Chapter 30 #2
They wanted to know how Jesse had survived. It had haunted them all, Hailey said, not knowing if Jesse had been taken alive by the monsters who’d killed the others.
“He snuck out to go exploring in the caves that night,” Karl said. “They can’t have known he was there.”
“That little menace,” Hailey said, choking on a sob. “He was even worse than Charlie at sticking his nose into everything.”
“Still is,” Karl said with a small smile. “At least, if it’s anything to do with food.”
“Well, two of my pack are headed to the nearest town,” Michael said. “They’ll find out if you’re telling the truth about all this.”
He didn’t say what he’d do if they didn’t find evidence.
“You couldn’t, I don’t know, google it?” Leon asked, and he tried, so hard, to keep the snark out of his voice. But God, were these wolves from the Stone Age or what?
“You think we’d do anything that might allow people to trace us?” Michael’s eyes were flat as he stared at Leon. Yet another of these wolves who wasn’t impressed by him.
Leon smiled as he drew his hair carefully over his shoulder, a reminder of who he was, how he looked, and how little he cared about Michael’s judgment.
Karl finally voiced the question Leon had been chewing on—why had Argents ever gone into hiding in the first place? They’d disappeared from history centuries before.
Michael gave them a brief history lesson.
Argents, he said, had always been marked out by the color of their coats.
Some shifters had claimed they were demons, shimmering silver in the moonlight.
Others just wanted rid of them, resenting the power and deference they’d once commanded.
There’d been a purge, and the books said they’d died out.
Michael’s expression turned bleak. “We didn’t,” he said. “We just ran and hid.”
Karl licked his lips before asking his next question. Either because he knew how sensitive it was, or because he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer. “There were multiple Argent packs in the old days,” he said. “Are you the only one left?”
Michael stared at him assessingly, something heavy behind his eyes. “You know, if you prove to be untrustworthy, you won’t leave here,” he said. Then added, simply, “No.” He clearly wasn’t about to risk giving away another pack’s location.
Leon found himself nodding. It made sense. A single pack wouldn’t have survived centuries in isolation without the gene pool getting dangerously tight. Which meant they must have had contact with others. Enough to survive, at least.
As Michael stood to leave, a thought occurred to Leon. “Hold on,” he said, “if you’re Argents, how come that pup’s coat isn’t silver?”
“His adult coat hasn’t grown in yet,” Hailey said, and she smiled at him, something like fondness in her face.
Maybe Karl’s heroics had bought Leon some reflected glory.
Or maybe even the most entrenched wolves couldn’t hold out forever against Leon’s perfection.
Yet something about it stuck with him. It felt… nice.
At last, they were alone. Leon had been watching Karl, seeing the subtle ways his posture had slipped from upright to strained, the way his mouth tightened when he thought no one noticed.
Healing had begun, finally, but it had a way to go.
Karl was sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand braced on the mattress.
Still upright. Still not back under the covers. A stubborn-assed miracle.
Leon leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “They’re still scared.”
“Yeah,” Karl said. “And they’ve the right to be.” He looked up at Leon. “But for what it’s worth, I don’t think they’ll stay hidden when they find out that they won’t be hunted anymore.”
“Let’s hope,” Leon said, and briefly closed his eyes because what the hell? He was wishing more wolf-shifters on the world?
Karl gave a soft huff. “Let’s hope,” he echoed. Then he moved, bracing his hands on the mattress like he was about to lever himself up.
Leon narrowed his eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”
“I want air,” Karl said. “I’m not made to lie in bed all day.”
“You’re made to be aggravating, is what you’re made to be.”
Karl was already moving, slow but determined. Leon hovered close, arms half-outstretched to catch him if needed, but Karl shot him a flat look and made it upright without help.
Leon tried to glare at him. He suspected it came out more like admiration wearing a scowl.
“You’re ridiculous,” he said, half under his breath. “Come on, honey, you should be lying down.”
Karl paused, mid-step. His gaze cut sideways.
“Honey?” he said, eyebrows raised.
Leon didn’t back down, even though the word had slipped out without conscious intention.
Even though he’d never used a pet name for anyone before, not seriously.
Never even thought he would. “I reserve the right,” he said haughtily, “to call you that any time a self-important wolf alpha gets in our business.”
Karl was smiling now. “That so?”
Leon folded his arms. “Damn right.”
They made it to the door together—Karl upright, and Leon pretending he wasn’t worried every time Karl leaned a fraction too hard on the wall.
They stood in the doorway, breathing cold, fresh air. He had no idea what came next. But apparently, they were showing up for it anyway.