Cass drew up to my side, offering his silent support. I could always count on my bestie to have my back, even when all I needed was some encouragement.
Brock padded out of my old room in wolf form just as Ray let himself into the cabin. When Brock met his second’s gaze, I knew he’d been communicating with him through their pack link. He probably wanted Ray here just in case anything should go wrong.
No matter how many times I saw Brock’s wolf, I couldn’t help but admire it. The large gray wolf was all lean, muscled strength and fierce determination. Brock’s yellow eyes moved from Ray to me, and I nodded.
It was time.
As if the fog demon within Molly understood what was about to happen, and what the end result of Brock’s wolf bite would be, Molly thrashed and pulled against Haru and Reo’s hold with such renewed ferocity that Ray and Johnny ran to help them contain her. Even my dad looked worried, rolling his wheelchair a little closer to my side. Willemena and Cho looked on with somber expressions, while Tianna crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at the scene.
With Molly’s arms pinned fully against the couch, she kicked her bound legs like a psychopathic mermaid. She bucked and sneered, gnashing and grinding her teeth so ferociously that I worried she might crack a tooth before this was all over.
But just as I was about to ask Cass and Tianna if they wanted to hold down her legs, Brock lunged for her. He was faster than I realized; he clamped sharp jaws around her bare leg, slicing into her calf without warning.
She roared in outrage, but Brock held on.
A fierce power whipped through our pack bond as his unseen alpha magic wrapped around Molly. His power was a tangible force sweeping like a gust of wind across the room. Tianna and Cho bristled, as if they too could feel the magic, then Molly flung her legs up in a brutal snap that dislodged Brock’s jaw and sent him flying across the open living space. His wolf form crashed into a couple of dining room chairs, which toppled over like dominoes. Brock grunted, but twisted so that he somehow managed to land on four paws.
‘Are you okay?’I asked him urgently through our pack link.
‘Fine,’he grumbled.‘It’s done. Now we just have to wait for the werewolf magic to spread into her and see if her body accepts it.’Then he trotted off toward my old room again, and when he emerged, he was all hot man again.
Ifher body accepts it. He saidif.
Brock ran a hand through his dark hair while we all took in Molly. Her resistance to the men holding her was decreasing, the fight appearing to ooze out of her like air out of a deflating balloon. When she finally sank against the couch in complete exhaustion, Johnny and Ray stepped away, and eventually even Haru and Reo released their hold on her, though they monitored her with narrowed eyes.
“How long will the transition take?” Tianna asked Brock.
“It depends on the person. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Since I’m an alpha and my magic is stronger, it will probably take less time. But I’m not sure what kind of effect the demon fog will have on things. That’s new territory for me.”
While everyone turned to stare at Molly again, whose purple-hair draped over the back of the couch, I studied Brock. His back was tense, his eyes sad.
‘Are you all right?’I asked him privately, and he met my gaze across the room.
‘Yeah, it’s just that being a werewolf can be a risky life. And she won’t get a choice on which pack she’s a part of either. Since I’m turning her, she’ll automatically become part of my pack.’
‘She trusts you,’I said.‘I’m sure she’ll be glad not only to be a wolf, but to have you as her alpha.’Croft wouldn’t be too glad, but the vamp lawyer hadn’t been coming around much anymore now that Molly had become part of our crew. Molly’s days as his blood mistress were officially over, and I was damn glad. Ever since I’d known this girl, she’d wanted to be immersed in the supernatural world. She’d have no problem with the choice we’d made for her.
‘I hope you’re right,’Brock said.‘I hope she makes it through.’
I didn’t put words to how important it was for me that she make it through. I wouldn’t lose Molly. No fucking way. I was not letting a damn fog demon take her from me. Shewouldsurvive the turn. She had to. I’d accept nothing else.
Molly was unmoving, the contrast to her earlier behavior disturbing after she had fought for so many hours. She closed her eyes as if about to take a nap.
“Maybe we could have some tea while we watch her,” Willemena suggested, already moving over to the dining table and righting the chairs Brock’s wolf had crashed into.
Cass’ head jerked up to meet mine and he grinned. I smiled back, my heart not quite in it, even though I could tell he was trying to cheer me up. “Tea is for pussies,” he said, and Willemena whipped her head up.
She stared at Cass for several beats, before throwing her head back and laughing. Her long, gray hair was loose today, and it swept gracefully along her back as she laughed. Finally, she wiped at her eyes, and smiled sadly. “I miss Belinda.”
I nodded. “I miss Gran too.”
“I’m not sure this is the time to laugh and reminisce,” Johnny said, narrowing his eyes at Willemena.
The old witch, who’d had Gran’s trust, shrugged with disinterest, taking a seat with a sigh. “Son, someday you’ll learn that you have to take life as it comes. You have to laugh when you can and roll with the punches. If you don’t, this life will fucking break you.”
Then Willemena tilted her head against the chair back and closed her eyes.
“I’ll go put on a pot of coffee,” Cass said, but stopped halfway to the kitchen when Molly sat straight up on the couch and screamed.
