Page 91 of Poet & Protector

“Uh.” Ansel blinked at me, surprised by the interruption. He was used to me smiling blithely without comment while he was in stream-of-consciousness mode. “Happy wolves make better warriors? It’s a pretty good motto, and true. That’s why⁠—”

“No.” I didn’t want to ask, but I had to. “Logan. You said something about Logan.”

All I could do was hope I’d misheard Ansel, but sharp stabs of pain were already attacking my stomach.

“Oh.” Ansel’s body stilled as he searched my face. He knew something was very, very wrong. There was no hiding my panic. “Calla told me last night that Logan is going to be the master of our new pack. It’s Logan’s inheritance or something because he’s of age now, which is a very Keeperish thing to do, so I guess it makes sense. Why?”

“Logan?” My voice cracked. “Our master?”

I was back in Eden, bass reverberating through my limbs, shadow and light swirling around me while Nev and I tried to unravel Logan’s behavior.

“You said he hadn’t approached you before. Why now?”

“I have no idea. Maybe because we’re older. Or there’s something else going on that I don’t know about. But he’s so confident. No hesitation at all.”

Logan had no reason to hold back. Our lives were his now. And that meant…

“I know, right?” Ansel went on, still watching me. His words continued to tumble out, but they were anxious now rather than excited. “I didn’t expect that. Calla didn’t either, but she doesn’t seem too worried about it. I mean, it’s good it’s not Efron, though, right? For Sabine’s sake?”

This isn’t happening. This isn’t real. This can’t be real.

My vision wavered and my mind filled with static noise.

“Mason?” Ansel’s voice sounded very far away. “Mason, are you okay? You’re really pale.”

I shook my head, backing away from him. I was so unsteady on my feet I stumbled and almost fell.

“Mason!”

I heard Ansel, but I couldn’t see him. Everything around me was blurred, my eyes hot and stinging.

I spun around and sprinted to the nearest bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet before I heaved up my breakfast.

* * *

The Mountain School

Monday

NEV

The message arrived as I was about to walk into my first class of the day.

Ansel: Bathroom closest to the library. Come now.

I paused outside the door. Ansel’s message was one of two things: a real emergency, or he’d been so excited about his success at Eden he’d taken it upon himself to scout more secret hookup spots for me and Mason.

An emergency seemed unlikely—Mason would have texted me first—and if Ansel was hoping to play lookout for us again, I was going to have to explain that school bathrooms, or anywhere at school, were not a good idea. I appreciated his support and enthusiasm, but he might need some work on personal boundaries.

I was debating whether to ignore the message and go to class when a second alert came in.

Ansel: NOW!!!!!

Emergency. I would have heard from Mason, unless the emergency was Mason.

My adrenaline spiked.

Shoving my phone into my pocket, I bolted away from the classroom, cursing that I had to stay in human form at school. I was so much faster as a wolf. Fear dug its claws into me as I raced through the halls until I finally I slammed through the bathroom door.