I got the strong impression, based on the lingering redness in his cheeks, the way he didn’t meet my eyes, and the obviousdiscomfort in his voice, that Daniel sometimes felt unwelcome here. And he wanted me to stop asking questions about him immediately. I would have bet any amount of money he didn’t like talking about himself.
“So,” I said, gesturing to the woods. “Monsters, huh?”
“This place is a nexus point between worlds,” Daniel said immediately, letting out a breath. His expression relaxed. He met my eyes again, perhaps relieved I had changed the subject. “It’s a thin place. Think of it as a kind of fault line. Sometimes earthquakes happen.”
“And by earthquakes, you mean…?”
“Interplanar fissures,” Daniel explained. “That’s the technical term, anyway. The wolves just call them ‘bleeds.’ It’s when a tear between worlds happens and things can cross back and forth.”
“Things like monsters.”
“Other things, too. The Otherworld isn’t just a place of monsters. Faeries, certain kinds of magic, non-monstrous mythical creatures, the Old Powers… pretty much everything from mythology or folklore that you told yourself couldn’t exist in the real world has its origins in the Otherworld.”
“Wait—” I said, picturing tiny glowing pixies with wings. “Like… Tinker Bell?”
“No,” Daniel said. “Trust me, faeries aren’t like Tinker Bell. They’re more dangerous than that. A lot of them are decent, like people, but some of them really aren’t.”
A chill danced up my spine. “The forest is dangerous, then?”
A mirthless smile curved across his lips. “Oh, yeah. Let’s put it this way: I have magic at my disposal, and I don’t go into those woods without at least one other person to watch my back. Not unless I have no choice.”
“And Reed…?”
“Is an alpha. He can handle himself.”
“What does being an alpha actually mean? I keep hearing this word thrown around, but isn’t a werewolf just a werewolf?”
“Alphas are the strongest wolves, Harris. You don’t need to worry about him.” He paused, watching me intently, his eyes seeming to miss nothing about the way I had tensed up at the idea of Reed going into those woods alone. “They have the most control over their form. They can shift the fastest. They can control the other wolves, if they have to. And their senses—their ability to see magic, to sense the flow of energies in a place—are the sharpest. Mostly, it’s subtle things. But they’re the leaders for a reason. And if Reed finds the monster that’s out there, he’ll kill it. That’s what the pack does—they protect this place from the things that slip through the bleeds.”
“Right,” I said, unsettled. I cast a nervous look toward the tree line just beyond the commune. The forest seemed suddenly more menacing. It was rapidly growing dark. The sun was nearly down. Reed had been gone for hours. And I suspected he probably wasn’t coming back.
Why would he? He wanted me gone. He would probably drive home the point that I couldn’t rely on him, that I was nothing to him. Just a silly human for him to protect.
“You’re his mate,” Daniel said quietly, still watching me. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? That’s why Reed is allowing you to stay here.”
I hesitated, not sure exactly what to say.
“You should head back to the cabin,” Daniel said, a tense note entering his words. He shot the forest a nervous look. “If anything happened to you…”
“Okay,” I said immediately, maybe a little too quickly. “Sounds good. I’ll just go back and wait for Reed. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
“Right,” Daniel said, forcing a smile that couldn’t have been more fake. “Yeah, totally.”
Well, that confirmed things, didn’t it? Reed probably had no intention of coming back anytime soon. He was going to head off into the woods by himself. And I was supposed to wait in the cabin like his house husband. Hardly.
“Well, it was nice to meet you,” I said to Daniel, giving him a sharp nod. “I should probably get back inside. More dangerous when it gets dark, right?”
“Yeah,” Daniel said, frowning at me, as though my sudden about-face had unsettled him. “Um, I should probably do a boundary spell, so nothing can get into your cabin.”
I didn’t know what a boundary spell was, but I was guessing it was also so I couldn’t getout, either. Daniel had no idea that, at Cole’s insistence, I had packed the amulet Magnus had been wearing, which was enchanted to prevent any sort of magic from having an effect on its wearer. I was reasonably certain it would allow me to pass through a boundary spell.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I said, giving him a nod. “We wouldn’t want Reed’s mate to get eaten by a monster, would we?”
“Right,” Daniel replied. He was staring at me now, confused. “Um, you’re okay with that? It’ll seal you inside, too. Until sunrise.”
Was I okay with being locked in a cabin while Reed went off and tried his damndest to get himself killed? Sure, pal. I’m hunky-dory.
“Oh, yeah,” I said, doing my level best to keep a neutral expression. “That’s totally fine. Do what you’ve got to do.”
