Page 88
“Who else would it be?” I ask.
He looks like he wants to answer that very question or at least challenge my logic. Instead, he pulls out his phone and photographs the room in a systematic sweep: walls, floor, counter, shelving. “According to my source, Petyr received a shipment last month that he had to sign for. Return address was Blue Ridge, Virginia.”
“Hex territory,” I say.
He nods. “I’d hoped to track the goods back to a witch we could proposition for help.” He lowers the phone. “Why were you running the same lead?”
I look at the destroyed shelving. The emptied containers. The deliberate absence of anything that might tell us who Petyr was connected to or where those connections led. “To find a hex witch,” I say. “Same as you.”
Crow looks at me. He has the particular quality of stillness he gets when he’s already put something together but isn’t ready to reveal what he knows. It’s a look he’s used in interrogation when he’s baiting someone into outing their own lies. “For the ward investigation?”
I sigh. “Among other things.”
He keeps looking at me.
“What?”
“There’s something you’re not telling me.”
I scowl.
If it were Dutch or Razor or literally anyone else, I would have lied my way straight out of this mess. But it’s Crow. Not only can he tell when I’m lying (one of the few who can), but he’s one of the only people in my life who won’t judge me for the truth.
“I’ve been taking Null,” I say quietly.
His eyes widen fractionally. It’s the only response he gives, but for Crow, that’s enough. “Since when?” he finally asks.
“I don’t know. A few years.”
“Years?” he repeats incredulously. Then he sighs. “Is this about your wolf?” he asks.
His tone is soft. Understanding. It only makes me feel worse.
“Partly,” I say because Crow was one of the first to notice how dominant she was. We were thirteen. Playing in Dutch’s pool. Razor dunked me from behind, thinking it was hysterical. I’d been so pissed to get my hair wet that I’d nearly drowned him. I might have been a tad overreactive.
After that, I was careful about my temper. Not that it mattered. My wolf only grew stronger as I got older. Until the only thing that hid her true strength was Null.
“You know it’s not dangerous for you anymore, right?” Crow asks. And I know he’s referring to Grey and Lexi as our new alphas. Neither of them would be threatened by my wolf.
“It’s not the only reason I was taking it,” I say.
“What’s—” His confusion morphs to realization. “You don’t want to find your mate.”
“Can you blame me?”
His brow furrows. “Mia, this pack has changed. You aren’t going to be threatened or targeted or—”
“I’m being targeted right now,” I hiss sharply, my composure slipping.
His brows knit in confusion.
I blow out a breath. “When Ramsey found us in the woods, he stole my Null from my pack. That’s why I was here, looking for more.”
“Why would he do that? And how did he know you were taking it?”
“I don’t know. On both counts.”
“Did you tell him you were—”
