Brother Jeremiah’s throat bobbed when he swallowed. His skin had gone pale enough to make his red nose stand out even more. He still held himself upright, but his shoulders kept tightening like he was bracing for impact. The two men behind him huddled close, watching the wolves and the pack and the open space around them.
Seth turned toward Brother Jeremiah and kept his hands visible. “Listen. We’re not evil. We’re not spawns of the devil. We just shift into wolves. It’s not a big deal, dude.”
Brother Jeremiah gulped and studied Seth for several long moments, gaze flicking over his face, no doubt noticing the calm tone. “This does make a bit of sense,” he admitted. Then he lifted his chin. “Did you kill your mother all those years ago?”
“No,” Seth said immediately. “Of course not.” He sounded weary. “Also, I’ve got a few things to tell you about the sheriff’s death.”
Brother Jeremiah’s expression twitched. “Um, okay?” The guy sounded lost.
Seth turned toward Caidrik and the entire pack. “I give you my word as the Alpha of the Silver Pack that these three men will not tell our secrets. I’ll kill them first, but I would like to give them a chance to live.”
Caidrik studied him. Killing humans wasn’t his thing. “I accept your word, and I’m fine if you take them.” He glanced over at Luca, because Luca needed to be in this too.
“Fine by me,” Luca said, shrugging. “But if they speak, you’ll be at war with our pack.”
Seth rolled his eyes. It was quick. It was subtle. “Sounds good,” he said, like Luca had just told him the sky was blue. Then he winked at Nadia. “Good to see you again, Nadia.”
Caidrik’s head snapped down toward her before he could stop it. “When did you meet?”
Nadia shrugged, pulling her jacket tighter at the collar. “My group might have passed through the Silver Pack years ago. Looking for farming land.” She sounded calm, but her cheeks were pink from cold and emotion. “I’m surprised he remembers me.”
The female was impossible to forget, and it was endearing that she didn’t know that. Caidrik focused back on Seth. “Get them out of here before someone changes their minds.”
“No problem,” Seth said. “Can I have the truck?”
“It’s all yours,” Caidrik muttered. The truck was the least of his problems, and if Seth wanted it, Seth could have it. He’d hand him the damn bleachers if it meant this ended without blood.
Seth motioned toward the truck, and the two quiet humans ran forward and jumped into the back.
Brother Jeremiah stayed where he was, looking around at the pack and the field, eyes bright with shock and anger and whatever else was happening behind them. “You’re all wolf shifters?”
“Yep,” Caidrik said.
“You all can turn into wolves?”
Caidrik didn’t have time for this. “Yep.”
Jeremiah looked back at Seth. “Is Mia a wolf now?”
“No,” Seth said. “But I did mate her.”
“Mate?” Jeremiah’s voice rose, sharp and startled, as if that was somehow worse than everything else.
“Get in the truck, TJ,” Seth said, clearly exasperated. “I’ll tell you all about it.”
Brother Jeremiah must’ve decided that was the safest plan because he did so immediately. He climbed into the passenger seat, still gripping his cross.
“Thanks, Slate Pack,” Seth called, walking around and getting into the driver’s seat. “I’ll get the truck back to you at some point.” He drove off, taking the truck the way he’d come, tires crunching on snow until the sound faded into the open cold.
Solomon watched him go. “We had a lot of clothes in the back of that,” he murmured, sounding mildly wounded.
Caidrik looked at him, then looked at the people around him, pack members on the bleachers and in the snow. His chest felt tight and not from the cold. “Listen,” he said. “I’ll kill for this pack in a heartbeat if it’s necessary.” He let that sit, because it was true. Then he drove the point in. “But we are not creating situations where we have to kill people. Especially humans. Is that understood?”
Pretty much everybody nodded, and Nadia beamed at him.
Solomon gulped. “Don’t worry. That was the last challenge of this type.”
Caidrik was over all of this. It was time to finish the trials. He looked down at Nadia. “I’m going to do these trials and then probably fight Luca to the death. During this timeframe, I want you in your house, safe,” he continued, lowering his voice to pure Alpha range. “Not moving until I’m done.”
