After trying to push Seth to accept the idea that an animal must have gotten in some way that we could not tell because what else could it have been, I leave the manor and stalk over to the tree Flora has been hiding behind once Seth arrived.
“You should not be here,” I tell her firmly. “You should go home.”
“You feel as if you can tell me what I should do? Who gave you the right to determine where I should or should not be?” she demands, her arms crossed in front of her, her eyes narrowed. Her displeasure has her lips pursed, her brow furrowed. “Do not presume to know that which is best for me.”
I tug on her elbow. “Do you wish for me to escort you home?”
“I do not live around here,” she hisses, jerking herself free from my hold. “It would take days of travel for me to return home, so that is not a possibility!”
“Then where are you staying? With whom?” I narrow my eyes. “You have slipped away from your entire pack! For what reason?”
Her laugh is one of the most bitter sounds I have ever heard. “Oh, so it has come to this now, has it? You think I am the one to have killed that man. Tell me, do you fear that I will slash you and kill you next?”
“It is not easy to kill a werewolf, but to kill a human, that is almost too easy.”
Her eyes widen, but she does not retreat a step. Instead, she invades my personal space, and she stabs me with her finger.
Her finger and not her claw.
Even though she is trembling with great emotion.
“How do I not know that you have not killed this man? Or another human? Or even a werewolf? You who speaks so caviler about death!”
“What can I do to assure you that I am not a killer of anyone? Only animals I seek to then eat? I do not hunt for sport, nor do I kill for any other reason than to eat.”
“Some werewolves were said to eat flesh,” she says evenly, lifting her chin.
“I saw claw marks but no bite marks.” I tilt my head to the side. “Did you see something I missed?”
She shakes her head. “No. You are right. About the lack of bite marks, not that I am the killer.” She blows out a breath and hangs her head. “But I understand why you would be suspicious of me. From the first, I have been cagey and secretive. My name is Florentina Lockhart. My father, John, is the Earl of Foxburn.”
“And your pack?”
“I am a member of the Hallowed Hunters.”
“I do not know of that pack name, but I do not know of many other packs beyond my own. I am a Fierce Growler.”
She smiles, barely. “My father was a very powerful man. He had a vision of a pack that would hunt not just to feed or for sport but to defend against any malicious supernatural activity. The Hallowed Hunters have been in existence for many years, and we are trained exclusively to protect our land from otherworldly creatures. We take our mission seriously and, as such, must be secretive about who we are and what we do.”
She looks away for a moment before turning back to meet my eyes.
“I know you may still have reservations about me, but I swear on all that is holy that I am not the one who killed Roger. I understand why you were suspicious, but please believe me when I tell you that I had come here merely to try and figure out what was happening with the strange disturbances around here.”
“What strange disturbances?” I demand. “As far as I know, this is the sole—”
“It is the first death, yes, but there have been other… unseemly incidents as of late in this area… Truth be told, the other Hallowed Hunters do not think there is much here, but given this, I have been proven right, only… I wish I had been wrong. I wanted… As I said, my father was a powerful man. He was not the alpha, but the alpha almost would bow down to my father! All because my father was also an earl, but he only had a daughter. I am not his heir, and with his death, the alpha has inherited it all.”
She meets my gaze, and her anger and strength return as she wrinkles her nose.
“I fled to prove that I was right about what is going on here near London but also because I was determined to make my own way in life and not be beholden to my father’s restrictions, the same restrictions that the alpha has now placed upon me.”
“You fled with no one, nothing but the clothes you are wearing…” I gape at her.
“I do have a few friends here in London from when I ventured here once before with my father. I might as well have been a dog. He practically kept me on a leash.”
“He has died,” I say softly.
“Yes, and perhaps it is a sin, but I felt no sorrow at his passing.”
I blow out a breath. “Well, I, for one, think you should not help me investigate Roger’s death.”
Her ire flashes in her dark eyes. “Why not? You think that I, a lady, a she-wolf, will get in the way?”
“I know who did it,” I say dryly.
“You do?” Her eyes widen. “Who?”
“A member of my pack. I fear it is not safe for you here. They will try to pin this death on you, Flora. I know they will, and their natural distrust of anyone from another pack will have them wanting to believe and accept that easy resolution. Erasmus and I… I am friends with my alpha as much as an underling can be friends with their alpha, but I will not be able to keep you safe and protected.”
“I see,” she says quietly.
“I swear to you that I had nothing to do with his death,” I exclaim, grabbing her hands. “You must believe me.”
“Oh, irony of ironies! I never once thought it was you, but you, you are more of a honey bee, working hard, almost too hard, at your duties, attacking them, both as a werewolf and as a gentleman. A duke! You must wed, and you set your sights on finding your duchess this night, did you not? Even before you left your manor, I wager.”
“You would be wrong there,” I utter. “I had no plans to find her If I had, so be it, and it seems that I have, but…”
“Yes, but, she repeats softly, her tone resigned. “You will be careful?”
“I will, but I cannot stand for this.”
“I know you cannot, and I… I…”
She does not say it, but I can see love shining in her eyes.
I press my lips to her forehead. “Hide,” I murmur, and then I am off, heading back toward my pack, to the werewolves I now no longer know if I can trust.