: Chapter 23

“You think Fenris has been chewing on the bodies? No way,” I said firmly.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s not that kind of werewolf. He’s nice to everyone. He likes hugging, not biting.” Way too much hugging, I thought.

Oanen quietly studied me for a long minute.

“Is your opinion based on how you feel about him?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, it is. He doesn’t make me angry. Besides Eliana, he’s one of the easiest people for me to be around.”

Oanen stepped around me and walked to the kitchen. I wasn’t stupid. I knew why.

“You know what? It’s after midnight on one of the longest days of my life. You don’t get to have hurt feelings because you’re reading something into words that have no deeper meaning than the surface.”

He stopped walking and looked back at me.

“What are you saying?”

“That we already talked about this, and I don’t want to rehash it. If you didn’t believe me the first time, saying it all again won’t change your mind. So, the only feelings I want to discuss right now are how tired and hungry I am.”

“I wasn’t walking away because of what you said. I believe you and trust your instincts. Fenris isn’t the one eating human flesh. But, with him missing, the females will be running around the woods looking for him. That means I need to go back and watch the body.”

Females? There was only one who kept knocking on my damn door. A door not far from the dump site.

“You want to go alone?” I asked, unsure.

“I wouldn’t mind company. Still want to snack?”

“No. I want to catch Aubrey red-handed,” I said.

“It might not be Aubrey.”

“What other reason is there for my anger every time she’s around?”

“I’m not sure.”

He motioned for me to follow him into the kitchen then held the back door for me.

“I’ll leave my clothes in here, again.”

I took the hint and stepped outside. Alone in the backyard, I watched the stars and listened for the door to open. He didn’t take long. Not wanting to turn too soon, I stayed as I was until something nipped at my finger, startling me.

I turned and found Oanen already shifted. His feathers glinted in the moonlight, as did his beautiful golden eyes.

“Ready?” I asked.

He dipped his shoulder, and I climbed on his back. In no time, we once again soared the skies, flying toward the clearing. When we reached it, nothing looked different. Below us lay the remains of the drug dealer.

He circled, lazily spiraling downward. As he glided, a pale shape slunk from the trees. The familiar rage that I associated with Aubrey flared up inside me.

“I knew it,” I said softly. “That’s Aubrey.”

Yet part of me wondered why I needed to feel so much anger toward her. The man was already dead. She hadn’t caused it. Not that I agreed with eating humans, but was it fair to want to beat her bloody for instincts she probably couldn’t control? I thought of Eliana’s struggle to contain what she didn’t like about herself. She fought her instincts constantly.

Any pity I had for Aubrey disappeared as she dove for the man’s open middle. I gagged as she dipped her head inside and started devouring his soft bits. She wasn’t attempting to control anything. She was gorging herself.

“Oh, that’s so gross.”

Oanen screeched loudly and tipped forward, descending rapidly. I clung tightly to his feathers and watched Aubrey’s head jerk up at the sound of his cry.

She snarled but didn’t run or back away. Instead, she hunched over the drug dealer like she was guarding a treat.

Oanen landed with a hard thump that clacked my teeth together and almost jarred me from my seat. A nearby snarl had me looking up in time to see Aubrey launch herself at us. My heart thudded with adrenaline, and I embraced the rage that filled me. Before I could slide off to face her, Oanen reared back, almost unseating me again.

I gripped his feathers as he swiped at her with his front talons. She hopped back but didn’t give up. Darting forward again, she went for his throat. Oanen moved to dodge her and used his talons once more. The vicious tips caught her hindquarters, ripping a swath of red into her fluffy white coat. She yelped and rolled away.

Oanen dipped his shoulder, indicating I could finally get off. The wrong shoulder, though. I didn’t want to hide by the trees. Ignoring the direction he wanted me to go, I tried to dismount toward Aubrey. However, Oanen tilted his shoulders so I slid off the opposite side.

Aubrey had regained her feet by the time I landed on mine. But instead of facing me, she twisted around to look at her wound. She gave it a tentative lick and whined before turning on Oanen with another snarl. Bloody saliva dripped from her stiff, angry mouth.

I took a step to the side, ready to go around Oanen, but he half-opened his wings, blocking me. Aubrey’s gaze finally darted my way. Oanen’s feathers ruffled, making him look bigger and scarier. The deep, threatening cry he emitted at her made me shiver.

