I focus my eyes on the soft, red glow again and put my nose to the wind. I can detect the heat, like seared sand blowing off the skin of the desert. Even though nothing is burning and there is no smoke, it feels like something is about to ignite.
The memories rise in my heart. Even though I’m afraid, I close my eyes and let them come. They don’t flash through my mind like they usually do, but play through, minute by minute. I know this has lived inside me since the night it happened, and I have used every last scrap of mental strength to suppress it.
Might be why I’m so thick.
When I open my eyes and focus on the red glow again, my heart is ringing with pain as if it’s been sliced open, but the dull, festering ache is gone. Fear is still running in my blood, but now I’m afraid of something else.
I don’t want to lose Grace!
The revelation is shocking to me. After three weeks of putting so much distance between us, I now understand exactlywhy I did it, and what my friends have been trying to tell me all along.
I cared about her from the start, and after that night in the woods, I knew I loved her…
A sharp twist in my chest makes me throw back my head and howl. The sound pours from my chest, all my sorrow and longing echoing through me up into the sky.
I love her. I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone, and I was more scared of that than magic, the snake, or even dying.
As I open my eyes and the howl in my throat dies away, I hear answering howls from the hills around me. All our scouts, warriors, and the alphas, too—all calling out with confidence and power as if to lend me their strength.
I turn back towards Riverside, full of determination. The run down the mountain takes less time than the run to the peak, and I reach town quickly. Even though guilt and pain return to me as I come into our yard, I don’t slow down, pacing straight into the house.
When I get to the living room, Grace is curled up on the couch in my blanket. She sits up, her eyes unfocused and bright.
“Sorry, Dan,” she murmurs. “I fell asleep here. I’ll move.”
“No,” I answer, shifting back. “Stay. I need to talk to you.”
She nods, still looking dazed after coming up out of a deep sleep. She hands me the blanket, and I wrap it around my waist as I sit down beside her.
“The first thing I want to say is, I’m sorry,” I say, taking her hand gently. “I’m sorry that I shut down after that night in the woods, and that I’ve been distant the last few weeks. I have a reason, but it doesn’t excuse my behavior.”
“Okay,” she replies, her voice very soft. “Go on.”
I take a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment and squeezing her hand for strength.
“My family died when I was thirteen,” I say, going straight to the hard part. “My mother, father, and sister were killed by a sorcerer who was on the run from Wolf’s Shadow.”
“Oh my God,” Grace gasps, covering her mouth with one hand. “What happened?”
I sigh, gathering my courage again.
“We lived in a remote area outside our pack. There weren’t any other farms around—a completely different part of the country from where we are now. WS were tracking a sorcerer who was a threat to the human world and the human-shifter alliance. The magician was desperate by this point; she’d been running for weeks and was almost out of energy. They were going to get her.”
I close my eyes and stroke Grace’s hand gently with my fingers, remembering the still, cool night and the bright moonlight outside my bedroom window.
“I heard a noise downstairs,” I whisper, my voice rough as my mind goes back in time. “I went down to see what was happening. A tall, skinny woman was holding my mother around the throat, and my father was trying to talk her down. He told her she could have anything if she just let us live. I think she snuck in looking for food or supplies, and my mom caught her at it.”
Grace squeezes my hand, and I look into her eyes. They look warm, soft, and gentle, with tears shimmering under her lashes. I look away again into my lap, unable to go on while I’m looking at her.
“The sorcerer forced Mom to her knees and told Dad to get out of the way. She said she’d take some food and go. I stood on the stairs, terrified, not knowing what to do.”
“Oh, Dan,” Grace whispers. Grief shudders through me, and I have to cover my face.
“My sister toddled into the room. She was four. She had no idea what was going on. It startled the sorcerer, and she let go of Mom to throw energy at Bethany. It froze her in place—I don’t think it hurt her—but both Mom and Dad jumped to protect her.”
My breathing comes in low rasps as the scene plays out again in my mind.
“Dark energy came up through the floor. The sorcerer shrieked, hurling it at my family. It came at them like tree roots, winding across the floor, slowly wrapping around their limbs as they screamed. I ran towards them—”
