Chapter 9

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"Leonardo," I say, my tone clipped.

"Your, um," He gestures to underneath my eye. "It's bleeding."

"Yeah, it does that sometimes," I say, not making any attempt to wipe the blood off.

"I can take you to a healer," He offers quickly.

"I'm fine."

He still looks concerned, and hesitates. "I didn't see you, after, you know..."

I quirk an eyebrow. "After I rejected you as my mate? In case if you didn't know, Leo, I'm a Seer. If I wanted to see you, I would have."

A look of surprise flashes across his face, before it's replaced with remorse. "I'm sorry, you know," He says quietly. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt."

I laugh coldly. "And yet, somehow, I'm the only one who did."

Leo cringes, and it hurts how much the person who hurt me feels like the only person who can make it better. Even after the mating bond has been destroyed, I still feel drawn to him.

"I'm so sorry, Katrina," He says, his eyes pleading, probably hoping that I'll forgive him to absolve him of his guilt. "Gwen is, too. She misses you like crazy, it's all she talks about."

Against my will, my heart twists at that. Gwen and I had been close growing up, she was the only person in my life who wasn't scared by my abilities.

"Come to Blue Moon for awhile," He pleads, taking my hand, and I want to recoil, but don't. "You can spend time with Gwen. With your nephew. I know that we aren't mates anymore, but I'd still love to get to know you, have you as part of our family. You are part of our family. Gwen needs you in her life, wants you to get to know your nephew."

I blink, stunned, and I suddenly forget how to breathe. I can't think of anything worse than seeing Leo and Gwen together, with their perfect little son in their perfect little Pack House with their perfect little lives.

I feel sick.

"Katrina, there you are," Knox, my savior, says. He pulls me away from Leo and drapes his arm protectively around my shoulders.

Leo looks at Knox in confusion. "Beta Knox, we were having a discussion."

"And now you aren't," Knox says coolly, and I could kiss him for getting me out of this.

"Are you two..?" Leo's voice trails off, his eyes focused on Knox's arm.

"That's not really your concern, is it, Beta Leo?" Knox's lips curl into a cruel smile.

"It's Alpha now," Leo says lowly, his eyes darkening.

Knox just grins in response, offering no apologies.

Leo stares at him for a moment longer, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Fine," Leo says finally. "Seriously, Katrina. Think about my offer. You'll always have a place in Blue Moon."

Leo pauses for a few more seconds, and I lower my eyes. He sighs, and leaves Knox and I alone on the balcony.

"Thank you," I finally can breathe again once Leo is gone.

Knox takes his arm back and shrugs. "Don't worry about it. Looked like you needed backup."

"I owe you one," I tell him.

He shakes his head. "We're there for each other. That's what we do."

I kiss him on the cheek, and he freezes. "Well, thanks anyways," I tell him genuinely.

"Yeah, whatever," Knox mutters, scratching the back of his neck. "We should get back to the party. You have a lot more people to meet."

I sigh, taking his glass from him and chugging it, wincing as it burns my throat. "Alright, let's go."

***

For the next hour, I mingle with various wolves from all different packs, but glean absolutely no information from anyone. Well, no useful information.

I'm dancing with the Midnight Bite Gamma, a strong, handsome wolf, when Killian steps in.

"You don't mind if I steal your dance partner from you for a minute, do you, pup?" Killian asks the Gamma, who's eyes darken, but he's not dumb enough to pick a fight with an Alpha, especially not one as strong as Killian. He nods and flees quickly.

"Cock block," I tell Killian as he puts his hands on my waist.

Killian rolls his eyes. "You're supposed to be getting information, not cock," He says the last word in so much disgust, I laugh aloud.

"I love that sound," He murmurs. "You should do it more often."

I think back to Leo and my sister. "I would if I had more reason to," I say quietly.

Pain flashes in Killian's dark blue eyes. "You'll be happy again, Katrina. I swear my life on it."

I smile half-heartedly. "Big promise to make," I tease, trying to lighten the mood.

Killian chuckles slightly. "I never make a promise I don't keep, darling, believe that."

"I haven't found anything out yet," I blurt out.

He sighs. "It was always a possibility."

"Do you think the others will be mad?" I ask quietly.

His eyes widen. "Never, Katrina. When will you realize that they actually like you? Not because you're a Seer. Because you're you."

I don't believe his words, nice as they are. Everyone is only nice to Seers when they're useful. All of them just wait for you to fail, to stop being useful, and then they throw you away like a used tissue. Until the next time they need you. Rinse, repeat.

As soon as the Crimson Shadow problem is solved, Killian will do the same.

And for some reason, that bothers me.

Killian and I dance for awhile longer, and he does his best to cheer me up, telling every lewd joke under the sun that he knows.

Which is a lot.

