FINN
I squeezed her shaking body tighter in my arms.
I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Marcus, the son of the alpha who killed my parents, was Spencer’s father.
“Did he see you? Did you speak to him?”
She nodded.
“You didn’t tell him, did you? Spencer, if you did, and he knows that you’re the heir, he will . . .” I stopped myself before the words kill you came out, “. . . come after you.”
“Don’t worry, we made him forget.”
“Where’s Clare?” Alister called from where he stood with Liam and James. The three of them kept their distance to give Spencer some privacy. “Is she all right?”
“She’s fine,” Spencer said a bit louder so that Alister and the others could hear her. “She’s coming.”
“Thank God,” said Alister with relief.
I heard the slam of a car trunk, and a moment later, James threw some of Spencer’s clothes toward the tree.
I brushed the tears from her cheeks, then picked up the t-shirt and helped her put it on.
I couldn’t imagine what she was going through. I didn’t know what was the worst part of this discovery: that she’s been lied to her entire life and the father she thought was dead was alive, or that he was an alpha of a wolfpack who would destroy her the first chance he got if he found out the truth about his daughter.
I handed Spencer her shorts and she pulled them on.
“Spencer, what happened?” Liam asked as we walked out from behind the tree. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“No,” she shook her head, looking down at her bare feet. “At least not physically.”
Liam and James exchanged looks.
“Did you get it?” asked Alister carefully. As Spencer shook her head again, he quickly went on. “It’s okay, don’t lose hope. There’s still time to come up with a new plan.”
“We saw them. The scroll and the compass,” she muttered, pushing her hair behind her ears. “They were right in front of us. But we couldn’t take them.”
“Why?” Alister squinted. “Was it under a spell? Or was there a guard or something?”
“No. The thing is, the alphas are here for a secret ceremony. Every five years, those relics are handed from one alpha to another. It’s a tradition. Today, Marcus is supposed to hand the scroll and the compass to Aaron. The ritual was about to begin and if we took them from under their noses and Marcus came to them empty-handed, they would know—”
“And all four packs would come after you, and they would catch us all in no time,” Alister finished her thought. “You made the right choice.”
Spencer brushed off the tear rolling down her cheek, and Alister, Liam, and James turned to me with concerned looks.
“It’s okay, Spencer,” said James softly. “We’ll come up with something.”
“It’s not what upset her.” I gave them all a shut-up stare. “It’s personal.”
Spencer looked back at James. “Oh believe me,” her voice was firm now, “I will do anything to get my powers. Don’t you worry. That shred of doubt I had before is far gone.”
* * *
ERIC
We were all sitting around the oval table in Marcus’s office in the community building. He went to get the relics so he could start the ceremony, and we’d been waiting for him for a while now.
“Where the hell is he?” I whispered to my father. I was getting restless. I was sure I felt Spencer’s scent out there, and I would prefer to search the area instead of sitting here while she gets away.
My father sighed, then spoke aloud, addressing everyone. “What’s keeping him? His house isn’t that far.”
“This is getting ridiculous.” Georgia's pack Alpha Emery, the oldest of the four alphas, got on his feet and crossed the room to look out the window.
“He went alone,” said my father. “Maybe someone should go check on him.”
“What could happen to him? This is his territory,” barked Emery. “We are the ones who need to be worried. I hope this is not some sick plan of his to ambush us.”
“You say that every meeting, Emery,” my father scoffed. “Getting paranoid with age? What exactly could he do to us? If he wanted to take over your pack, he would have to fight you one-on-one first, you know that.”
“I would like to see him try. I’m sure you all remember what happened to Daryl when he dared to challenge me.”
Emery was the oldest and the strongest. Marcus became alpha only twelve years ago after his father Daryl lost a fight to Emery when he decided to confront him.
Sitting next to him, Emery’s son Clyde frowned. He has been waiting to become the alpha of their pack for three decades now. But his father didn’t seem ready to give up his position, and by the look of it, Clyde could be waiting for at least another three decades.
“We could send one of his guards after him,” suggested Russell, returning everyone to the beginning of the conversation. “But I don’t know. There’s a reason he went alone. Those relics' location must be kept secret, and if the guard, or anyone else, gets a glimpse of—”
“I’ll go,” I offered, grabbing the opportunity to get out of this room and sniff around. “I think we need to make sure he hasn't been ambushed himself. As one of the next keepers of the relics, I want to make sure they’re safe.”
“Yeah,” sighed Russell. He pulled himself up and approached the small table under the wall loaded with alcohol. He picked up a glass and poured himself some whiskey. “I think it’s better to check. Shit happens.”
The two witches—a man and a woman—exchanged a glance. The woman was around fifty. It was Sheila, the priestess herself. Her eyes were as black as the large black stone of the ring on her index finger. Sitting next to her was a handsome dark-skinned man about a decade younger than her.
