Maxwell was Brock’s father. I gulped, again refusing to look in his direction. This was too heavy. Too much, and I still barely knew the guy whose baby I was having.
“The gate is located on the Wild Hunter Pack land, though it’s invisible to the sight of all but a kitsune. I can feel it here, but I don’t know exactly where it is, which is why I’ve fought the wolves all this time to maintain my cabin. What little power I do wield over the land, I’ve used to ward off the creatures from the underworld. The fate of the world depends on the protective wards I’ve constructed and maintained, a duty that now falls to you.
I’m so very sorry, my precious Evie. This is more than any one person should ever have to take on. But your parents loved each other with a love so great, that there was no way to prevent your destiny.
I wish I could tell you more, but I’ve said more than I probably should have on paper. There’s a witch I trust with my life, and now yours. She’s cantankerous, untrusting, and wily as a caged beast, but I trust her. She’ll tell you more once you prove who you are. She lives deep in the Redwood forest. Her name is Willemena Worst. Send her a message through smoke, and she’ll tell you where to find her.”
Sending smoke messages was one of my few dud gifts, but not a common one among Black witches or wizards. I struggled to process all the information.
“Trust the contents of this letter to no one, except Cass. Tell no one of your true nature or your purpose, and DON’T trust the wolves at the top of the hill farther than you can spit.”
Cass beamed and Brock shifted from one foot to the other, removing his hand from my shoulder as he fidgeted, something I’d never seen the confident wolf do before today.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t leave you with better news, my Evie. I love you more than words can say, so I won’t bother. Take good care of yourself. I have all the faith in the world in you. Be sure to have faith in yourself.
Love,
Your Gran, Belinda Betty Black
P.S. Oh, and I left you a secret stash of magical potions in a hidden compartment beneath the floorboards in my bedroom.
P.P.S. Don’t bother avenging my death, assuming I was killed, or your parents’, who most certainly were. You have bigger pickles to fry now. I’ll be watching you from wherever I am, and if I can get helpful messages to you somehow, I promise I will.
P.P.P.S. Take good care of her, Cass. I know you’re probably reading over my Evie’s shoulder right now. I entrust you with her well-being, and I know you won’t let me down.”
“That’s it,” Cass concluded, the end coming too abruptly despite the length of the letter.
My eyes peered up at Cass, who for once towered over me from his position standing on the chair. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but drew a blank.
My pink-furred friend flipped the pages back and forth a few times to verify there was nothing more, but that was more than enough. “Well, that’s a motherfucking bomb of a letter, now isn’t it?” he added. “Gran never disappoints, not even when she’s dead.”
I couldn’t have said it any better.
17 Angry Alpha
I turned to Brock, who looked like he wanted to disappear. “Did you know about the gate?”
He sighed. “Yes, but I was told it was my family’s duty to protect it. That Belinda was after it, and that’s why we needed her off the land.”
I huffed. “Well, your father is a liar!”
He winced. “My father wasn’t the one who told me. I only found out about the gate when my brother took over the pack. I don’t even know where it is.”
“Oh…” I mumbled, unsure how to feel toward him. I ran a shaky hand through my long hair. “Well, I’ve gotta get in touch with this Willemena Worst character, so she can tell me more.”
Walking into my bedroom, I started packing a bag.
I was a kitsune. Gran might have been murdered. My parents were definitely murdered, and now I was the gatekeeper to the underworld? What. The. Actual. Fuck?
Breathe, just breathe.
“Umm…” Brock trailed behind me. “I’m not sure you should be traveling. Now that we know what you are, Sabine will want to run more tests, and you’re due for another blood transfusion.”
I shot Brock a glare. “No to the tests, but I’ll take the transfusion and then be on my way.” If he thought he was going to stop me from finding out more about what was going on, he was sorely mistaken.
He looked hurt, or annoyed; I couldn’t tell which. “Look, I’m sorry you found out about all of this so suddenly, but you’re carrying our child. You’re a one-of-a-kind kitsune who just had purple magic shoot out of her sword, so excuse me for being cautious.”
I sighed. “The baby will be fine. I’ll be a three hour drive away. It’s a day trip. Can I trust you to keep this cabin standing while I’m gone?” My Gran’s letter had been fraught with warnings about Brock’s pack, but I realized the second the words left my lips that I’d hurt him.
His eyes widened and his mouth pulled into a frown. Everything was worsened by the fact that he still hadn’t put on a shirt. He was like a chiseled sculpture that belonged in the Roman Forum in its glory days, not in my bedroom.
“I won’t touch your Gran’s cabin, Evie. You should know that by now.” His voice was layered with hurt.
Shit.