"I have to go talk to Ares," I sigh, feeling somewhat disappointed when I pull away from him. "She's waiting for you to leave so she can talk to me."

Killian's eyes flicker to the side, where sure enough, the Blood Luna herself is drinking with her mate, their eyes trained on me.

"Fine. Yell if she tries to kill you," He says, probably only partially joking. We both know how she is.

I walk over to the Blood Alpha and Luna, the former of which who greets me. "Hello, Katrina," He smiles slightly, as polite as Cain knows how to be.

"Cain," I nod.

His smile, small as it was already, falters slightly. "What are you doing with Killian?" He asks suspiciously. "He's bad news, Katrina. You'd be wise to stay away."

I know that's Cain's way of showing he cares, so I laugh it off, even though his words bother me, though I don't know why. "I can handle myself, thank you, Cain," I tell him.

Ares drops her glass of water. "Oops," She says, and we both know it wasn't an accident. "Babe, can you get me more water? The baby is extra thirsty today."

At the mention of the baby, Cain immediately scrambles to his feet and rushes to find more water.

I laugh. "Another baby, huh?" I ask her. "You guys didn't wait long after the twins."

Ares smiles, and there's a happiness in her eye that I haven't seen from her before. "I wanted to thank you. For the warning about Drakon," She says, in reference to her baby that has the uncanny Gift of bursting into flames.

I shrug. "You would have been badly burned if you held her any longer. Cain would have freaked out. It would have been ugly for everyone involved."

"Still," Ares says. "Thank you. For... everything. Axel wanted me to thank you for the warning about his mate, too. They're expecting a little one within the next few weeks."

"Good to hear," I say, smiling genuinely. Her Beta is a good wolf, kind, even for a Blood Lake man.

"Ready to call in that favor yet?" She asks, mischief flashing in her eye.

I laugh. "Bored with motherhood already, are you?" I tease.

Ares laughs too, and it's a rare sound, though I Know that it happens more often these days. "I could use a good fight," She says, amusement lighting up her eye, and for a moment, she reminds me of her deceased True Mate, Thane. Guilt makes my stomach turn, a reminder of how much of a curse my Gift really is.

"I'll let you know when I need you in one," I say, and it's not a joke at all. There's a good chance that whatever happens with the Crimson Shadow wolves ends in violence. These things always do.

Before leaving, I look at her stomach and cock my head to the side. "A boy," I tell her, and her eye lights up. "He'll turn things to ice. Keep him warm," I advise.

I freeze in surprise when Ares throws her arms around me in a hug. "You should know that there's three wolves watching you right now. They've been watching us the whole time. Stay close, Cain and I will protect you," She whispers, her voice low.

"Who?" I whisper back in confusion.

"12 o'clock, a boy with dark hair and blue eyes. 4 and 5 o'clock, two girls. One with blonde hair and a black dress, the other brown hair and a pink dress," She warns.

I laugh, pulling away and looking at the wolves. "Oh, don't worry about them, Ares. They're here with me tonight. They probably are worried you're going to kill me," I say, laughing so hard I'm shaking as I pull away.

Amusement flashes in Ares' eye. "Ah, that explains why Killian looks like he's about to walk over here to tear my head off."

I look to the side, and sure enough, Killian is drinking from a glass calmly, his eyes trained on me, but his hands clench the cup tightly.

"I should have known that you two would end up together," Ares laughs, shaking her head slightly. "He was obsessed with you from the start."

I blanch at her words. "It's not like that," I quickly say.

"I'm sure it's not," She winks, and Cain pulls her away, muttering something about how she shouldn't be spending so much time on her feet.

As soon as she leaves, the circulus swarms around me. "Did she threaten you?" Maryn asks in concern.

"Should I cry?" Layla asks, an unspoken question on whether she should poison her or not.

I roll my eyes. "Guys, relax. It's not like that. The Blood Luna and I have... an understanding."

An understanding meaning that she owes me a debt and may or may not kill me after that debt is completed. It's hard to tell with her.

Killian exhales slightly. "We should get going and talk about tonight."

After a few minutes of rounding up all of the wolves, we teleport back to Crimson Shadow.

The circulus and I sit around the table, most of us completely exhausted after the long night.

"Did anyone learn anything tonight?" Killian asks, and all of us shake our heads.

I frown. "I don't... I don't think that whoever is doing this is a wolf."

"What does that mean?" Maryn asks, her eyebrows furrowed.

I shrug. "I don't know. Humans, maybe? Hunters? But that doesn't seem right either. I just... I don't know," I groan, rubbing my temples. Something is wrong with my Sight.

Killian and Knox share a look, and I can tell that they're mindlinking. Finally, Killian sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"Everyone rest up," He orders. "Tomorrow, we start tracking down the Viatoribus."

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