The man gazed at Russell. “I always said that we should be the ones to keep the relics. We can protect them much better than wolves.”
“The witches always wanted to get their hands on that scroll.” Russell sneered. “But here’s the thing. We’re the keepers because we can’t open that damn thing and you can. Our ancestors didn’t trust you and neither do we.”
“Did you feel that?” asked my father, frowning.
All three alphas exchanged a suspicious glance.
“A wave of magical energy? Yes, I did.” Russell rounded on the witches. “How dare you use magic in the middle of a council meeting?”
Sheila glared at him. “If I had used magic, you would feel much more than some weak wave,” she snapped back.
“That could be coming from the relics,” my father suggested. “Now that they’re out from their hiding place.”
“That’s possible,” said the witch.
“Marcus must be close,” said my father. “No need to go, son.”
But when Marcus didn’t show up in the next five minutes, I got up.
“I’ll go check on him.”
“Take a couple of our men with you,” my father said as I headed to the door.
I came out of the building and nodded for two of our wolves to follow me.
“Where are you going?” asked Skylar. “Is it over?”
“Nope,” I threw her the short answer as I walked to my car.
The guard didn’t stop us, but when we got into the car and took off, three of Marcus’s men jumped into their Jeep and followed us.
As I drove, I sniffed the air through the open window. When I came to a halt at Marcus’s driveway, the men in the Jeep got out and cut off my way.
“You can’t go there,” said one of them.
“Don’t worry, I’m going in alone.”
But the men didn’t move. “You haven’t been invited.”
“I need a word with Marcus. The alphas sent me.” I glared at him. “What are you afraid of? You think your alpha won't be able to stop me if I try something?”
The man in front of me clenched his teeth. “I need to inform him first.”
He was probably going to report to Marcus through his mind connection, but at that moment, the front door opened, and Marcus came out holding a case in his hand.
“Is everything okay?” I asked him. “They sent me to check on you.”
“Did they?” he replied with irony in his voice. “Everything is fine,” he headed to his car. “You can return to the meeting now.”
But I didn’t. A weak wave of the familiar scent I have been searching for reached me as a light breeze blew from the woods. I turned around and moved toward the trees behind the house.
With my and Marcus’s men in tow, I followed the scent.
“What the hell is going on?” asked one of Marcus’s guards.
“Shut up,” I threw at him in an angry whisper.
The scent was getting stronger. A few minutes later, I stopped next to pieces of ripped clothing. I picked up one shred and pressed it to my nose.
Spencer.
She’s mine. My wolf growled. I can’t let her get away again.
“Do you have a newly turned wolf with the name Spencer in your pack?” I asked one of the guards.
He shrugged. “Not that I know of.”
I glanced at the other two.
“I don’t think we have a Spencer in our pack at all,” said one of them.
Then what was she doing here? What the hell is going on?
To get the answers, I had to catch her. I knew she wasn’t alone, but I didn’t know how many were with her, and I didn’t want to risk losing her again.
“There are rogue wolves lurking around the border. Call for backup,” I threw to the guard and rushed forward.
* * *
FINN
I threw my arm around Spencer’s back. “Let’s get you in the car.”
“Not yet. We should wait for Mom.”
“She’s here.” Alister took a few steps toward the woods. “I can smell her scent. Clare?” he called.
Panting, Clare ran out from behind the trees. “They’re coming.”
“Who?” Alister’s glowing eyes looked deep into the woods.
“Eric,” she whispered with panic in her voice. “He found what was left of your clothes after you turned,” she said to Spencer.
“Dammit . . . I didn’t think about it,” Spencer said with frustration.
“If I used magic, they would know there’s a witch among us, so I poured the oil on a few trunks on my way to put him off track a little, but it’ll take him less than a minute to get back on it. What are you waiting for?” Clare burst out when no one moved.
“If it’s just Eric,” Liam started, “he alone is not—”
“He’s not. There are five others with him.”
“Liam, I know what you’re thinking,” said Alister. “But there’s absolutely no reason to start something right now.”
We were all so tired of running and hiding, and I understood Liam’s desire to get in a fight, let some steam out, to show the enemy that we’re not afraid of them and we’re not weak. I, more than anyone else, would love to kick Eric’s ass. Plus we all wanted to finally get our revenge. But this was a really bad time for that.
“It’s too dangerous,” I said, agreeing with Alister. “Eric could easily call the others, and we can’t fight them all.” I grabbed Spencer’s hand and pulled her away. “Come on.”
We dashed toward our cars: Spencer with me, Clare with Alister, and James with Liam. I started the car and glanced into the rearview mirror. Eric ran out of the woods with not five, but about a dozen other men behind him. As he watched our cars get away, he released a loud, furious roar.