I nudged him with my shoulder.I’m close but I guarantee I’m not in heat.I dropped my voice to a slow whisper.Stick around a few more days, and you’ll understand the difference.And with that, I scampered past him and out into the night where hundreds upon hundreds of wolves obscured the land, awaiting their Alpha.
Chapter 45
Itrotted toward Adalyn, squeezing in between her and my mother.
Reese released the door, which clanged shut behind Liam. Like a few other shifters, she was still in skin. I assumed she was on guard duty tonight.
Boulders, I’m pleased to see so many here tonight in spite of the distance and the weather conditions. We’ve been monitoring the resort conditions, and although the risks of avalanches are slim, I urge you to stay in the woods and stick together.Liam’s burnished amber gaze scanned the sea of fur, peaked ears, and incandescent eyes.Six more full moons until the pack will be one. What an event that’ll be.He paced, his great shoulders rolling beneath the fur.Before we set out, though, I’d like to share the news of what’s happened beyond these walls tonight.
An hour ago, Lori bit Bea Park a second time, injecting her with venom until the human’s heart stopped. Unlike last month, when Bea resurrected, she did so in skin this time and no longer displays lycanthropic attributes.
Would he mention her eyes?
However, we will be keeping her confined to the bunker and under tight security until we are entirely certain she doesn’t pose a threat to either you or humans.
The air quivered with hasty intakes of breaths and hushed whines.
The coming hours will be critical and will determine whether Bea Park has a place in our pack. And in the world.
In other words, whether she lives or dies,Adalyn murmured beside my ear, making it twitch.
Would Bea’s craving for blood vanish? Would the redness of her irises fade? Would she ever be able to shift into a wolf or had Lori created a new species of supernatural? One who could heal and move at extraordinary speed and who could only stomach blood?
Vampire.
The word shimmered inside my mind.
We’d defined Bea as such, because she ticked all the criteria set forth by humans. Which led me to wonder if vampires had once existed. If they still did. Could the myth be real? After all, we werewolves were.
I’d promised that the person to find Bea a solution would become Beta. Having Lori bite Bea again was proposed by Nathaniel Freemont himself. Since I’m a man of my word, if this works, Nate has renewed access to his station.
The back of my neck prickled from the onslaught of attention directed on my family. Low growls erupted. Condemnatory. Disgruntled. Clearly, the pack wasn’t pleased about a second term.
Nate knew the truth of Lori’s venom and lied to the pack,a wolf yowled.
Why don’t you make Lori Beta while you’re at it?another snarled.
Quiet!Liam’s command resonated inside my marrow.Nate’s made a mistake, but which one of us hasn’t? Anyway, he’s declined to be reinstated, which means the position remains open. I’ll be taking candidatures as soon as tomorrow morning and will elect someone before the next full moon.Please do not come up to me tonight to discuss your desire to become Beta. Because tonight . . . we run. We run wild!
The pack began to paw the hardened ground, anticipation bleeding over their restlessness. I had no illusions their antipathy toward my brother, and by extension, toward my family, would slip their minds, but at least, it would take a backseat for now.
Without further ado, Boulders, may the moon forever guide you home.Our Alpha tilted his head up and howled, and like an airhorn, the guttural, ancient call made our hearts blast faster, our spines snap, our tails straighten.
After a rapid look my way, he pivoted, and his wolves parted, fashioning an aisle to let him through. He took off at a jog, and then his speed increased. As soon as he’d breached the throng’s periphery, the pack disbanded and took off after him, paws trampling the snow, and in turn, my prospect of running alongside Liam.
If I could even locate him in the woods amid a thousand wolves, matching his pace would be impossible. The cold fisted my still-recovering knee, tightening the ligaments and glazing the bone. I stretched my back legs as my packmates peeled themselves away like plucked daisy petals, streaking toward the conifers in a steady stream of variegated fur.
Adalyn nudged me, and we took off at a slow jog. Soon Niall and Nolan had left us in the dust, or rather the snow, but Nash stayed close to Adalyn, the same way Lori stayed close to my parents.
I tried to imagine how she could be feeling. The tightness of her gait spoke of deep-seated distress and her downturned face spoke of that melancholy I’d spotted earlier. By bringing Bea back, she’d lost Nate.
IfBeawas truly back.
But even if she wasn’t, Lori would remainlupa non grata, feared for who she was and what she could do.
As though she could feel me thinking about her, her violet eyes found mine right before we broke into the forest. The contact lasted mere seconds but confirmed my diagnosis of her poor morale. Soon, her gaze returned to the dark trunks that loomed like silent sentinels and the pale snow that cushioned our paws.
The smell of wild game threaded itself through the tall evergreens of our pack’s territory, which remained untouched by humans. Not even the most fearless skier or hiker came out here, especially not in the winter. The pass to reach this land was too narrow and treacherous.
