Page 70 of Big Bad Wolf

“Thanks, Eloise. But there’s something wrong with Lena.”

The old woman frowned. “What’s wrong with our sweet girl?”

“She’s uh … well…”

“Lena is having visions. Ones about wolves and blood, but she can’t hold on to them. Can’t tell us more than a few words.” Rafe’s voice was gruff and urgent. He sounded like an asshole, but like a worried one. “And Ruby was followed and attacked by a wolf, a Highlander. He’s been back since. I don’t know what he wants but it must be related.”

“A werewolf attack? What is the world coming to? Or going back to?” Eloise waved a hand in front of her. “Not good, either way.” The old woman shook her head and gray wisps fell from her braid.

“Right. I’m trying to figure out what they want with Ruby.”

Chills ran up Ruby’s spine. Hearing her current situation laid out for someone else made the whole thing more real. Fear tightened in her gut. This wasn’t her morbid imagination or one of Aunt Millie’s bedtime stories or some decades-old dream. She was in actual danger.

“Do you know anything about seers? Any way we can help her?” Rafe paused, sucking in a breath. “The visions seem to be hurting her. She’s weakening.”

The old woman’s brow was knitted in concern. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard of anything like this,” she said after a moment. “My grandmother used to speak of them, how they were hunted and often killed for their knowledge. Or captured. A powerful seer could be a valuable asset. If the Highland pack has gotten wind of Lena’s abilities, they might want to … borrow her.”

“Borrow her?!” Ruby’s heart squeezed so tight she nearly yelped in pain.

Callie put a hand on her knee and left it there, the warm weight of it helping to ease the panic just enough so that Ruby could breathe.

“Against her will if necessary.”

“But why attack Ruby?” Rafe asked. He was leaning so far forward Ruby was afraid he’d fall face first into the laptop.

“What happened during the attack?” Eloise asked, brushing her braid over her shoulder in the same way her granddaughter always did. If she didn’t feel like she was having a heart attack, Ruby would have smiled at the gesture.

“I was…” Ruby thought back to the surrealness of that night. “I was walking with Rafe, but he was a wolf and I … didn’t know it was him yet. And then another wolf appeared and he lunged at me but Rafe … he … fought him off.”

Eloise’s lips twitched.

“But I’d met him before too. The other wolf. When he was a human at the bar. He called me Lena.”

“A-ha!” Eloise yelled, slapping a hand on the table as though they’d solved everything. “It’s a case of mistaken identity.”

“What do you mean?” Rafe’s voice had deteriorated into a growl.

“They’re twins,” Eloise said slowly, like Rafe wasn’t the brightest bulb on the tree.

He blinked. Surprised. Like he’d never once considered that she and her sister looked nearly identical. Like Ruby was so singular to him that he couldn’t fathom how anyone could get them mixed up.

“So…” Eloise went on, piecing it all together for them like they were a bunch of dimwitted detectives. “Somehow the Highlanders heard about Lena. They want to use her for her gift, I would imagine. Who wouldn’t want to see the future! And they got Ruby mixed up with her sister. I’m assuming if you hadn’t been there in wolf form that night, Rafe, things would have gone differently.”

“Differently how?” Ruby asked even though she was afraid to know the answer.

“Let’s just say, I’m glad he was there,” Eloise said with a gentle smile. “I don’t think that other wolf would have physically harmed you, dear, but I’m not sure you’d be sitting here with us right now.”

“Jesus,” Callie muttered under her breath.

“So, what do we do now?” Ruby asked, barely keeping it together.

“We tear them limb from fucking limb,” Rafe rasped and Ruby saw Sawyer’s eyebrows jump to his hairline.

“That’s one option,” Eloise said.

“But what about Lena?” Ruby insisted they stay on track. Rafe could go on a murderous rampage whenever he wanted, but Ruby needed to know how to help Lena, how to keep her from fading into this mysterious affliction.

“Hold on a minute,” Eloise said. “Let me see what I can find on the subject.” She stood and shuffled off screen.