Leroy. “If I may?”

Sascha’s eyes skirted her frame. “Don’t upset her, marshal. She’s dealt with enough from your kind to last a lifetime.”

“To my memory, both sides attacked her,” Pascal replied.

Stepping between them, I gestured to the stream. Not that every pack member wouldn’t listen in.

We walked to the water side by side.

“Is there more to what happened with Murphy?” I asked.

She smiled. “I’ve become rather a good liar after all this time, but you inherited Herc’s uncanny knack for sniffing out the truth. Something Rhona unfortunately inherited without the reasoning ability.”

I slid a look at her. “That’s your head steward, Pascal.”

“Your loyalty though. That’s all Charise. Neither Savannah and Herc possessed much of that.”

A bench faced the stream. The overhead sun gave it a golden hue that was so at odds with how cold I felt.

“Tell me.” I sat.

She joined me, fixing her unseeing gaze on the water. “My story happens before what happened with Murphy. I met a Luther during Grids forty years ago and something happened to us. It continued to happen to us, though neither of us wanted it.”

My mouth dried.

She stole a look at me. “The mating call.”