“Aeric said they’re led by Amos Fletching. Do you know him?” Shania asked.
My hand strayed to my thigh, reaching for my thigh bandolier of daggers I typically wore when practicing. Of course, it wasn’t there. “Nope. I haven’t been in touch with any hunter families besides the Quillons since I was adopted.”
“Not surprising.” Aeric frowned as he held Shania’s hand and swung it slightly.
I watched the hunters clump together, talking to each other in lowered tones as they looked around main street. The drivers of the SUVs all circled around one man who was about medium height with strong shoulders and deep-set eyes.
“But if I had to guess, I’d say he’s Amos.” I pointed to the guy with deeply set eyes. “It seems like everyone is checking in with him.”
He nodded at something one of the drivers said, then pointed to town hall. Two of the hunters peeled off and headed toward the stately brick building, confirming my guess.
“They’re different from you,” Shania said. “I thought they’d be more like you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Shania jangled her keys. “They have a very different air to them with their matching outfits and teamwork.”
“Hunters are supposed to work in teams,” I said. “It’s the only way you can hunt a wolf without getting yourself killed.”
Aeric raised his eyebrows at me. “You almost took out one. That’s why they’re here.”
“I was lucky help arrived in time, or I probably would have died if I hadn’t been able to lure the wolf back to the trees,” I said.
“I guess.” Shania watched the hunters for a few more seconds. “Or maybe it’s just that you’re different because you were taught by wolves.”
“Yup. That’s gotta be it. We are excellent teachers,” Aeric said.
I ignored his smug tone. “Believe me, I am all too aware of my hunter limitations. I am a lot more like other hunters than I am like a werewolf.”
The prickling of my calf where Rio had bitten me good the last time there’d been a Pack hunting session was a reminder of that.
The hunter I’d picked out as Amos Fletching looked up and down main street, his hands settled on his hips with an overconfident expression that made my figurative hackles rise.
He glanced in the direction of the welcome center and studied Shania, Aeric, and me.
“Do you think we should wave?” Shania asked. “It would be neighborly, but he looks almost as sour as Mayor Pearl.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” I said.
Amos Fletching slipped his phone out of his pocket and tapped its screen for a few moments, then looked back at me.
He strolled across the street without looking for traffic, adjusting the wide brim of his bush hat as he meandered toward us.
Oh yeah. This guy definitely thinks he’s the leader, and that he’s here to take over. Good luck, buddy. Timber Ridge is ruled by Greyson. He’ll teach you that in a way you won’t soon forget.
“Phillipa Sabre?” He studied me with hard eyes that were an unforgiving shade of brown that was so dark they looked like glassy black marbles, then glanced back at his phone.
I straightened, wishing I’d sent Shania and Aeric off on their lunch date. “Yes.”
“I’m Amos Fletching. I’m the leader of the investigation team sent here to look into the death of the wild wolf. I’m accompanied by several members of my hunter family.” He briefly held up his phone, showing the Curia Cloisters crest over what looked like a basic profile of my information, then offered his hand.
Reluctantly I shook his hand. “Welcome to Timber Ridge.”
Amos kept shaking my hand with a grip so firm it was starting to become painful. “You don’t seem that surprised to see me.”
“Alpha Greyson told his Pack you’d be coming.” I yanked my hand, trying to free it from Amos’s grasp.
Aeric must have caught on; he narrowed his eyes at the hunter, but he knew better than to start something in public like this.
Amos squeezed my hand one last time, but I’d almost wiggled free, so he only got my fingertips in his rock-cracking hold before I ripped my hand away entirely. “And that includes you?” he asked.
“Not really, but given that I’m the only other supernatural in Timber Ridge, he chose to inform me as well.”
“Ah.” Amos tilted his head back, so the brim of his hat cast a black shadow over his eyes. “The report said you and Alpha Greyson took down the wolf?”