“You gave me a kuu?” I dropped the lighter onto the ground. “I have two of them now?”
“You only have one. The trinkets in your ears are powerless.”
“So I’m notbondedto Roscoe?”
Mosavi laughed. “I can’t even imagine.” He shook his head. “Your bond belongs to me. If you try to leave town, I will find you. If you try to throw the kuu away, it will come back.” The lighter suddenly appeared heavier in my hand. “You are mine until your full transformation.”
The room began to turn lighter as I grew angrier. “I just want to be—”
“There it is,” he interrupted, grabbing my lower jaw with his huge hand, holding my head in place as his eyes glowed.
Everything narrowed to a point. My body felt weightless, like I was dreaming. In another flash, a fancy room with marble pillars and deep red and gold-patterned carpet appeared around me. Lit candelabras stood tall in four far corners while flaming chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Before me were two werewolves. As the flames flickered brighter, I saw their faces.
“Roscoe?” I asked as the werewolf stood there with blank, light blue eyes. Austin stood next to him, his own irises the same color. He gave an army salute.
“What the hell is going on?”
“I’m seizing an opportunity while it presents itself,” the mayor said from behind, slipping his clawed hands over my shoulders. “You’re in control now. I want to see what you do.”
Roscoe’s face looked familiar. It was the same expression he’d worn when Darryl brutalized him.
“Is this some kind of mind control?”
“No, not quite. You can give suggestions, but whether or not they listen depends on your strength of will. Werewolves will happily follow someone who takes the lead, but they will also just as easily run over one who does not. Train them to be obedient.”
“They’re not dogs. I don’t like this at all.”
He squeezed my shoulders until they hurt.
“You either train them, or they leave town. Your choice.”
Something warm buzzed in my pocket, and Mosavi was forced back by a white light. The strange room shattered into millions of pieces as the jail cell reappeared, but Roscoe and Austin were still standing, their eyes completely blank. The mayor grabbed me by the neck before pushing me to the floor.
“You went into the woods before, didn’t you?” His eyes burned like liquid metal as he pulled the other two werewolves out of whatever trance they were in. Roscoe stumbled back before falling on his ass, Austin remained in place, bewildered.
“I was going to tell you, but I—”
Mosavi shut the cell door, locking the werewolves on the other side again. “Get out before I do something I’ll regret.”
I swallowed hard, my hands shaking again. “What about them?”
“They stay.”
“For how long?”
He slammed his fist against the bars and snapped back, making me wince. “Days! Months! Years! However damn long I want to keep them for!”
“I’ll get the bail money.”
“No bail!”
“You can’t just decide—” I pulled back when he stepped closer, leaning in until his wet snout touched my face.
“I can do what I please in this town,” he whispered. “I will collect you later.”
My stomach sank as I realized there was no bargaining with him while he was like this. He seemed almost feral, his eyes wide and pupils constricted. This wasn’t the same calm and confident werewolf he’d been moments ago.
“I just went to get firewood. Why is this such a big deal?”
