She tried to move past Siobhan, but a wall of force threw her into the clock in the hall. Her head hit and sang with pain as Siobhan stared at her, not the least bit sorry.
“I guess that answers my question,” Siobhan said.
Cat felt herself being forced toward the front of the house as Siobhan marched behind her.
“What are you doing? You can’t just kick me out!”
“My only goal has been to protect my family,” Siobhan said.
“Aunt, stop!” Bea shouted.
“She cannot be trusted,” Siobhan said.
“Siobhan!” Niamh shouted.
After a timeless moment, Siobhan sighed. “Fine.”
The force lessened, and Cat’s feet drifted back to the floor.
“Go to your room,” Siobhan said. “Don’t come out.”
Cat remembered that tone of voice. In fact, this entire conversation had felt very much like when she was a teenager and questioned one of the twins. They were generally loving and supportive with traumatized young witches, but there was a line you did not cross.
Cat suddenly wondered how many of her sisters had chosen to leave or whether they had found themselves literally thrown from the house. She’d never examined closely the fact that the twins would hang the moon for you—until you disobeyed. She could not believe that loving her was less important to her family than hating them.
She took a deep breath, watching the two paths open before her almost like a vision: marching up to her room with its squeaky bed, or walking out of the house right now without even a pair of underwear.
It was no choice at all.
“You will never be safe,” Cat said. “Violence will never protect you from your fear.”
She stopped only long enough to shove on a pair of shoes before she walked out of the house.
16
Her dramatic exit seemed a lot stupider a few hours later when she finally hiked up the driveway of 113 County Rd. 13, the lost pack’s house, to see an alpha werewolf who was absolutely nothing like she expected.
That the alpha werewolf had a whole pack of wolves with him was a vague thought until she set foot in his territory. Nothing happened when she crossed onto his land. There were no witches with wards to keep people out, butwhyhadn’t she thought about the fact that he wouldn’t be alone? She was still wearing a skirt and tights without any underwear, and the first coat she’d grabbed. It was an outfit meant for lounging around the house, not tramping through the snow.
A growl lifted the hair on her arms, and she twisted to see a truly enormous wolf with a scarred muzzle materialize out of nothing.
They don’t need wards,she thought furiously as her hands automatically raised from her sides in a placating gesture.
She was not a force witch to send him flying, nor a potion witch with bottled death in her sleeves. All she could do was sometimes catch a vague glimpse of the future.
A minute ago would have been a superb time,she told her magic hopelessly.
“I come in peace?” she said, and he took a silent step toward her.
She clenched her thighs to keep from taking a step back. A childhood spent in the woods had taught her not to give in to prey instincts around large carnivores, even if those large carnivores were attached to a human as smart as she was. There was no humanity in this beast’s eyes. It was even bigger than Mateo’s wolf, and she wondered if the man she loved was truly an alpha or if he would be helpless to stop it.
You’re not in love with him. What a ridiculous thought.
“I have to see Mateo,” she said
The wolf froze with one front paw off the ground and cocked its head.
“I have to warn him. I come with better than peace. I come with forewarning.”
