I nodded, and my gaze bounced to my aunt before returning to my dad. Wedefinitelydidn’t want Lilith to know what we were up to, or she might ask me to bring back her son—which would be ahardno.
“I suggest you take him and the Midnight boys to thebackcabin,” my father said and gave me a sad smile. “Do you remember the way?”
Tucked away from the rest of the compound, hidden amongst the trees at the very edge of our property was the building he referenced. As kids, Lona used to take me and Mack there for overnight “vacations.” I’d always thought the somewhat abandoned building was a fun place to leave the hustle and bustle of pack life behind. Now, I knew the truth.
“Yep,” I said, suddenly eager to see the place again, knowing now how it had served to hide me that first year. “I remember.”
“Fiona, Kaja,” my dad called to my Harvest Clan friends. “If you two would be kind enough to help Mack set up patrols, I think it’d be best to start surveillance.”
The girls nodded and headed outside with Mack.
“Mom?” Rage’s brow furrowed as he stared at his mother. “Are you coming?”
Elaine glanced at us from over her shoulder and then shook her head. “I’d better stay here.” She tilted her head toward my aunt, who was sobbing into Lona’s shoulder.
Wow. No way would I stick around for this. Maybe she also didn’t trust that Lilith wouldn’t go postal and try to kill Lona or my dad or something. I suddenly felt grateful she’d be here.
“Your mom is a saint,” I whispered to Rage.
He grunted. “You have no idea.”
Which was probably true.
Justice said something to Noble, and they both crossed the room to us. Justice stepped over to Grandpa Geoff and offered him his arm.
We stepped out the sliding glass door and onto the back deck. A thick blanket of snow covered the bare fifty-acre field, the tree line hazy through the falling snow. But it was slow going with gramps shuffling like a hundred-year-old man with a thrown-out back.
Oh, mage. I would never forgive myself if I’d done that to him.
“Sir,” Justice said, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m concerned your pace may slow us down and impact our ability to bring back Honor in time.”
Grandpa and Reyna shuffled toward us, the former chuckling as he drew near.
“Don’t be absurd,” my grandfather said, wheezing as if he were on the last mile of a marathon. “I’ll most certainly slow you down. That’s why we have Reyna here.”
I wanted to ask him if he was okay, but I also didn’t want to prolong this trip to the cabin any more than necessary. “Do you want one of the boys to carry you?” I asked.
“I’d be happy to, sir,” Rage said, stepping forward.
Reyna shook her head and snarled, “Not happening, Midnight. You worry about your mate. Let me worry aboutmyMaster Mage of Spirit.”
Alrighty, then.
“Which way?” Reyna asked, crouching on the first step leading off the deck.
“We gotta clear the tree line, and then I can show you—”
My grandfather leapt up onto Reyna’s back with the exuberanceand energyof a five-year-old.
I gave him a side-eyed look. “How are you feeling?”
“Never better,” he said with a chuckle that turned into a whoop when Reyna bounded across the snow-covered field toward the trees, giving my grandfather a piggyback ride.
Okay … so, that happened.
Rage, Justice, and Noble all shifted into their wolves, and the latter two raced after Reyna. I slipped out of my clothes and shifted, gathering my clothes in my mouth for when we got to the cabin.
‘You should do that more,’Rage said, giving me a wolfish grin.
