“Is this a risk we can afford to take?” he asked.
“Endangering all these werewolves is a risk you cannot afford,” Olivia said. “Blake wants this. He wants to thin your numbers. We need to prevent that until Isabelle and Bethi get here.”
Dad released me, and I pulled Olivia forward.
Be careful.Winifred’s worry touched my mind along with her message.
Always.
“They’re coming from all directions,” I warned Olivia as we wove our way through the hundreds gathered to protect us.
“This is the direction Blake’s coming,” she said. “Keep going.”
The Urbat were less than one hundred feet away when we broke through the werewolves defending us.
Olivia immediately stepped in front of me. I set my hands on her shoulders, ready to toss her back to safety.
“Father!” she yelled. “Do you remember how it felt?”
All but one of the Urbat before us stopped abruptly.
From within the ranks, Blake continued to race forward, already in his fur. His enraged howl echoed through the canyon. The moment he cleared his men, Blake skidded to a halt while shifting to his skin. The sight of him made my hackles raise, and I knew he felt the same about me as he paced restlessly back and forth between us and his men. His gaze swept over Olivia before his eyes settled on my hands where I held her.
“Mutt. You’ll die for what you did,” he said, looking at me.
“Father, you’re focused on the wrong thing. Like always,” Olivia said. “I didn’t mean what you felt last night. I meant what you felt days ago when the Others wore you like a coat.”
He paled and stopped moving.
“What do you mean?” he half-growled.
“How do you think you ended up in Charlotte, North Carolina? You had no plans to go there. I needed you out of the way so I could accomplish what you never would have. The Judgements are finally all together. Well, almost. And, the time for the Judgement is near. Your attempt to manipulate the outcome has sealed the fate of it.”
“You will suffer,” he said softly.
A low growl escaped me.
“I will,” she agreed. “But not by your hands.”
“Then there’s nothing left to say,” he said.
Chaos erupted with his grin.
The Urbat behind him burst forward. Before the first of them placed more than a single step, I gripped Olivia’s waist and heaved her up and back over my shoulders.
“Dad!” I yelled, not looking away from Blake.
“You’re first,” he snarled, already partially shifted.
I burst into my fur at the same time, ready to meet Blake head on.
MICHELLE…
In the center of the silent sea of bodies, we stood on a slight rise. My left shoulder pressed against Charlene’s and my right against Gabby’s. Back to back, we watched the Urbat. My stomach twisted. Spotting familiar faces among their overwhelming numbers prodded the threatening nausea. All those dinners…
A wave of reassurance swept through my mind, and I glanced at Emmitt’s strong back. I sent my love and gratitude in return and focused on the sound of Olivia’s voice. Whether from anger, fear, or adrenaline, I shook at the first sound of Blake’s. The way Olivia spoke to him didn’t match the vision I’d seen or the way she’d acted since she’d found us. Something had given her courage to stand up for herself. Probably Jim. He was good at that.
The thought barely entered my mind when Jim yelled, and Olivia went sailing through the air at us.
