Kissed by Claw and Fang novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Envelope

"Elder," Rhys said, in a voice I had not heard from him before. "Leave it."

"The girl bears the Ashgrave blood."

"She was kissed by an Ashgrave an hour ago," Rhys said flatly. "You can smell the whole thing on her."

It was a lie, and a good one.

Some of the pack laughed uncertainly.

The old man did not.

He stared at me with his cloudy eyes, and the fire popped, and no one moved.

"Hmm," the elder said at last, and turned away.

Rhys took my elbow and walked me to the truck, fast.

His mother watched us all the way across the clearing with her hand over her mouth.

He did not talk during the drive back.

His knuckles were white on the wheel, and his jaw worked.

I had never seen him quiet before, and I did not like it.

At the carriage house, he parked in the dark under the pines and said, "Wait here. I need to get something."

He got out and jogged around to the back of the truck.

My phone was dead, so I opened the glove box to look for his charger.

Under a tire gauge and a half-eaten granola bar lay a thick cream-colored envelope.

It was sealed with black wax stamped with a snarling wolf's head.

I should have put it back.

I want to be honest about that.

The front said one thing, in thick slanting ink.

RHYS. BEFORE SHE TURNS NINETEEN.

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