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"Burrow, actually Daham" I waited for that sentence to make sense "Ham? Is that the name of an actual place, or do I need to accesshaular claiot bored with your ginorht, ʻHey, I bet Scout will be awake

Maybe we could go for a walk?ʼ"

"Close I finally convinced Lia me what I wanted for Christot into town a couple of hours ago I had some business to take care of on this side of town, but then I saw your light on and got distracted" He was staring at his feet again I noticed he was still wearing the same pair of Adidas shoes, despite the fact that their little swim in the creek left them a bit worse for the wear

"You had business to attend to at three in the ?"

"I canʼt really talk about it"

"Because itʼs olf business?"

"Yes, itʼs olf business"

We sat in silence for a fewalone in a darkened forest with a olf Aly, I still wasnʼt afraid It was Alex Cole, for Peteʼs sake The boy couldnʼt goaI said He wasnʼt going to hurt me

Probably

"I donʼt suppose your olf business has anything to do with ot his attention

"He told you?"

"So, Jase really is a were-coyote?" The look on his face was the only confir? Are olves and were-coyotes ?"

My assessment seemed to amuse Alex "I think ʻShape Shifterʼ or ʻShifterʼ is the politically correct term," he said "Iʼm not sure ʻwere-coyoteʼ is even a word" My eyes narrowed "You knohat Ialong with our cousin species, but thatʼs only part of the problem When the local pack found out ere here, they sent a few delegates over to talk to us A treaty was agreed upon, allowing us to stay If we failed to keep up our end of the bargain the Hagan Pack has the right to challenge us"

"What did the treaty entail?"

"Lia the full moon Also, weʼre to have no contact with those under Pack protection, especially you" I was under Pack protection? Okay, so I guess I already knew that from my super spysingled out?

"What delegates?"

"The Pack Leader, Jase, and Charlie" Alex ripped off a piece of decaying bark and began turning it into sawdust with his thuht?"