She Killed Me Once, So This Time the Whole Pack Is Watching novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Gloves in July

At the family supper Linnet digs her claws into Rosalind under the table, then tells her plainly in the hall what she will do at midnight, and an elder hears every word.

"Tobin, the cabinet holds silver," I said. "She is a wolf."

"She wore gloves," he said. "She isn't stupid."

I shut my eyes.

Bram's hand closed on my shoulder.

"Go home, Tobin," he said. "We'll come to supper."

Tobin stared at him.

"You'll what?"

"It's the night before the ceremony. The Greers are hosting the Alpha's son. I'll bring an elder as a guest."

"Mother will be thrilled," Tobin said slowly, and he meant it.

He left.

I turned to Bram.

"You'll bring an elder to supper."

"The east lodge elder owes my father a favor and has never liked your mother's cooking." His mouth moved. "He'll come."

The dining room at the Greer house had been set with the good plates.

Mother met us at the door in her pearl earrings and kissed Bram on both cheeks.

She looked at me last.

"I'm so glad you're home, darling."

"I'm so glad you invited us," I said.

She smiled at the elder, took his coat and led us to the table.

Father sat at the head of it with the carving knife already in hand.

Tobin sat on his right.

Linnet came in last, in a long blue dress, her eyes red from crying.

Both her hands were in black leather gloves that stopped at her wrists.

It was July.

I watched her pick up her fork. She held it perfectly.

"Your hands are cold, Linnet?" the elder asked, politely.

"They always are, lately," Mother said at once. "The healer says it's her nerves."

"What a shame," said the elder.

Father carved. Bram talked about cedar. Tobin laughed in the right places.

Under the table, Linnet's foot pressed hard against mine.

I looked down.

Her claws had come through the fingertips of the glove, and they were scraping my shin.

She was smiling at Bram and passing him the bread.

I moved my leg. She followed it.

I put my fork down and said, very clearly, "Linnet is pressing her claws into my leg."

Mother's head turned.

Linnet's hand was in her lap and the claws were gone before Father looked up.

"What?" said Father.

"Under the table. She has been doing it since the soup."

"Rosalind," said Mother.

"Linnet, show us your hands."

"I'm not doing anything." Linnet's voice cracked. "Mom, I'm not doing anything."

"Enough," Father said. He set down the knife. "You come home from the Keller lodge with that attitude and start accusing your sister at my table the night before your own ceremony."

"I want her to take off the gloves."

"You will apologize."

"For what?"

"For upsetting her. You know how she gets." He pointed the carving fork at me. "Apologize now, or you don't stand in the moon hall tomorrow."

Bram's chair scraped back.

"The ceremony isn't yours to bar her from," he said. "It's the Alpha's."

"I'll speak to the Alpha myself."

"Please do," Bram said.

Mother laid her hand on Father's arm.

"Let her do it privately," she said. "Rosalind, take Linnet into the hall. Say you're sorry and let's finish dinner."

"Yes," I said.

Bram looked at me.

I gave him the smallest nod.

I got up and held out my hand.

Linnet didn't take it. She walked past me into the hall.

I followed, and the elder stood and said, "Excuse me, I'd like to see the family portraits on the stairs," and followed us too.

The hall was dim. There was one lamp.

Linnet stopped under it.

She turned around.

Her face had changed. The tears were gone, and her eyes had no blur in them at all.

She looked clear and calm.

"You got out of the house today," she said quietly. "That was clever."

"I'm not sorry, Linnet."

"I don't want you to be." She tilted her head. "I want you to wear the gown tomorrow."

My skin went tight.

"Mother will make me finish repairing it," she said. "I'll sew every stitch myself, so it's ready for you. Then tonight I'll come and tell you how it looks."

"Come and tell me tonight?"

"Midnight," she said, almost gently. "Your door is never locked. It's a shame about the gown. You'll want to be buried in it."

On the stair above us, the elder cleared his throat.

Linnet's head turned.

He was standing on the fourth step with a portrait lamp in his hand, and he had stopped pretending to look at the paintings.

"Say that again," he said.

Her mouth opened.

I watched her face go through three things, one after another.

Then her knees folded, and she sank to the floor, and she began to cry.

"I don't know what I said," she sobbed. "I was having an episode. I'm so sorry. Please don't tell Father."

The elder came down the stairs one step at a time.

He looked at her for a long moment, and then he looked at me.

"I heard every word of it," he said. "So will the Alpha."

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