I crossed my arms, hurt and confused by Gran’s note. “Tell me what your business with the siren was, then.” Something didn’t add up there.
Now it all seemed interlinked, and if Gran was killed, the siren was at the top of my list of suspects. Right under… Brock. No. He shouldn’t be, should he? I gulped. He couldn’t be.
Brock’s gaze shifted over his shoulder, where Cass and Molly were eavesdropping, and pinned them with a look that surely would’ve had his less dominant wolves scurrying.
“Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of them,” I challenged.
He ran his fingers through his hair, and I just really wished he’d put on a freaking shirt.
“When my brother was in charge of the pack, he made some kind of deal with her. That she could use the gateway when the time came. At the time of some special full moon, she’d have the power to open it. When I took over, I told her that wasn’t happening, but since she did a favor for the pack, I had to offer her something in return. I made her a very generous offer in cash. She refused. Hence the business deal gone wrong, the night we met.”
My mouth dropped open as rage flooded through me. “You knew I was hunting her, and you didn’t tell me this? She probably killed Gran!”
He reeled back as if I’d slapped him. “You didn’t even know about the gateway then! It’s my family’s most treasured secret. Why would I think it was important to tell you?”
I took a deep breath. “I think you should go. I need time to digest this.”
“Fine,” he snapped, that one word taut and dangerous, his eyes burning wolf yellow. He spun on his heel and burst from the room.
Shit. I was pretty sure I’d just been an emotional asshole. Could I blame pregnancy hormones? Or that freaking letter possibly?
When the front door slammed, announcing Brock’s retreat, it rattled my bones, and I instinctively pressed a hand to my stomach. This sucked.
My body sank onto the bed, the covers puffing around me. Cass and Molly slowly made their way into my room.
“Did someone say Cali?” Molly asked in an upbeat tone that was obviously forced. But bless her for changing the subject.
I chuckled darkly, trying to put Brock, and Gran’s letter out of my mind—like there was a fat chance of that happening.
My eyes roamed the twenty-year-old up and down, from her purple hair to her sockless feet. “Hey, Cass, it’s been a while since we had an apprentice.”
He widened his stance, increasing the danger that his impy bits might fall out of Gran’s apron, and then rubbed his bare belly. “Oh yeah, not since Tag. Poor fella.”
Molly went stock still, uncaring that Tag had met an untimely demise. “OhmyGodpleaseyes.” Her words rushed together, and she bopped on the balls of her feet. “Please, please, please.”
I smiled despite the heaviness left in my heart from Gran’s letter. ‘What do you think, Cass?’ I asked mentally, so only he could hear.
He gave Molly an appraising look. ‘Hell, she’s growing on me. I must be going soft. Besides, she does have a shit-ton of supernatural knowledge. That’s bound to come in handy since you and I never spent much time on the books.’
My smile grew. “You’ll eventually have to get a ‘hunter apprentice’ license, and take a qualifying test.”
Molly was a natural choice for an apprentice bounty hunter. She was fearless, knowledgeable about the supe community, and it would get her out of Croft’s blood whore clutches, giving her a real career.
She squealed and flapped her arms around. “I’m going to faint. This is so awesome! Do I get a badge?”
“No.” Cass and I both spoke at the same time.
She frowned, and I waved her out, thankful for the chuckle when everything else had gone to shit. “Pack a bag. We’re going to see this witch,” I instructed her.
She bolted out of the room like her ass was on fire, while Cass shuffled closer to me.
“A kitsune. A gatekeeper. Are you okay?” His voice held genuine concern, and I looked up at him, offering him a weak smile.
“I’m in a bit of shock. I just want to meet this witch, and hear more about what’s going on.”
He nodded. “I get that. I want answers too, but maybe we shouldn’t be leaving this… gateway, if it’s on the property.”
I shoved my hiking boots into my bag. I had no idea if this witch’s house would be accessible by car. Most witches lived as deep in the woods as possible.
“Cass, I literally just found out about this gateway. I need to meet this witch first and learn more about being a kitsune, before I can worry about some weird gate to the underworld.”
Now that I said it aloud, a gate to the underworld sounded pretty damn serious. Exactly what kind of creatures were coming through? My brain hurt thinking about everything in that letter.
Willemena Worst.
“My gut is telling me to talk to this witch and get all the information, then make a plan,” I told him with finality.
Cass nodded. “Your gut’s never let us down before.”
“Oh, and Cass?” I peered at my bestie, as he looked up at me. “If I find out that siren killed Gran, she’s dead.”
Bounties were useless unless you delivered them alive. We’d get no payment if I killed her, but kill her I would if she was the one to end my Gran’s life.
“Understood.” Cass spun to leave the room. “And if you don’t kill her, I will,” he called over his shoulder.