Page 63 of Shrouded in the Dark

Now I was snorting between laughs as I lay on the couch.

“Yeah, I think we broke her.” Amusement laced Seth’s voice. “Just give her a minute.”

Minutes passed before I quieted. This was really happening. Everything Gary believed was true. Just wait until I talked to him.

“Back with us?” Jasper's face came into my vision as he looked down at me in concern.

“Yup.” I let the ‘p’ make a pop. “How have you hidden from humans?” Gently tugging my feet out of Seth’s grip and off Axel’s lap, I sat up, crossing them under me.

“Most of the time, human’s brains just give them a reason to ignore something they don’t understand.” Seth leaned forward as he rested his elbows on his knees. He was looking out the window. “Most of us just want to live our lives. We tend to live in areas where we can let our animals out without worrying about running into humans. That’s why we have the vacation house here.”

“We’re not hidden from some humans.” I could barely hear Cody as he whispered. “There are humans that know about us. They hunt us.” He slouched forward.

Seth touched Cody’s knee that was closest to him. “There are humans called ‘the Venandi’ who have made it their mission to find anything not human and exterminate them. That’s why we all try to keep a low profile here. That rogue has put everyone that’s a shifter within a thousand mile radius in danger.”

My arms wrapped around my sides. “They want to hurt you guys?”

“No,” Jasper came to sit on the couch's arm rest now that I had moved, “they want to kill us. All of us.”

Silence filled the room for several heart beats.

“Let’s move on. This is a topic we can discuss more of, later.” Axel cleared his throat. “Becca, will you keep our secret?”

That was a stupid question and I let him see my face. Seth clapped his hand on Axel’s shoulder.

“I’m assuming that’s a yes by the death look she’s giving you.”

“Of course, I’ll keep your secret! You being able to shift into cuddly animals doesn’t change that you’re my friends.” I shrugged. “It honestly explains a lot. Like how you’re able to pick me up like I’m a size zero.”

My lips twitched up when they all turned to scoff at me.

“You’re not heavy. Stop saying that you are.” Cody straightened from where he’d almost curled in on himself to point at me. “You’re a perfect fit for us.”

Uh, what? Just as I began to ask him what he meant, Jasper cleared his throat.

“Becca, why don’t you take a shower and a change of clothes? We didn’t change you because we didn’t want to upset you further.”

Glancing down, I finally noticed I was still wearing my clothes from the picnic and they were covered in grime, dirt, and spatters of blood. “That is a great idea.”

“I’ll go turn on the shower for you.” Cody bounced up. “Do you want a hot bath after you get the dirt off?”

My heart moved to my throat. “Yeah,” I had to swallow, “thank you, Cody.” He scrambled out of the room. I looked back at the other three. “Can I talk to Gary about this? I know you want it a secret, but…”

“He knows about us. I’m almost a hundred percent sure about it. So, go ahead.” Seth stood to help Axel up. “Whatever you need, you tell us, Becca. We aren’t leaving you. We’ll protect you.”

Jasper took my hand as he stood, too. “I’ll make some coffee and breakfast.” He looked worried as he looked at our hands together, like he was afraid I’d reject his touch.

Silly fox. I squeezed his hand before kissing his cheek. “Thank you. Nothing’s changed.”

Giving them a smile, I went to my bedroom. The bathroom door was open. Cody was filling the tub with hot water. He looked over to me. His grey eyes had darkened as they met mine. I realized that the mask he’d been holding in place that had been cracking apart during the conversation, had finally fallen off. What I glimpsed was something haunted and dark, but filled with passion.

“Here you go.” He turned off the water. He’d lined up several different bath bombs on the counter so I could choose.

“You’re sweet, Cody.” My fingers kept busy as I pulled on a loose thread. Becoming shy all of a sudden, I kept my head down as I felt him walk up to me. His shoes came into my line of sight.

“Now you play docile?” His breathy laughter traveled along my neck. “I don’t believe it for a minute.”

His fingers touched at my chin gently, pulling my flaming face up to look at him. Now that I had stopped giving excuses, I knew what I saw within his eyes was his wolf.