Aubrey didn’t try attacking again. With a stagger, her fur receded until she stood before us naked, bleeding, and filthy.

“Did you leave this here?” she demanded, glaring at me.

Oanen shifted quickly and lurched forward, grabbing Aubrey by the throat.

“Is this the first time you’ve fed on a human?” Rage filled his words.

Stunned, I did nothing as Aubrey pulled ineffectively at his hands and made a strangled sound in answer. He lifted her off her feet in response and gave her a little shake.

“Is this the first time?” he yelled at her.

Her eyes darted to me before a choked yes came out of her.

“I don’t believe you.” He dropped her.

Aubrey landed on the ground in a heap, favoring her wounded leg. Moonlight glinted off her pale hair and exposed breasts as she looked up at Oanen. A tiny part of my mind hated that they were seeing each other naked.

“Report to Raiden and tell him everything. He’ll know if you lie. Go!” he yelled when she didn’t immediately move.

She hopped to her feet and limped off into the trees. I stayed where I was, letting my anger fade slowly with her retreat.

Once I knew she was gone, I looked at Oanen’s back. Wisps of steam rose from his skin, and his shoulders moved with each angry breath as he continued to watch the trees where she’d disappeared. I wasn’t sure what to do. I hadn’t expected such a violent reaction out of him. He’d always been so controlled.

“Are you okay?” I asked when he continued to face away from me.

“No.”

That single word sent a bolt of panic through me, and I rushed around him.

“Did she hurt you?” My gaze swept over him from head to toe, more worried about a potential injury than modesty. However, seeing the unmarred perfection of everything Oanen erased my concern. It erased everything but yum-yum thoughts.

“Megan,” he said with impatience, and I realized it wasn’t the first time he’d had to say my name.

I tore my gaze from his abs and met his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sure. Fine. Why?”

“You look flushed.”

“Nope.” My gaze remained laser-focused on his. “Just confused. You were pretty aggressive with Aubrey.”

“Shouldn’t I have been?”

“I don’t know. I mean, my anger says yes, but my brain is questioning why I’m so angry with her. She didn’t kill this guy. We know that. Yeah, she ate him, but I think Trammer put the guy here to bait her or someone like her. I don’t know much about werewolves, but I do know that if you leave out food around a dog, it’s going to be eaten. We all have instincts we’re fighting to control. I suck at controlling mine. Is it fair for me to condemn Aubrey when she can’t control hers?”

“This is more than just punching someone in the face. This is about eating humans. We can feed on their energy, on their blood, even on their life force, but we cannot feed on their flesh. Seeing her, I snapped. What she did not only goes against my nature, but it’s against our laws, too. We can no longer delay reporting this.”

Without another word, he shifted back to his griffin form. I smoothed my hand over his neck feathers and climbed on. I hoped he didn’t think I’d been justifying Aubrey’s actions. I hadn’t. I was empathizing with them.

The flight to Oanen’s house took longer than I anticipated. My fingers were numb by the time he landed on the roof of the stone mansion. Dismounting, I paid more attention to the glass greenhouse that took up half the space than bare Oanen.

“Dad built this so Mom could watch me learn to fly.”

“Your Mom doesn’t fly?”

“There’s no such thing as a female griffin,” he said with an amused smile.

“Hey. How am I supposed to know?”

“Come on.” He clasped my cold hand, and I enjoyed the warm contact as he led me inside the greenhouse. He stopped at the shelves near the back of it and quickly dressed before opening the door that led down a set of stairs.

I shivered slightly at the sudden change in temperature and rubbed my arms. At the bottom of the steps, Oanen tapped the digital display mounted on the wall.

“Mother. Father. Please meet me in the study,” he said, his voice echoing from different locations around the house. He tapped the screen again and started walking.

“Your house has a freaking intercom?”

“Yes. Yelling for me wasn’t cutting it. Mom wanted it installed. Dad made it happen.”

He led the way down the hall, another set of stairs, turned right, and opened a set of heavy double doors to a very manly, grand room that only vaguely looked study-ish because of a mahogany desk in the back corner near the balcony doors.

“This place is ridiculous,” I said quietly, looking around.

