‘They know who you are,’ he said. ‘They don’t need atwenty-four-seven watch. Even in Savannah with your magic blocking them, the most experienced wolves will be able to hunt you on the day of the phase. Our senses are still heightened in the daytime.’
‘So someone will come.’ I broke away from him completely, moving to perch on the edge of my bed, creating distance but not clarity. ‘Then what? I’m supposed to sit around and wait for them to roll up and rip my heart out? Doesn’t sound like a very tempting offer.’
Wyn stood in front of me, his grey shirt crumpled from hours in the car, the laces of his boots untied. His eyes were rimmed red and I realized, with a gut punch of pain, he had been crying in his truck on the way here.
‘They’ll make it sound like you have a chance, offer to let you bring a second, but whatever sentence is passed down to you will apply to the second also.’
‘Meaning they’ll kill us both?’
‘Weres are forbidden to take human lives. It’s a high crime. If you bring a human second and you’re found guilty, the pack won’t kill them but whoever it is will wish they were dead. They’ll take the second’s hands, eyes and tongue to prevent them from telling anyone what happened. I’m sure they’re hoping you’ll bring Ashley, save them the task of hunting her down.’
‘Wyn, that’s sick.’
‘It’s beyond cruel,’ he agreed. ‘And it keeps our secrets.’
‘If it’s such a crime for Weres to take a human life, how come my killing Cole doesn’t count as self-defence?’
‘Because a witch isn’t a human as far as they’re concerned. It won’t matter that you didn’t know, all they care about is one dead Were versus one living witch.’
I pressed both hands into the mattress but there was no way to steady myself.
‘Do they know about Lydia?’ I asked, and he shook his head.
‘But if they find out, and they will, they’ll kill her too. And they’ll mutilate Jackson and his mom and anyone else in their family who could potentially continue the line. I know you’re strong but it’s only you and Lydia, and the whole south-eastern pack is coming to Savannah to kill you and I don’t know what to do!’
The last part was a roar. It was only the music blasting downstairs that kept his voice from summoning everyone in the house.
‘Do you know how they found out?’ I asked. ‘Was it Astrid?’
He shook his head again.
‘No one mentioned her name.’ He sank down at the side of me, my mattress softening under his weight and pushing the two of us together. ‘I asked, but they won’t tell me. Pack leaders and their council only.’
None of this should’ve been so alarming. We knew it was coming, knew the wolves would be at my door on the night of the full moon. All I could do was wait.
‘We’re panicking over nothing,’ I said, forcing myself to be calm, one hand clinging to my wooden bedpost. ‘We’re safe. No one can get into Bell House; they can’t touch us here.’
‘Are you sure?’ he asked, unintentionally echoing Jackson’s question as he turned to face me with challenging eyes. ‘Are you certain the house can defend you against a whole pack of wolves?’
I looked to my home, the vines that ran up and down my bedroom walls growing at an alarming rate, weaving themselves into a defensive thicket of thorns and building up protection from the inside out.
‘She won’t go down without a fight,’ I told him. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of anyone who showed up here meaning harm to a witch.’
‘I don’t know what to do.’ Wyn stared blankly at the floorboards. ‘Do I go back and try to talk my mom down? Do I stay here and try to protect you? We can’t run, they’d find us. A wolf hasn’t been taken out by a witch in over a century. They’re pulling everyone in for this, everyone, dozens of Weres, maybe hundreds. They want to make an example of you, Emily, eradicate the witches for good.’
I instinctively ran my hand through his hair, letting reality sink in. I could stay in Bell House for the full moon but not forever.
‘You should go,’ I said, even as I curled my fingers in his hair so tightly I felt the tension against his scalp. ‘If they arrive while you’re here, they’ll kill you.’
‘Worse. They’ll exile me, I’ll be a lone wolf. I’d rather be dead.’
‘Don’t say that,’ I ordered. ‘Never say that. You wouldn’t be alone, you’d have me. You’ll always have me, no matter what.’
Wyn twisted against my grip on his hair, his lips finding the inside of my forearm, connecting wherever they could.
‘It’s not that simple,’ he murmured against my skin. ‘Living through the phase every month without your pack would tear your soul into pieces. The only wolf exiled from our pack took his own life after the first phase, the pain was too much.’
‘What about Astrid?’
