Page 25 of Moon Claimed
The details would remain my dark secret.
“I guess I should ask if you return his feelings?” Wade said carefully.
“No,” I spat. “He’s a monster.”
“Okay, we have that at least. I’m not gonna lie, there’s being bisexual, then there’s being in love with a Luther. There are some things the Ni Tiaki won’t accept.”
“Believe me, I know. When I found out about werewolves and the meets, I tried to stop them, but things don’t work that way, so I’m told. Sascha and I must go through each of the meets so I can deny his ass at the end.”
Wade freed his hands, running them through his blond hair. “First off, you need to know everything will be okay. I’m going to help you. Is there a reason you haven’t told anyone the truth?”
How much could I say?
Fuck it.I was in this far. “Herc is dead because he interfered with the capture meet.” I bowed my head. “I should have told Herc before Sandstone. I knew what Sascha might try in the grid, but I was so ashamed, Wade. I’d just found my family here, and I didn’t want them to hate me. Herc is dead because of me.”
Wade tugged me forward, and I pressed my face against his shoulder.
“You shouldn’t shoulder everything alone,” he whispered. “Shh, baby girl. I’m here. You’re not to blame for any of this, I swear. You came to this valley knowing nothing about their kind. Sascha Greyson took advantage of you from day one, don’t you see? There’s nothing to be ashamed about. How were you to know what he was? Our tribe can’t spout on about how much they hate the Luthers and then expect you to come running to them with this. Herc would have understood.”
But he hadn’t. What I’d done disgusted Herc through and through.
I sniffed hard. “Rhona doesn’t know.”
“And that was a hard decision you had to make for the good of the tribe, I’d expect. She’s not known for her reasoning ability.”
“Was it the right decision?”
He didn’t pause. “As long as it remains a secret, yes. She’s pepper, remember? You don’t want to get that shit in your eyes. Seasoning only.”
We were back to pepper analogies. “So after Water, Rhona has decided Sascha is besotted with me and that we should use the weakness against him in Grids. I convinced her not to share her theory with anyone.”
Wade swore under his breath. “What’s our plan? You need to remain our fearless and smart leader. That’s imperative. It sounds like we need to get rid of these meets.”
Dammit.“That’s what Sascha said.”
“When?”
Ugh.
I pulled away.“When he cornered me in the riverside apartment on Tuesday.”
Wade paled. “I’d be shaking in my fucking Doc Martins. That bitchhole is scary as shit.”
And dangerous as shit.
“What do the meets involve?” he asked.
“There’s one teensy problem with that.”
“Problems,” Wade blurted. “I love problems. They’re my favourite.”
“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.”
“Puns should be lower, in my peasant opinion.”
I sat back. “Theproblemis that it’s not normal for a wolf and human to mate. This is a first for the pack, from what I understand. Because I’m not a wolf, we haven’t completed the meet that usually comes first.”
“What happens in that one?”