She swings around and growls.
I drop my hands, leaving my arms at my sides, leaving myself open so she knows I won’t fight. “I don’t know about the rest of their story, about you saving them. But I know them, and I know they’re telling you the truth. It’s all they have—their home and each other.”
Her lip turns up, and a warning snarl rumbles from deep within her chest. Her muscles bunch in her hind legs.
“Remember the story I told you about where I lived before Elias took me in?” Her head tilts. “I told you I lived on the streets. This was my family before I left.”
“You mean, before you abandoned us for the rich,” Scar spits.
Jessica swings around and barks a warning. Clary covers his mouth and whispers in his ear. The look of disgust clearly directed toward me falls away. He kisses Clary on the forehead before burying his face in the crook of her neck.
The space around Jessica shutters and vibrates. Slowly, she transitions back into her human form. Crouched low, long platinum strands of hair rest along her naked back and fall forward, brushing the floor. She rises to her feet and raises her chin. Thunder booms overhead, and a gentle breeze surrounds her. Streaks of lightning dance around her, lightly touching the mat.
Everyone gasps. The men and women I grew up with, and some new faces, all fall to one knee, place their right fists over their hearts, and bow their heads. I turn back to find the recruits all mirror them.
The leather piece slides along the mat, decreasing in size, until it wraps around Strap’s left wrist like a cuff.
Jessica frowns at everyone’s submissive posture. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re a White Wolf, Jessica. They’re paying you their respects,” Luke explains.
She bows her head and grins. “I transitioned,” she whispers to herself. Sixes and Emily enter the ring. A large blanket appears in Sixes’s arms. She wraps it around Jessica, hiding her naked body from everyone’s view. Both Emily and Sixes embrace her. “I can shift,” she whispers to them.
Amery stands and helps Strap up to his feet. She begins to speak. “One day, when a new generation is born, they will harness the magic of their originals.”
Clary stands next, helping Scar, and joins Amery. “Together, they will bring back the traditions that were once forgotten.”
“Reunite our realm and bring peace,” Strap and Scar finish in unison.
Amery faces me. “One day, the white wolf will come, a prisoner against her will, and save the forgotten. And on the second meeting, she will return, and she will bring an army of magic wielders. Liam, everything Eugene predicted is true.”
I drop my chin, recalling Eugene’s predictions. Luke steps up to my side. Dimitri—or Henry, as everyone else knows him—is the last one to join us. Strap and Scar pass glances before returning their scrutinizing gaze in our direction.
Scar tilts his head in Luke’s direction. “What’s your magic?”
Luke frowns at Scar and hesitates before answering. “Earth.”
Scar nods and faces Dimitri.
Dimitri stares at Jessica intensely. “Water,” he answers without taking his gaze off of her. Scar and Strap exchange another look, and I already know what they think. Luke turns to me with a raised brow.
“She will recruit an army of magic wielders of different elements and species and lead us into battle to protect ourkind.” Scar looks pointedly at the group of unfamiliar faces and shakes his head. Slowly, his head swivels in my direction, and he smirks. “You should have told us why you left.”
I don’t answer him, shifting my gaze in the direction Sixes and Emily took Jessica.
Scar approaches me and extends a hand. “Well, welcome back home, Alpha.” I glance down at his outstretched hand before I make eye contact with Scar. “But don’t take my acceptance as forgiveness for abandoning us.”
Luke, Sodie, Skunk, and I stand off to the side, dumbfounded, as four women from my old crew and the six new shifters that joined them to explain to Chris and Elias how they met Jessica. Apparently, Shadow hadn’t told anyone about Sodie’s confession.
Maybe he told Anders, but he isn’t here to confirm if he knows the truth.
Despite Sodie’s confession, there are still missing parts of the story. How did Jessica wash up near a pier? I always found that information confusing and a little suspicious—that is, until Mr. Beck, Marty’s stepfather, admitted his gambling problem during his interrogation.
His mate refused to give him money to pay off his debts. So, he broke into the clinic, intending to steal some drugs to sell on the streets. Instead, he discovered an unconscious Jessica. After he read her chart and realized who she was, he saw it as an opportunity to sell her to some men he knew in the trafficking business.
At the time, I wasn’t sure if I believed his entire story, until now.
“So let me get this straight,” Chris says to the group of shifters from the slums. “An overweight male who smelled like whiskey and cheap beer brought an unconscious Jessica, the Princess, to a boat, where ten of you were kidnapped and held prisoner in exchange for money. When she woke up, she freed all of you and took on men in suits alone so that you could all escape?” Chris glances at Elias.
