House of Blood and Beasts

14. A Personal Decision

A light rain was falling, but Sarai and Nathalie ignored it. Both had their earbuds in, loud music thumping away as they ran past the River Gate. Not many people were in line to use the dial pad today, and the street was mostly empty.

Sarai was grateful for the approaching storm, which was the reason Moonwood lacked some of its bustle. She wasn't in the mood for heat or people today. The rain would prevent her from dealing with both, at least for a little while.

They kept up a steady pace and were soon running past the gun range. From the corner of her eye, Sarai caught sight of two familiar figures. Rafe and Holly were leaving the range, their mouths moving in an inaudible conversation. Sarai didn't watch for long, knowing that if Rafe saw her, he'd have a few harsh words to share about minding her own business.

She'd had her fill of harsh words for the week. Sabine called her in for updates almost every other day, and when Sarai said there was nothing new to share, she was reminded of how incompetent she was. It was growing rather tiresome.

Nathalie removed an earbud and turned her music down. Sarai followed suit. "What's with those two?" Nathalie asked, jerking her head towards Rafe and Holly.

Sarai shrugged. "Rafe is an asshole to everyone but her, and she's the only person allowed to talk back to him without being yelled at later. Mostly because Rafe knows she wouldn't hesitate to chop his balls off. She's the only one who could get away with that too."

"I'm surprised you haven't done it yourself."

"That would require me being in a position where Rafe had his pants off, and I'd prefer not to explore any of those options."

"Fair enough," Nathalie giggled. "Is that what you say about Ruhn as well?"

"Yes."

"Speaking of Ruhn, when do you next meet up with him?"

"Tomorrow is the only day I can, but he hasn't mentioned if our leads have yielded anything yet. Blood Moon has a patrol tonight and Saturday is Bonding night. Ruhn is supposed to be off duty Sunday."

"You know his schedule?"

"We exchanged them so we could plan around our Aux requirements."

Nathalie furrowed her brows. "Did you ever get his number?"

"Yes, and before you ask, no, it didn't match the one that sent me the picture."

"That must've been Flynn or Declan then."

"My money's on Flynn. Declan might be Fae, but he's less of an ass than his roommates."

"I agree. Oh, are you going to come to Bryce and Danika's apartment later? Ithan is coming and in dire need of cheering up."

"Why?" Sarai arched a brow.

"He was supposed to hang out with his sunball team tonight but a few of them were invited to a house party and the others cancelled."

"Why wasn't Ithan invited to the party? I thought they usually went as a team."

"Connor said he was told by one teammate that Wolves weren't welcome at this party." Nathalie shook her head angrily. "I'm of the opinion that if someone wants to be prejudiced like that, they shouldn't be allowed on an All Species sunball team."

"Agreed."

"So, will you help us cheer him up?"

Sarai grinned. "Of course." They resumed their run as the rain fell harder.