“Yep. It is. Family homes usually are around here. Are you still hungry? I can get you something.”

“No. I’m fine.” I wandered to one of the overstuffed leather chairs and took a seat.

When I glanced at the door, I found Oanen’s parents there, dressed as if it weren’t close to two in the morning but mid-afternoon. Neither one said anything as they studied me. Crap. I stood again. How much had they heard?

“Hello,” I said, unsure.

“Megan. Oanen. What’s going on?” his mom asked.

“Quite a bit. You might want to contact Adira as we explain.” His father pulled his phone from his pocket and sent off a quick text as Oanen recounted what we’d witnessed in the last few hours.

“Where is Aubrey now?” Mr. Quill asked.

“I sent her to report to Raiden.”

Oanen’s mom walked further into the room. She kissed Oanen on the cheek then turned to me.

“Megan, please sit. Can I get you anything while we wait for Adira?”

“No, thank you.” I sat, feeling more than a little nervous. Oanen moved next to me, sitting on the arm of my chair. Surprisingly, the move made me feel better instead of more freaked out.

Oanen’s father slowly joined us, his attention on the text message he was typing into his phone. When he looked up, he let out a heavy exhale.

“Adira is bringing Raiden.”

“Raiden?” I asked. “Why not Trammer?” The guy was running around killing people, and we’d witnessed it. What more proof did they need?

Oanen’s mom reached out and put her hand on mine. A soothing calm filled me. Not quite like what Eliana did but close.

“All will be well. We will address Trammer’s crimes. However, he is not the greatest threat at the moment.”

“How is he not? Just because humans are his victims and not us?” I only barely managed to keep the resentment from my tone.

Eliana shuffled into the room, rubbing her eyes. “Trammer’s killing people?”

“And Aubrey’s eating them,” Oanen added.

His mom didn’t look away from me.

“There is a reason consuming flesh is against our laws. It changes the nature of the creature. Makes them more violent. Makes them crave more at any cost. Even at the risk of exposing our world to the humans. For most of us, ingesting flesh holds no appeal. No temptation.

“That is not true for some, though. We need to ensure Aubrey is the only one to have succumbed and is dealt with appropriately, so her actions do not tempt others to do the same.”

I understood what Mrs. Quill was politely saying. They needed to get to Aubrey so she didn’t spread her brand of crazy. It might be a little late for that, given how long ago the first body was found, but I kept that bit of criticism to myself.

Oanen’s mom’s eyes sparkled with amusement almost as if she knew what I’d just thought. I gently eased my hand out from hers, and she smiled.

Eliana came over and sat on the other arm of my chair. Oanen’s mom reached out and ran a soothing hand down Eliana’s bare arm.

“You should sleep, dear one,” Mrs. Quill said.

They might not be mother and daughter by blood, but I could see the true affection Mrs. Quill had for her ward.

“I’m okay. I want to know what happens.”

A shiny portal opened near the door, drawing our attention. Adira and Raiden stepped through. The older man’s hard, silver gaze swept the room and landed on me.

“Are you sure it was Aubrey?” Raiden asked without preamble.

“Yes,” I said before Oanen could. “I recognized her white fur when she was a wolf and saw her as a human, as well.”

Raiden’s shoulder seemed to sag just a bit.

“We need to know if this was her first time,” Mr. Quill said. “Or if there are others responsible for the prior incidents.”

“Agreed,” Raiden said.

“How was she missed when you questioned the pack?” Mrs. Quill asked without censure.

“I didn’t question the young without the mark since the human was killed outside Uttira. Now that we know what Trammer was doing, I will question them all.”

“Good. Perhaps you should issue a ban on solo runs while this is unresolved. If any others have had a taste of flesh, we don’t want them hunting for more of it,” Mr. Quill said.

Raiden gave a curt nod, and Oanen’s father looked at Adira.

“Given the number of deaths, I feel it’s unwise to wait until morning to question Trammer.”

“I agree,” Adira said.

“Agreed,” Raiden added. “I believe my presence isn’t as necessary here as it is with the pack now. With your agreement, I will return and start seeking answers from my own while you direct the interview with the liaison.”

Mr. Quill nodded to him, and Raiden stepped back through the portal.

“I will return shortly,” Adira said then disappeared.