Chase swallowed, “Arthur sent me to tell you. There’s been an attack.”
Dominic’s pulse stilled. “Who?”
“One of ours,” Chase said. “A scout who was patrolling the northern forest. We found him near the border trail.”
Layla made a small sound behind Dominic, but he didn’t turn. “How?”
“Savaged,” Chase swallowed again. “Not animal. Not human, either. It looks like—” he stopped himself, eyes flicking toward Layla—“it looks like hybrids.”
The word hung there, heavy as stone.
Dominic took a step forward. “Was he alone?”
“Two others missing,” Chase said, “we’re still searching.”
A cold wind coiled through the open door.
Dominic’s mind narrowed to a single thought. Layla’s dream, the white wolf torn apart, and now a Nordan corpse in the forest before dawn.
He turned finally, looking at her. Her face was still pale, her eyes wide with horror.
Dominic rounded back to Chase and said, very quietly, “Show me.”
Chase nodded, stepping back into the dark corridor.
Dominic glanced at Layla once more. She was trembling again, blanket drawn tight around her shoulders, tears drying on her cheeks.
“Come with me,” he said, “I’ll drop you off at The Anchor. Your brother’s there.”
She didn’t argue, just took his outstretched hand and followed him into the night.
Chapter 12 - Layla
The Anchor door’s echo still trembled in the stone after Dominic and the others were gone, surging out into the first rays of morning sun to meet up with Arthur and the rest of the Nordan beyond the borders of Skymist.
Theodore stayed, pacing the rug, eyes bloodshot and jaw set.
He’d barely looked at her.
“Say it,” she finally said, pulling at the sleeves of the old woolen sweater Dominic had given her, picking at a loose thread at the cuff.
Theodore stopped, turning to her. For a heartbeat, she saw her brother, young and cheeky and ambitious. Then the officer returned, the high-ranking male, best friend and advisor to the Alpha. “Tell me what you did.”
“Nothing.” The word came out small. “I fell asleep in the shop. I had a dream.”
He laughed once, sharp and ugly. “A dream. And by coincidence, a Nordan scout ends up dead in the trees?” He dragged a hand over his jaw, catching on the scruff of his stubble. “Layla, I need the truth.”
“That is the truth,” she said, “I don’t know what more you want from me.”
He took two steps closer, sudden and jerky, his eyes narrowing as they darted about the room. “Was it witchcraft?”
She sucked in a gasp. Somehow, she didn’t think he’d actually dare speak the words. “Don’t call it that.”
“What should I call it?” he snapped, “You—this—” He gestured at her, at the angry red slash on her palm. “You’re bound to the Alpha, chosen byLunarionhimself, apparently, have a nightmare, and then wake up to an attack that happened inexactly the same wayyou dreamed it. Help me understand what that is, because if it was witchcraft, so help me, Layla—”
“I’m scared, Theo!” The words came out louder than expected, and she swallowed the sudden burning tightness in her throat, “I’m not hiding anything from you, I promise. I don’t know what’s going on, why this happened. You have to believe me!”
He flinched back at the rawness in her voice. Both of them were exhausted. Angry. Confused. Now was not the time to be having this fight.
