Free Samhain (Matilda Kavanagh Book 2) by Shauna Granger Page B

something savory wafted toward me. It was very welcoming, really, and not what I was expecting at all. I held on to the image of the little Were girl’s face, remembering her fear and caution. She was part of the pack. If everything was all peachy keen, she shouldn’t have looked like that.
    I stepped into the clearing, expecting everyone to stop what they were doing and face me, ready to pounce. But no one did. As I moved forward, I saw a mix of werewolves and humans, intermingling easily. It was very strange. Weres, while acclimated to a mixed society, usually kept their dens human-free. No other creatures ever lived with Weres because they were so private and territorial. To see them eating together, talking, singing, even playing, was completely unexpected.
    The humans seemed so at peace, so happy to be among the Weres. They smiled and laughed, not a care in the world. But they were all very young. I felt a little old among this crowd, and at only twenty-four, that was saying something. Maybe Jameson was right. Maybe Tollis was the cause of the rising numbers of missing humans. But no one looked unhappy, or even scared. Their smiles were a little too big and their eyes a little too wide though. It was creepy.
    I stopped a few feet back from the dicing game. The same guy was still throwing, but I had no idea what game they were playing. Each player had a pile of coins in front of them, so it was clear they were betting. When the large, multi-sided die came to a stop and only two men cheered, I couldn’t figure out why that was so good for them.
    “Looks like we have a visitor, boys,” the man with the die said, looking at me. His eyes took the long route up my body before resting on my face.
    All the men around him froze as if someone had hit pause. Their eyes followed the same path up my body, following his lead.
    “And what a pretty little visitor she is.” His voice was slow like molasses with a faint southern drawl. He dusted off his hands and got to his feet.
    He wasn’t tall by Were standards, but he had at least four inches on me, making me lift my chin to look at him. He had wavy, shoulder-length hair that was brown with golden highlights. His green eyes were striking with their elongated pupils, telling me he spent a little too much time as a wolf and not enough time as a human. Across his forehead was a healing gash, and his bottom lip had a thick scab in the middle. When he smiled, it pulled, threatening to break open. I tried not to grimace at the sight of it. He was lean, but I had no doubt under his loose white T-shirt and straight-leg jeans was a well-muscled frame from countless nights of running in the moonlight. When he held out his hand, I saw the calluses on his palm and the dirt under his nails.
    “Tollis,” he said, waiting for me to take his hand.
    After a moment, I placed my hand in his, feeling the steel bands of his fingers wrap around my hand. “Matilda Kavanagh.” I knew there was no point in trying to give him an alias. Much like vampires, Weres could smell deceit, and I didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot.
    He pulled on my arm, forcing me to take a step forward and close the distance between us. He took a deep breath close to my hair. His eyes were closed, but when he opened them, he said, “I see Harry caught you on the way in.”
    “Harry?” I asked, trying in vain to lean back.
    “Harrietta, our resident Seer,” he said, earning a round of snickers from the men who’d continued the dicing game.
    “Oh,” I said, remembering the old woman and her disturbing card reading. “Right, yeah, I met her.”
    “And came away with lighter pockets, I bet,” Tollis said with a sly smile. Another moment passed before he released my hand, letting me take a step back and breathe a little easier.
    “A bit lighter, yes.” I nodded.
    “To what do we owe this pleasure, Matilda Kavanagh?” Tollis stepped back and tucked his fingers into the pockets of his jeans, rocking back on