Chapter 16
Eran
Canton Valley Farm
Most shifters weren’t modest, but I did stop and put my clothes on before leaving the bedroom. If it came down to a fight, I at least wanted my balls tucked away before the world exploded.
“What do you think is going on?” Vatten asked me, stepping into his own pants.
“No fucking clue, but it doesn’t sound good. Diamond Moonscale wouldn’t bellow like that for no reason. She’s not squeamish. Either the storm got someone or—Something. I don’t know,” I said and hated that I couldn’t reassure my mate that everything was okay.
Together we ran down the hallway toward the chaotic chatter of the group.
I made out words like ‘massacre’ and ‘corpse’ and ‘heart.’ None of them were very promising of it merely being a horse caught in a tornado or something like that.
Instead of heading straight for the group gathered by the ladder I spotted my family with the littles all around them and headed that way.
If something was wrong at one exit, we were meant to move along to the next one.
Except most people were crowded around the ladder as if they were willing participants in some humanoid traffic jam.
“What’s up?” I asked, looking toward my sire.
“Dead bodies,” Jacand said before anyone else could answer. “Someone arranged them in a heart shape.”
“Shh!” our carrier shushed him, but the littles were already asking questions.
“I think we’re going to go down a few and slip out that way,” I said, taking Vatten’s hand in mine.
Only he slipped away before my parents could tell me it was a bad idea to take off on our own.
He headed toward the ladder where Bellamy was holding tight to Gooseberry’s collar as he barked up the ladder.
I couldn’t quite make out what the puppy was going on about.
The difference between dog shifter and non-shifter was a dialect I never really wrapped my head around fully.
Whatever he was saying, though, Gooseberry was not a happy puppy.
“He says the scary lady was up there,” Vatten said in Philip and Canton’s general direction. “The scary lady was around earlier. Freaking scary lady! I’ll eat—” Vatten stopped translating for a minute. “He won’t let her eat anyone down here.”
“It has to be Sharon, right?” Bellamy asked. “You,” he looked at Philip, “said that the other woman couldn’t get out.”
“This isn’t Philip’s fault,” Cypress cut into the conversation and I pushed my way through the crowd to get over to my mate. If Bellamy and Cypress came to blows from the stress of the situation, I didn’t want Vatten anywhere near that.
“This isn’t any of our faults!” Canton said, raising his voice above the increasing chaos.
“Look, if you live on the farm, you’re going to follow Brent out that way.
You’re going to go home and stay home or at least away from this area.
You’re not going to be alone. You’re not going to turn off your security systems because they make weird noises.
You’re going to text the group chat if something is amiss and only if something is amiss. ”
“Why do people who don’t live here get to stay?” someone asked.
“They don’t. You’re just leaving first, sweetheart, because they have further to go,” Canton said, softening his tone. The speaker was one of Brynn’s teenage daughters. “Go with Brent. He’ll get you.”
Gooseberry continued to howl. Vatten sat on the floor against the wall, trying to calm the puppy down to little avail. Canton waited until the first group was gone before saying anything else.
Philip beckoned me with a finger through the crowd. I glanced around sure he was waving to someone else because I wasn’t going anywhere until Vatten was ready to leave.
“Gonna need your help or at least you’re gonna want to stick around,” Philip said, adjusting his hat. “Gonna take the pup around to see what he sees or smells or whatever he knows. The spells on that page were holding strong. If she’s getting out, she’s smarter than we think.”
I glanced around for Bernard and Nashen but they had left with the group of folks who lived here.
“Don’t worry about them,” Philip shook his head. “They’ve survived this long living with it. Pras has a handle on it but like most alphas from back then they underestimate not only omegas but also women. His head’s so big from savin’ the flight that he thinks he can’t fuck up.”
“And that’s when you fuck up,” I nodded, finishing the bear’s thought for him.
We waited with Canton and Bellamy while Philip walked those who lived off the farm through the winding passageways of the Burrow to the closest exit to where most of them would’ve parked. I hoped no one pulled a dipshit move and smashed into my truck.
I slid down the wall and wrapped an arm around Vatten’s shoulder.
Gooseberry was now sitting on Marabell, Tarabell, and their little brother.
The girls had shifted into rabbit form and were hiding under him.
Canton scooped them up one at a time and stuck them into Bellamy’s shirt pockets before fishing out the wolf pup.
Gooseberry stood up to follow Bellamy down another passageway, the one I thought led straight to Canton’s house, but Canton called him to heel.
Gooseberry glanced at Vatten whose eyebrows shot high on his head.
The puppy wagged his tail. I wasn’t sure exactly how it was communicated but I was pretty sure Vatten told him that we were going to hunt the bad lady.
“He’s going to gobble her up!” Vatten laughed and pulled the overgrown puppy in for a hug.
I hoped Gooseberry could gobble up ghosts because it would save us all a lot of trouble.