29: A fight to the death

The room was filled with tense silence as the words left Kalista's lips. All eyes were trained on her, ears strained as they leaned forward, eager to hear who pushed her.

But Jade shook his head. "We can talk about this in the morning," he told her softly. "After you're out of these wet clothes and when you feel much better"

"Yes... I... I think that will be better," Orion added, his voice quivering slightly.

Kalista cast a wary glance at him and totally ignored him. She gripped Jade's shirt weakly and stared into his eyes.

"It can't wait," she said, a strange urgency in her voice. "You need to know"

Jade suddenly became suspicious. He had concluded in his mind that it had to be one of the shewolves that did it out of spite and jealousy. But now that Kalista insisted on telling him, coupled with the look of panic in her eyes, he knew it was more serious than he assumed.

"Fine," he finally agreed. "But first, let's get you out of these wet clothes"

Minutes later, Kalista was in a more