“She stopped me, made me leave without taking anything,” Maura continued, her voice growing more bitter with each word. “And then, just today, I saw her again. She was coming out of this rundown hut outside Aspen. I’m sure it was her—Alpha Redhart, I mean. She was carrying a picnic basket, like she was on some kind of a vacation or something. Heading towards the river. I could smell the food from where I was hiding, and it smelled so damn good. If I wasn’t so scared of getting caught, I would’ve followed her and stolen that basket.”
Rake finally spoke, his voice calm and measured. “Are you sure it was Alpha Redhart?” he asked, his tone casual, but there was a subtle undertone that made Maura pause.
She nodded, her mouth full of bread as she spoke. “Yeah, I’m sure. I mean, I only got a qu
