Page 55 of A Wolfe in the Woods

“You were on the no-sugar list. I was on the crepe-and-contraband express,” I said, pouring in my cream and dumping in the sugar.

That made her momentarily laugh, but it faded quickly. Her expression softened into something wistful.

“I always thought she kept receipts in that tin,” she murmured. “That’s what she told me anyway. It’s boxed up with the rest of her stuff. I never even thought to check.”

I gave a quiet chuckle. “Mystery solved, then.”

Blanche looked down, running her thumb along her mug. “It’s strange to think she had secrets. She always seemed so transparent to me. Like I never had to guess with her.”

She shook her head slowly, then smiled—the first real one since I’d arrived. Some of the tension in her shoulders finally let go.

“I meant what I said about June. She was one of the best people I’ve ever known. Not just kind, but sharp. She saw things in people others missed.”

Blanche looked out the window. “She always tried to see the best in me.”

“She did,” I said quietly. “She talked about you often with pride…and half the time it felt like a pitch. Like she was playing matchmaker. I expected to receive your résumé from her at one point.”

That got her to look up, her cheeks going a little pink. She took a sip from her coffee.

“And I have to admit…I judged you initially,” I said.

“You don’t say,” came her dry tone, making me sigh.

“Not because of who you are, obviously…but because of who I thought you were. I let my own judgment of a stranger, based off pieces of the puzzle, make the picture for me. It got in the way of actually getting to know you first hand.”

She nodded once, slow. “I judged you too. I thought you were just some…mountain recluse with a grudge against the world.”

“You weren’t wrong,” I said with dry half smile.

That earned the smallest exhale from her. Not a laugh, but close enough.

“I didn’t mean to be gone for so long. I just… Work got in the way. I let it. That’s on me and it always will be. I can’t change it, no matter how much I wish I could.”

I waited.

Her fingers tightened around her mug. “I never thought I’d be the kind of person who lost track of time. Or people.”

“You weren’t,” I said. “You just didn’t realize how far gone you were until someone pointed it out. I know the feeling.”

She looked at me again—really looked this time. She appeared uncertain, hesitant, but still asked, “Was that what it was like for you? Leaving Graymore?”

I hadn’t talked about it since I’d left. Not with anyone. Not even May. Especially not May.

I was too ashamed of how I’d ended up back in Juniper Woods.

“When people ask why I left Graymore, I usually give them the surface answer: Burnout. Disillusionment. The grind. It’s not untrue…just incomplete.”

I paused.

“There was this case—the one you talked about. Helix Trust. A racketeering trial. Big, the kind that makes careers. I was the lead defense. Everyone wanted a win. The firm. The press. Even the judge. And I gave it to them.” I glanced out the window, then back at her. “There was this witness…Caleb Mercer. Junior analyst. Nervous kid, but honest. He brought forward a stack of evidence no one else dared to touch. He was pressured to testify. Promised protection.”

I swallowed before taking a slow sip from my coffee. “A week after he took the stand, he was dead. It was ruled a suicide, but I knew better. I could smell the lie. Too many things didn’t add up. The timeline, the crime scene, the condition of his apartment…the evidence. It was like someone staged a cautionary tale.”

Blanche took it in quietly, her face pale. “Meg was concerned, so she sent me a few things. Then I did my own research.”

I looked up at her, surprised. “So, you also know that I’m…”

“A Lycan?” she finished softly. “Yes. Sorry. I should have told you I knew. I mean, I had guessed…up at Cryer’s Point.”