“Okay.”
“Play it smart.” Rowan turned his body towards me. “You can’t let them in too close, or too quickly. These next few years they will be lonely, and you’ll be targeted.”
“By?” I felt Nix and Megan stand straighter in my mind. They could handle it.
“The council. The women they will be ‘selecting’. No matter what I say, they think we are close, and that puts a target on your back.” Rowan wiped his face. “And the rogues. They have been making their way closer to the school. But I am having guards patrol the forest, so running should still be safe.”
“So I’m a target because we are friends…”
“Something like that.” Rowan pulled a second key out and dropped it into my hands. “This is the key to the penthouse on the right. Start packing and move over tonight. You aren’t safe here.” Then he got up, started to say something, then shook his head and left.
Chapter Twenty-One
Iwanted to stay in bed, but the fact someone else was in here made me get up from the bed and pull out my bags. I packed up my stuff, as soon as I was done, I pulled it down to my truck and packed it into the back.
I was starving by the time I was done, but I pushed myself to keep going. The truck was full, and I needed to grab food to fill the apartment. So I was going to head to the cafeteria, but Rowan’s words stopped me. I needed to be weak, hurt, isolated. So I slid into my truck and rubbed my eyes.
I sat there, and I remembered my first life. My death. And the anger came, but so did my loss. My baby was gone and there was nothing I could do. I placed my hand on my belly and I remembered the feeling of his first kicks, his butterfly-like movement in my stomach. And then I remembered the feeling ofhaving him ripped from me. The only time I got to hold his tiny body. And then the tears came.
Once I had cried for my lost child, I sent a prayer to the moon goddess to tell my boy how much I love him and I got out to run into the cafeteria.
I headed straight to the store section. I could hear the sniffles of some of the affected students. The ones that had lost their families. But I remembered my son, and I wiped a tear away as I silently filled my basket with the pre-made dinners and grabbed drinks. I stood in line as I heard another wail come from the tables.
I glanced over and I saw Toya throwing her head back, and Rowan comforting her. I guess I was the only one getting the truth because I had a part in this.
These kids won’t find out for years that their families might still be alive. My heart ached for her. But we all needed to play along and at least their pain will be real.
I made it to the checkout without any issues and paid for my food. I made my way out of the room when Toya rushed up to me. “They are gone…”
I just nodded as I focused on my loss, my boy, and another tear spilled over. “They are gone.” I hated lying to her, but we all had a part to play in this farce.
“How?”
“I don’t know yet. But I promise I will do everything I can to find out.”
She wobbled on her feet and I wrapped my arm around her waist right before she fell. “How could they all be gone?”
“Because they were weak.” A voice snapped our heads up, and I nearly shifted, even knowing that everyone was still alive. But Toya didn’t know, and cinnamon colored fur spurted from her skin as her eyes shifted to a dark black. I couldn’t even see their color. They were so dark from her anger.
I turned to face Nina and her newest pawns. “I would suggest you leave right now, or I will allow Toya to shift.”
“What is she going to do? She is just as weak as her father.” A vicious growl slipped from her throat and I knew she couldn’t be left in the dark. She would kill someone.
“Let me make myself clear. She is an Alpha, your minions are low-ranking Betas and a Gamma if you're lucky.”
“That’s not entirely true.” An unfamiliar voice stepped over. The aura rippling off of the new woman was stronger than anyone else there, but still not impressive. She was tall, brown-haired, with black eyes. She looked nearly identical to Nina.
I laughed. “Nina, tell your sister that if she doesn’t tuck her aura away, I will shift and help Toya here rip all of you to shreds. And I won’t fucking bat an eye.” I let Nix come closer and I felt my eyes shift to their golden hue.
“You wouldn’t dare.” The unknown woman called smugger than she had any right to be. “I’m being trained to take a seat on the council.”
“I honestly don’t give a fuck right this second.” I called out as I met her eyes. “Press your luck with me one more time and the only seat you will take is in a wheelchair, because I will rip the legs from your body and command your wolf to heal over the stumps.”
I watched her eyes widen and everyone else took a step back. “You wouldn’t dare. I’ll be on the council and my sister is going to be queen.”
I turned to face them both. “I want you two to look at us and really ask yourself the question. Do these two women, who just lost everything, look like the type of wolves who give a fuck about who you might be in the future?”
The silence that followed was deafening. And I waited until the girls standing with Nina and her sister all fled. “If you don’tmove, I will scar you so badly that no one will mate with you.” Toya’s voice was deadly. She meant every word.
