Honesty by Viola Rivard Read Free Book Online Page B

fighting had come to an abrupt halt. The runt sat in his wolf form, the battered turkey hanging in his mouth, while Holly, who had shifted, approached Hale.
    “It was one of my birds,” she said, eyeing him with caution. “I told them to leave it alone—”
    Hale tuned her out, rubbing his head. His body urged him to turn around and make sure Taylor was all right, which was extremely aggravating. He knew perfectly well that she was fine. Fenix hadn’t touched her and he didn’t smell her blood, only her usual scent mingled with fear.
    “This is exactly what I’ve been telling Alder about, Hale,” Holly said. “I tie a string around the feet of all my birds. If these dumbasses are too stupid to look out for my strings , then they should just stick to hunting deer, because if this—”
    Unable to resist the urge any longer, Hale turned. Taylor was pale, paler than usual anyway, but otherwise fine. The raccoon was slumped over her shoulder, crying.
    The others began to close in, each of them making their case for whichever party they felt had been wronged. A headache started to grow inside his skull and Hale pressed a hand to his temple.
    Raising his voice, he said, “I highly doubt there’s enough of that bird to go around. Get back to hunting.”
    The crowd quickly dispersed, the hunters shifting and heading off into the woods. Two of the foxes lingered, but quickly followed the others as Hale shot them a glare.
    Only Fenix, Holly, and Taylor’s brood remained and they were all arguing.
    “It was our kill,” Fenix asserted.
    The runt had shifted and was wiping blood from his mouth. “I got it first.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Holly said. “She was my turkey.”
    “Shut up !” Hale yelled, causing them all to flinch. He pointed at Fenix. “You’re on cleanup duty for a week.”
    Whatever Fenix wanted to say, he bit it back, wisely remaining silent as he snatched the turkey from the runt and headed for the river.
    “Serves you right,” the raccoon called after him, no longer crying.
    Hale turned to her. “You too .” He nodded towards the runt. “And him. Now get out of here.”
    Seeming satisfied with the resolution, Holly shifted into her orange fox form and sauntered off. The raccoon and the runt followed, both with their heads down.
    “You go ahead,” Taylor said to the raccoon, giving her a pat on the back.
    The rain began to fall harder, making Taylor’s red hair stick to her face. Hale was glad they were alone again. He wanted to reach out and touch her hair but was stopped by the sight of her pinched expression.
    “That wasn’t fair,” she told him. Her hands balled into fists, which he found confusing. Did she plan on striking him?
    “What are you talking about?” he asked.
    His voice sounded strange and Hale realized that he was still angry, though he wasn’t sure why. The situation had been resolved, yet it had done nothing to assuage the agitation that had taken root in his chest.
    “You punished Lark and Glenn. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
    He should have pointed out that the raccoon had attacked Fenix, or that Taylor couldn’t possibly know who had really been in the wrong, as she hadn’t been there to witness the entire scene. But those weren’t the first things that came to mind.
    “They should have known better than to drag you through the woods and leave you on your own,” he said. “You could have been hurt.”
    He realized as he said it, that on some level, it had angered him from the moment he’d found her in the woods, spying on the skinwalker. The forest near the den wasn’t dangerous, but it stretched for miles, all the way to Mount Ezra. His mind couldn’t help but conjure images of a Whiteriver wolf sneaking past their patrols and happening upon her, alone and defenseless.
    Her face softened. “I’m the one who told them to go ahead of me.”
    “Just because you had a bad idea doesn’t mean they should have listened. They know