Still distrustful of everyone in this pack, I shake my head, unwilling to reveal that I’d just had what I suspect is a psychic vision like the one I had years ago that revealed to me that I was pregnant.
Just then, a group of she-wolves entered the library, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the distraction, being pulled away to tend to their queries. Between a rock and a hard place, I’m flung into what I suspect will be my undoing.
But to my surprise, the group doesn’t seem to care about who I am. Though I recognize some faces from the past—faces that had been scornful around me when I was a nerdy teen who didn’t fit in—they don’t seem to recognize me.
Or maybe they do, and they just don’t care that I’m the Lang girl whose family almost cost the pack their anonymity amongst the humans.
Maybe everyone moved on, and I’m the only one stuck in the past.
When I’m done tending to the group, I notice that Luna Aurora hasn’t left, hanging by the non-fiction section as she browses through a leather-clad book.
“Found something you wanna read?” I ask as I approach her.
She chuckles lightly, but lifts weary brown eyes at me, her lips pursed. “You’ve read most of the books in here, right?”
“Mostly from the fictional side,” I reply as I gesture to the shelves on the opposite side. “But I have delved in some of these. Why?”
“Just asking…” she muses as she returns the book to its slot. “What do you know about the old legends? Or more specifically, the demon dog?”
“Demon dog?” I frown, the name ringing some distant bells. “I think I have come across that name. Why?”
Aurora sighs as she turns to me, her head bent as she begins to whisper, explaining the troubles the pack has been facing over the past few months.
As she speaks, my jaw drops. I had no idea that Snehvolk was being haunted by an evil spirit that sprang out of history books, threatening to wipe out the pack.
She tells me about the recent attacks—the last one being two months ago, when the alphas had all been wounded in combat against the malevolent force that cannot be impaired by mortal creatures. She takes my hand and leads me back to the window, recounting how the elders and alphas decided her fate a few months ago when the demon had already killed three werewolves from the pack who’d been traveling alone in the woods.
She was meant to be sacrificed to the demon as the pack’s offering in exchange for safety, but Alpha Elias quickly discovered that they were fated mates and protected her.
Listening to her, all I can think about is the safety of my son. If it wasn’t for how happy he is in Girdwood, this situation with the demon would have been enough reason to leave again.
“That’s how I was able to figure out who I really am,” she says with a sigh, staring at her open palms.
“The alpha’s fated mate…”
“So much more than that,” Aurora smiles as she lifts her eyes back to mine. “I am a descendant of a powerful tribe of witches, Yvonne. I can wield those powers against the demon, and I often have psychic visions that keep us one step ahead.”
A frown furrows my brows as I stare disbelievingly at the luna of the pack.
A witch who has psychic visions?
Is that what I’ve been experiencing ever since I returned to the Snehvolk Pack? The recurring vision of the open forest that becomes consumed by a dark, ominously black floating presence?
“You’ve been having them too, haven’t you?” Aurora asks gently as she places a hand on my shoulder, startling me out of my thoughts.
“What? No. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I hastily defend, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Why would I be having visions? I’m not a witch!”
Aurora giggles dismissively, but her eyes remain skeptical as she watches me. Feeling uncomfortable, I narrowly escape her questions when another group enters the library.
“Excuse me,” I say politely as I escape her imposing proximity and make my way to the front.
I still don’t know if I can trust anyone from Snehvolk, harboring resentment of my own for the past. Besides, it would be ridiculous to claim that I have certain powers linked to the legends.
I’m just plain old me. I’m not special.
***
Luna Aurora assured me that she’d bring Gio home today, since it was my first day at work in the library. Though I still have my inhibitions about trusting the members of the Snehvolk Pack, Aurora has been nothing but good to me and Gio.
