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I didn't reply, because we had other things to think about, but Ben had clearly heard him, so wasn't that a gift of Ben's as well?

“Who’s going to be at the meeting?” Kaylan asked.

“Us plus Simeon and my dad. I didn’t think it was fair to ask Esther to be there, because Estrelle is bound to be anxious with them here.”

"Good call," I agreed. Estrelle had been held prisoner by the coven for much of her adult life. "Random question." I lowered my voice. "What's Rhys doing to feed?"

Phoenix nodded. "Isla, Matthew, and Ben donate regularly. The older he gets, the less frequently he needs to feed, but he nearly made himself sick when he first moved in, trying animal blood."

I chuckled as Kaylan scrunched his nose up in disgust. "He can't do that?"

"Older ones can to survive, especially made silver-skins, but Rhys is of the blood as they call it, which means he needs certain types to function."

Kaylan smirked. "O neg?"

Phoenix rolled his eyes, but it was pretty funny. "Human." Then I realized I'd laughed, and I playfully nudged my two best friends. In the middle of everything, it was good just to have this. Then, because of course it did, my brain supplied another question. "What about Ben?"

The fact that I managed to silence both my friends was unheard of; clearly neither had thought about it.

"He isn't feeding," Phoenix said slowly. "He's never had to."

I shrugged. It was complicated, but I wondered if they'd associated him not needing blood with Ben's lack of gifts, despite his heritage. I met the gazes of both my friends and knew they'd reached the same conclusion.

"Later," Phoenix murmured, and I agreed. Between Danny, Em, and both packs, we had our hands full.

“We need to make doubly sure of the wards while we’re in the meeting,” Kaylan said, dragging us into the present complication. “Don’t want them trying a two-pronged attack like they did earlier.”

My feet stopped of their own accord. “What did you say?”

Kaylan looked blankly at me. “What?”

But my mind was racing. “We were attacked on the south side out toward the university. In the opposite direction of the packhouse, but when I called you within seconds of the attack, you were already there.”

“Because Rhys had already warned us,” Phoenix said.

“Fuck,” Kaylan swore, realizing the significance.

“There is no way the revenant could have gotten to the barrier on the other side that quickly,” I said. “He’s freaky fast, but he can’t be in two different places at once.”

We all looked at each other. “Which means it was someone or something else,” Phoenix said.

"Which would explain the different scents," I said, and carried on, probably unnecessarily as I didn't doubt they'd both worked it out. "When this started, we couldn't smell anything, which was why we thought it was a silver-skin, but later, the scent was strong and gag-worthy."

"And it kept changing," Kaylan muttered. "Which we just assumed was due to time and distance."

We headed back toward the packhouse, all silent with the weight of what we’d just worked out. As we approached, I caught Danny's scent on the wind—still carrying that subtle honey sweetness that made my bear rumble with satisfaction but now tinged with anxiety.

"He's worried," I murmured, more to myself than the others.

"About the meeting or about...other things?" Kaylan asked with typical directness.

"Both, probably." I picked up my pace, needing to see him, to reassure myself he was safe.

Inside, I found Danny curled up on the couch. Emery was preparing bottles nearby. I saw the baby monitor, so I assumed Tia and Callie were napping.

“How are you feeling?” I murmured, dropping onto the couch beside him, pressing a soft kiss to his temple.

"Like I'm being watched by a pack of very concerned shifters," Danny replied dryly, though he leaned into my touch. "Emery's been hovering all morning."