136 | REPORT

There’s a knock on my door the next morning as I’m preparing a cup of coffee laced with half a blood bag. I freeze, a little shocked at the thought of having a visitor so early - or at all. I hadn’t sensed anyone coming onto my land, so I assume it’s a human- until I get within a foot of the door and am able to smell who’s on the other side. After a second, fear creeps into my gut. I should be able to feel their presence…unless… My eyes widen and I leap to throw open the door.

“You’re back,” I breathe in relief when I see my cousin on the other side - alive. He holds one hand out to me, angled up as if he wants to arm wrestle. I grin and clasp his hand, a little surprised as my older cousin touches our foreheads together for a moment - a gesture more akin to that of two warrior allies coming together after a battle. I’m shocked Craven would consider us so close- but then again, he seemed close to Mom - like a son more than nephew. He releases me after the brief moment, but I can feel a lump of emotion tightening my throat and have to blink rapidly to keep my face dry.

“It’s good to see you too, Wisteria.” Craven smirks at me. His cerulean eyes are shadowed by the marks of sleeplessness, and there’s a noticeable tension in his shoulders. I glance behind him, out towards the woods on the other side of the road, and catch the slitted eyes of a *draki* looking back at me. “He wasn’t sure if he’d be allowed near you while you mate is around.” I note his eyes flicking towards the still-closed door to the bedroom.

“Blue’s still asleep.” I shrug and wave at the eyes I know are attached to Craven’s friend - and Cole’s relative. “I didn’t think *draki* gave a shit about Wolven.” I add in a quieter tone as I wave my cousin into the house.

“They don’t, but Kazamir has been a good alley and friend and is trying to be considerate.” Craven explains with a shrug. “Well, as considerate as a *draki* can be. I’m learning not all of his kind are so…compassionate.” He adds dryly, face paling a degree.

“Ah,” I breathe and gesture for my cousin to take a seat while I head into the kitchen. I feel Blue stirring in the bedroom, wincing as his mental voice groans into my mind on a slightly annoyed wave of emotion.

*Red, I love you, but do you think you two can have this talk outside?* Blue’s mental voice is groggy and dim when it floats to me through our connection. I smirk and roll my eyes at the quizzical look Craven flashes at me.

*Yes, my love, go back to sleep.* I think back in what I hope is a warm and gentle mental tone and not brimming with sarcasm.

I nod my head towards the back door and lead my cousin back out of the house, gripping the coffee pot and a fresh mug in one hand while drinking from the one in my other. Craven opens the door for me and gently closes it behind us as I lead him a few yards away from the side of the house with the bedroom.

“We had a late night,” I explain to Craven when I find a patch of grass to settle onto. Craven nods and smirks as he plops down, more gracefully, on the remaining patch beside me.

“Was it a work-related late night or a mate-thing?” Craven asks, lips twisting and nose wrinkling with the question. I laugh and roll my eyes, taking a deep sip of my coffee before setting down the pot and mug between us so Craven can have something warm.

“More of a mundane thing,” I reply, then think about it. “Well, no, it was more Pack business, I guess.” I amend, recalling the conversation we had about bitten-Wolven and the few differences I wasn’t aware of before now between them and born-Wolven. “I’ve got a human friend who’s going to be joining Blue’s Pack.”

“Ah,” Craven breathes, tilting his head thoughtfully. “That’s a big decision.”

“Yeah, but she’s been getting counseled on it, apparently, for a while now.” I shrug and drink more coffee, letting the silken flavor dance along my tongue and flood me with energy from the blood.

“To each there own, I suppose.” Craven murmurs, then shakes his head slightly, pouring himself a mug of coffee and taking a long drink of the black stuff. “As to the reason I’m here,” He prompts after he’s taken a sip. “I did what you asked, with that…Reaper…” He says the term slowly, lips thinning and eyes dimming of their brilliant light for a moment. He gives a little shudder and takes a much larger sip of coffee the next time he drinks. “They’re creepy mothers,” Craven grumbles under his breath.

“Reapers?” I ask, a little surprised my older cousin, Mad-Dog Craven, would be afraid or wary of anything. He didn’t even seem all that phased by the *draki*.

“No, the things that were after him,” Craven shakes his head and shudders. “Never doing something like that again, thanks.” He adds before downing the rest of his coffee. I stare at him, wanting details…but also wanting to continue to sleep at night.

“So the Reaper’s alive?” I guess, hoping that’s why Craven’s back. The event was supposedly yesterday, I realize a moment later, surprised I let it slip through my mind. Then again, I was rather distracted… But then, I would have expected Craven back in another day or two, not so soon… Of course, I forgot to take into account the fact that Craven’s got a *draki* for a buddy.

“Are they alive?” Craven asks back with a partly skeptical and partly curious tilt to his head. I open my mouth to say ‘of course’ but hesitate, unsure since I’ve never met anything close to a Reaper - unless you count Nikki…who is a part of Death…

“Point taken. Is the Reaper in one piece?” I rephrase, not sure I want to guess if the Reaper is a living being or something more like Nikki. My head hurts just thinking about it.

“One piece, still walking around and hunting those *things*.” Again, my cousin shudders. “I have no clue how they do it. Those things they ‘hunt’ creep the shit out of me.”

“I guess there are certain jobs we all have to do that others wouldn’t want to.” I agree with a grimace. “But that’s life.” I add softly, looking out to the recovering landscape. Since I’ve stopped training, now that the Revenant is dead, the tree line has slowly started to creep back towards the house. *Well, at least the grass has regrown.*

“You sound more like an Alpha each time I see you,” Craven smirks at me, and I see a glimmer of approval in his eyes. I smile back at him and shrug.

“I am an Alpha,” I remind him, though I know he’s aware of that fact. “Even if I hardly ever make time for my people anymore.” I add softly, thinking of the physical distance between me and my Pack, my lips pulling down into a frown.

“You should rectify that, Wisteria.” Craven agrees with my thoughts. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go check in with Paris.” Craven stands and stretches, his joints popping softly when he wiggles his back and winces.

“You good?” I ask him quizzically, eyeing his back.

“Yeah, but I’m probably going to stay home for a day or two to recover before heading back out.” Craven replies with a little wince. I frown, not smelling blood or bruising on him, but do silently admit he looks a little worn out.

“You do that,” I agree with a half-smile.

“I’ll report back as soon as I learn something more concrete about the draki in the West. They seemed more worked up than usual this week, though even Kazamir wasn’t entirely sure why.” Craven adds with a little frown, his eyes drifting back towards the front of the house. “We’ll talk soon, Wisty.” Again, Craven offers his hand out to me and I clasp it like before, smiling a little when my cousin leans in to touch our foreheads together before he breaks contact and heads around the yard to the front where he left his dragon companion.

I smile at myself, shaking my head at how odd my life has become that the idea of my previously psychotic cousin may have a dragon-shifter for a friend…and that’s not even the weirdest part of my life right now.