BEATRICE

“A deal?” Beatrice repeated, blinking as she was forced back to reality. “What kind of deal?” And could she trust him? What if he asked for her immortal soul or something like that?

“An exchange of information,” Riaghaire explained. “You have questions for me, as I have for you. What say we stop our verbal dance and agree to give the answers we both hunger for?”

“How can you trust that I’ll be honest? What if you’re not honest with me? How would I know?”

Riaghaire let out a low chuckle. “I have nothing to gain by giving you false information. Falsehood may provide some… entertainment, but that would not last long enough to be worth the effort. It is in my own best interest to speak truthfully, in hopes you would do the same. New information is not something I am able to acquire in my current… state.”

Seems like they would both need to take a leap of faith. Beatrice wasn’t good at trusting in others, let alone someone she’d only just met — someone who enjoyed killing werewolves. Did that make him a serial killer?

“I will begin,” he offered, as if sensing she was about to go down another mental rabbit hole. “You believe they… ‘go furry’ once a month, yes?”

“That’s the popular belief in fiction,” she shrugged. “They shift during the full moon.” Beatrice didn’t tell him she’d seen one of them shift that afternoon because she didn’t think it was relevant. The full moon was three days away, so it made sense that he’d been able to go wolf in the days prior. Maybe.

Riaghaire was already shaking his head. “They are able to shift regardless of the moon’s phase.”

“Oh.” She knew her reaction to this new information was lacking, but how else was she suppose to respond? “Then why is everything about them tied to the moon?”

“They follow the teachings of the Moon Goddess,” he explained. “As such, they worship the moon.”

“And us stupid humans mistook that for them going fur-mode at the full moon,” Beatrice murmured, frowning. It sucked, but it made sense.

“Going… fur-mode?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she told him with a wave of her hand. “So they can shift whenever they want?”

“Correct. However, periods of intense emotion may force them to shift against their will.”

Now that was good to know. She’d been planning to poke the bear — or werewolf — to keep them off balance… or something. Okay, she just wanted to be annoying and make them regret grabbing her, but that plan was no longer sounding as good as it had been. If she poked the wrong person in the wrong way, would they turn into a werewolf and kill her just like that?

Not wanting to delve further into that train of thought, Beatrice decided to change the subject. “What else do you want to know?”

“Why did they bring you here?”

Resting the back of her head against the wall, Beatrice let out a heavy sigh. “I haven’t a clue. I overheard a few things they said, things that make me wonder, but I don’t know if any of it means anything.”

”Tell me what it is you overheard, and I may know if it is relevant.” There was eagerness in his raspy voice. As he spoke, Riaghaire reached up and touched the bars of his cell. A hiss came out of him as he retracted his hand and stared at it for a second before letting it fall back onto his lap.

That was an odd reaction, one she wanted to ask about, but it wasn’t her turn. Instead she chose to recount the day’s events, up until the moment she’d gotten locked in her cell.

“You overheard only two phrases that are of relevance,” Riaghaire informed her, once she finished speaking. “The first was that you were to remain unharmed, and the second is that you are someone’s mate. How very interesting…”

“Interesting? In what way, exactly?”

Her neighbour was quiet for nearly a minute, in which Beatrice was left feeling impatient. Would he answer? What did it mean, that she was someone’s mate? And why would they not want to cause her harm?

“You may not like what I am about to tell you,” he finally said.

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