Werewolves and Chocolate by Shauna Aura Knight Read Free Book Online Page B

and everyone in the room went silent.
    “Ah fuck,” she whispered.
    Matthew gave her a grim look. “Still not used
to our hearing, I see.”
    “Not exactly.” She felt the color burning in
her cheeks.
    “Have a seat,” Matthew gestured at several
available chairs. Kyle and Jake flanked her, which Matthew noted with a raised
eyebrow.
    She was so cranky she wanted to punch
something. Between her thighs she was ripe and pulsing. At the moment she wasn’t
even horny; she was just tense. Her shoulders ached, she had a headache, and
she couldn’t get her heart to stop palpitating.
    Would they really try to force her to stay?
    Cassia stood once they were seated. She gave
Ellie an apologetic look. “I spoke with the wereleopards. They confirmed
several of the Hagalaz mercenaries were killed during a struggle with a Fae
lord. Well, part Fae. What he lacked in magic he was trying to make up for in
muscle. He had been embezzling money from a company, and using the money to
hire the Hagalaz and other creatures.”
    “So we still don’t know why they wanted the
money,” Matthew said.
    Nodding, Cassia continued. “What we do know
is they were willing to die to help the Fae lord. One after another the Hagalaz
fell and they kept their contract.”
    “The Hagalaz won’t run from a fight but they
aren’t stupid either. The Fae must have promised them aid, or something equally
valuable.”
    “Agreed. The Hagalaz were, a year before the
conflict last summer, doing contract kills to allow the Fae to continue
embezzling. So their arrangement was going on for at least a year, likely more.
The wereleopards have a Truthspeaker who has been trying to unravel the whole
plot.” Cassia sat.
    Felicia leapt to her feet. “This can only
mean they plan to attack us and dominate us. It’s always been their plan.”
    The room erupted with shouting.
    “Why do the Hagalaz want to dominate the Uruz
pack?” Ellie asked Kyle. He leaned over and tried to speak into her ear so she
could hear him over the uproar.
    “Over the past hundreds of years our birth
rate has declined. The Hagalaz had certain ideas about how to handle the
situation. Uruz and Hagalaz used to be closer allies, but our Alphas fought.
The Hagalaz have, on occasion, tried to force us to their way. They’ve even kidnapped
a few Uruz wolves, solitaries, and even wolves from other packs.”
    “For what?”
    Jake gave her a stricken look. “Mating.”
    “Oh. But I thought that couldn’t be forced.”
    “It can’t, but it’s complicated. Those
without mates get to a certain age and start to panic. And you can only tell if
someone’s your mate if you have sex with them.”
    Ellie’s jaw dropped. “So what, they were just
passing people around to see if—”
    “Exactly.”
    “That’s horrific. Also, I didn’t know it was so
desperate.”
    “We didn’t want to worry you, sweet.”
    The shouting died down for a moment.
    “We should plan an attack now,” said Taggert.
“While they are still hurting from their losses.”
    Cassia shook her head. “It’s been months, Taggert.
It’s not like this happened last week.”
    “Aye, but how many of the wolves that died
were mated? How many of their mates went mad or died of grief? This has to have
devastated their whole pack.”
    “Then they aren’t likely to be planning any
major offensive, are they?”
    “On the other hand,” Matthew said, and
everyone quieted. “If they are so devastated that their backs are to the wall, they
may also be motivated to attack us. Let’s not forget, Taggert overheard the
Hagalaz making a deal with an unknown shifter from another pack. They could be
planning something even now. Even if they simply step up their kidnappings, it’s
bad for us.”
    “They haven’t kidnapped anyone in years.”
    “No, but they have used any excuse to harry
us.”
    “If the mating situation is so desperate, why
did they try to kill you, Kyle?” Ellie asked it softly, but Matthew turned