I sighed in frustration. I hadn’t held out much hope, but I had hoped he could help us make sense of this.
“Theoretically, it is possible,” Dad said. “We share bodies with the wolf. We even give over our bodies when we shift. Our minds are melded in a sort of symbiosis. We are one being of two halves. If the wolf can completely change our bodies and use our other senses, there’s no reason it couldn’t use our voice. I mean, they sort of do already when we growl or snarl. I’ve just never heard of a wolf strong enough to do that.”
“What about the things it said?” I asked. “The memories and stuff?”
Dad looked at Maddy. “Is this anything the wolf could have gleaned from your memories? The dealings you’ve already had with the royals?”
Maddy shook her head. “I don’t think so. She was talking like she already knew them, not like she knewofthem.”
Dad shook his head again. “None of this makes any sense.”
46
MADDY
Things weren’t going well. Seeing the video of my mother being tortured had done something to me. Not only to me but to my wolf. My temper was shorter than usual, and I kept having to catch myself. Multiple times I wanted to lash out at Nico or Felipe and Luis, and especially Sebastian. It was so bad that I tended to stay away from everyone when they came over.
A delivery driver had dropped off a package the day before. It was a package I had ordered, but he put it on the first step of the porch instead of the welcome mat by the door. It was such a small thing, but I’d nearly lost my mind. I’d gone stomping down the walkway toward his truck, yelling at him. Thankfully, Nico had been there to haul me back inside. I’d really been ready to chew the poor guy out for something so trivial and stupid.
Deep down, I knew most of what I was feeling wasn’t anger—it was fear. Fear of what would happen to my family. Fear of what the royals were planning. Fear of what the hell was going on with my wolf. I wasn’t a violent person by nature. I didn’t have any concerns that I would actually hurt someone, which was nice and one less thing to worry about. Still, as much as Iwas sure I wouldn't hurt anyone, the memory of how I’d reacted to the video haunted me. Never in my life had I felt such an overwhelming and blood-boiling anger. The weirdest part is that the anger stemmed, not from my mother’s torture, but from the sight of Viola herself. My human anger had been terrible, but the wolf’s anger had been apoplectic. She’d been infuriated beyond belief.
A few days after we’d watched the video, Nico found me sitting in the dark in his office, my back to the door as I stared out the window. I was trying to do some of those calming meditations he’d shown me and was having varying degrees of success.
“Maddy?” he asked hesitantly.
I spun in his office chair to face him. “Yeah?”
“Do… do you want to go out and get a coffee or something?”
My spirits lifted almost immediately at the thought. I liked coffee, yes, but that wasn’t the main reason I was excited. Ever since we’d returned from Europe, I’d spent nearly all my time in Nico’s house or around the shifter neighborhood. With the bar closed and the royals doing God knew what, it hadn’t felt safe to be out in town. But, Christ, I was getting cabin fever, which was probably exacerbating the irritation and anger I’d been experiencing. There were only so many rooms to go to, only so much yard to stroll through before you started to hate what you were looking at.
I stood up. “Hell yes!”
Nico and I hopped into his truck and made our way to the downtown area of Clearidge. I rolled my window down and let the wind blow across my face. Nico’s house was a step or two away from being a full-fledged mansion, but it had started to feel like a prison. Getting out was freeing in a way it had never been before. Nico, for his part, let us drive in silence. It was acompanionable silence, though, not awkward or strained. I think he knew I needed this more than even I did.
We pulled up outside a small mom-and-pop coffee and pastry shop that looked out over the Clearidge park and pond. I’d always thought the shop looked cute but had never managed to get in there over the years. When we walked in, the earthy smell of freshly roasted coffee and the sweet smell of baked goods lifted my mood in an instant.
I ordered a vanilla iced coffee and a chocolate croissant. Nico got a cappuccino and a piece of strawberry pound cake, then we found seats that overlooked the park. I glanced over at Nico as he took the first sip of his drink. “Thanks. I was getting a little stir-crazy.”
He nodded and dabbed at his mouth with his napkin. “I could tell,” he said with a knowing grin.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting.”
“It’s not your fault. I think we’ve established that.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Still.” I shrugged.
“You know, the last few days, I’ve been wishing we could still talk to Kenneth,” he said wistfully.
The mention of my dead uncle filled me with multiple emotions. I was sad because he’d been the one connection to my birth family I had, and I’d grown to really like him over the days we spent with him. I was also filled with anger—anger at him for betraying us, but also at the royals for killing him. They were the reason he was so tortured in the first place. If not for them, my birth father would be alive. Maybe he and Kenneth could have figured things out over time. He could have been a different person without them.
I took a drink of my coffee before answering. “It would be nice to talk to someone with some insight, that’s for sure.”
“What if we tried to find more of your family?” Nico asked.
I frowned. “What family? Everyone is dead. At least anyone I can think of to try and find. The royals have made it their mission to kill anyone associated with the Edemas bloodline. Kenneth was probably the only person worth talking to.”
Nico jerked his chin toward me. “Obviously, the royals aren’t as good at finding the descendants as they thought they were. You’re a perfect example. Maybe there are others they’ve missed. Also…” He gave me a weird look. “What if Kenneth was keeping secrets up until he died?”
