Claws // Colby Brock

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honestly i thought i posted this a few days ago so apologies for the wait fellas :)

☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎

AMIRA ANDREWS

With such a strong focus on keeping unwanted guests out of the house, no one was paying nearly as much attention to those leaving the house, so a swift exit during the day when everyone else was asleep, was easy.

A little too easy.

Being caught up with everything that'd happened wasn't enough for me, because there was so much else going on that I was certain the others had forgotten about. So, despite the early hour for vampires, I made a swift visit to one of the clans I knew — Dima — then headed to a small cafe on the outskirts of town. I was massively late due to Dima's relentless questions about what was actually going on, none of which I answered since Colby had chosen to keep some of it from him likely for a reason.

Checking the time, I hurried out of my car through the door, assessing everything around me. But I couldn't smell any vampires or werewolves, besides the one who was meant to be here.

I sat opposite Kian, whose face looked pale and eyes were bloodshot. Stress was getting to him lately and I didn't blame him. He'd always adored Anna, so the threat of losing her was bound to be a weight too heavy. Which was why I intended to lift that weight, only slightly.

But when he looked up, he instantly spotted the mark on my neck and his open lips froze in place.

"Kian," I warned before he could say anything that would result in me walking straight out the door. He shut his mouth to contemplate what he was going to say, watching me with pleading eyes that I'd allow him to slate me for taking the next big step with Colby.

Eventually, he said, "It's none of my business. Sorry." His gaze flicked down to the table as he awkwardly fiddled with his drink. "It's just... surprising to me, but I can see you're happy so I won't say another word about it... Okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you."

With a sigh, he craned his neck on his shoulders as I lounged back for the long explanation ahead. I was ready for it. "So, I've done what I can to gather as much information as possible. Aiden's seriously got it out for me, which is making everything more difficult, and Blake and Anna are now suspicious every time I look their way.

"I have some details on how Aiden plans to hurt Anna, though. He wants it to be a spectacle, to make sure everyone in the pack sees and is affected by it happening, which in turn will stress Blake out even more that he doesn't have time to grieve before telling them all the story. I have a feeling it's going to happen during a battle — I heard him laying out the weak spots on the pack grounds to someone over the phone."

"Do you think he's going to have another pack or clan do it, or provoke us into attacking your grounds?" I asked.

Kian bit his lip. "Well, he knows you guys would never hurt Anna but would one of your allies be so courteous? Something tells me that evoking a battle between one of your friends and us will lead to some of us getting hurt, and if it just so happens that Anna is in the line of fire, she'll end up dying."

"Werewolves aren't the only ones who can smell a pregnancy," I pointed out with a shake of my head. "None of the clans we are allies with would ever harm an expecting woman."

"Even provoked?"

"Even provoked."

He frowned to himself, crossing his arms. "Then I guess it'll be someone else, one of those many clans he seems to have in his pocket."