Alpha Hayley's Destined Mate novel · Chapter 23 of 32
Chapter 23: Walked Away
The pack pushed up behind me to see.
Somebody gagged at the smell and turned away.
I made myself step inside.
Under the feeding hatch, on the dirt, lay a dented steel canteen with its cap off.
I crouched and smelled the mouth of it without touching it.
Silver, dissolved in water, so strong it stung the back of my throat.
And under the silver, faint and clean, the smell of lemon bar cleaner.
Somebody had wiped it down at my own bar.
"Hayley." Myra's voice was tight behind me. "Hay, come out of there. Look at the door."
I came out.
She was standing by the steel door, and so was half the front row.
They weren't looking at the canteen. They were breathing the door.
I breathed it too.
Cedar and engine oil and cold mountain water.
It was all over the hatch, and all over the handle.
It was fresh. It was a few hours old at most.
"Ossler," somebody said.
Then everybody said it.
"The Ossler was here last night."
"He shut the rogue's mouth before it could talk."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Alpha Hayley's Destined Mate are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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