Page 42 of Rising Reign

“So, what? You live off bunnies and stuff?” Juan asked.

“Something like that.” Rhys turned to the body. “We need to dispose of this. Any ideas?”

“We got it,” Clyde said, ambling forward. “There’s a fast-moving river a few miles out of town where we can dump him.”

“This is my mess,” Wren began.

“Girlie,” Clyde said, pinning her with a stare. “We said we had your back. Let us have it. Now, get back inside so you gots an alibi.”

I squeezed her shoulder. “It’s not a bad idea.”

It wasn’t just the supernatural world we needed to worry about. If the sheriff got wind of a murder, that could be a whole other sort of trouble. The panic was back, clawing at me. The need to get Wren back onto pack land where I could keep her safe pushed at me.

I did my best to breathe through it, but I couldn’t get myself to let Wren go. Her head tilted back, and she studied me carefully. “Are you okay?”

I jerked my head in a nod. “Fine.”

Little worry lines were carved into the spot between Wren’s brows. “Puck⁠—”

“Let’s just get through today, okay?”

She was quiet but didn’t look away, her gaze peeling back layer after layer.

I dropped my forehead to hers and breathed in the scent of wildflowers and rain. “We’ve got threats coming from all sides. My wolf’s on edge. And we’re both freaking the fuck out that we won’t be able to protect you.” And there was more. More I wasn’t ready to share. But this was enough. For now.

Wren’s fingers fisted in my shirt. “I’m fine. Look, I protected myself. And we’ll figure the rest out. One thing at a time. As long as we’re together, we can tackle anything.”

I wanted to believe her. More than anything, I wanted to believe that we would all make it through. But I wasn’t so sure she was right.

26

WREN

I kept a close eye on Puck all afternoon. The moment we came back inside, he’d donned his mask. The one of the flirty charmer. He’d laid it on thick for Ginger when she and Amos came in for date night and had gone above and beyond slinging drinks and chatting up everyone in the bar. Everyone except for me.

Annoyance and worry battled within me as I felt the distance growing. And it sure as hell didn’t help that Rhys watched the whole thing like he was taking in a tennis match. By the time our replacements came in for the dinner shift, I was cranky and more than a little pissed off.

Normally, Puck wouldn’t have let that stand. He would’ve pressed to know what was bothering me. Instead, he remained completely silent as he drove Rhys and me home.

Rhys leaned forward from the back seat, his focus moving between us like that tennis match was back in action. “Am I the only one feeling the awkwardness?”

“You’re lucky you’re not feeling my hand ripping out your heart,” Puck muttered as he hit a button to open the gate onto Arcane territory.

I turned toward the window, watching the familiar trees pass as the road curved toward the house. It only took a handful of minutes, but it felt like an eternity. The moment Puck slowed the SUV, I was out and heading for the house. As soon as I hauled the door open, the other guys and Hera were there.

Kingston looked particularly surly. “Puck said something happened. What?” he growled.

Locke moved into my space, his hand cupping my face as he swept my body to make sure I wasn’t injured. “You’re okay?”

“I’m totally fine,” I assured him.

“Then why,” Ender snarled, struggling to keep his breathing even, “is there a healing blade mark on your arm?”

A series of growls lit the air, and Brix moved to lift my arm for inspection. “This looks like it was deep.”

“Barely a scratch,” Rhys huffed.

“A deep wound because you wanted to conduct some sick experiment,” Puck snapped.