"I see the hybrid is still slinking around..."
Flicka had meant for me to hear that as she entered the manor, and unlike the venomous glare she had just shot me, her voice was gloating and self-assured, as arrogant as ever. I wanted to turn and follow her back inside so I could slap her senseless, but that would only show her how easily she affected me. I forced myself to walk down the steps with my head level and my posture calm, as if nothing she said could bother me.
But it didn't last. The door closed, and a moment later when I turned the bend around the stone path that led to the forest, I broke into a fierce run so abrupt my side cramped with sudden stitches.
But I didn't stop. The pain was nothing compared to the frustration of hearing the smugness in Flicka's voice as she entered the manor, as if she were taking my place. I didn't want to remember it. If a few cramps could take my mind off of her even a lit
He beckoned at me, and I followed him to his bedroom the next door down. I looked around as I entered, noting the absence of the vinyl records, but there was indeed an open luggage case sitting on the table. He was packing light, but surely he didn't think he would get so bored he needed to bring me along on one of his trips, did he? "Why are you going to Dark Moon?" I asked after closing the door at his gesture. "There are a few people in the pack I want to speak to. Dark Moon has fingers in both certain sectors of the mining and medical industries." "Like Wilson? Jack Wilson?" At his raised eyebrow, I added, "He made some kind of big investment a few years back and became popular for it. Something with the hospital system in the next city over from Dark Moon's territory. But what am I going for? Is it because you want me to introduce you to them?" I hoped not. The higher-ranking werewolves
On something that might have been a lot more than a whim, I brought a small store of banshee weed just in case. I hadn't asked how long we would be staying on Dark Moon territory, but I didn't want Evan to coincidentally have a bad spat of nightmares with no way to deal with them. The recent rains would drown the banshee weed under puddles, making them hard to find, so bringing the ones I'd already picked with me was the only other option. I'd made the right choice. When we got off the train, the rain had picked up again, and there were new ponds everywhere along the rolling terrain that would have made herb-picking impossible. There was also an entire crowd waiting to receive us when we arrived. I was so stunned I didn't know how to react at the enthusiasm everyone greeted us with. Dark Moon territory residents hated humans and hybrids, and yet here they were, hiding it so they could greet Evan and me with deference due to a king.
What? What did they just say? Executed? I stared down at my gleaming plate, and the faint reflection of my wide eyes in the ceramic stared back. Executed. I hadn't misheard. I wasn't stupid. I'd known Elly, Maria, and Kris had never thought of me as real family, even if they had given me somewhat preferential treatment when I did as they wanted. I wasn't grieving their loss the way I would have with loving family members. But they were dead. Killed. And they weren't the only ones. Images flashed across Osborn's mind, enough that I could gather immediately who the casualties were. Alpha Kris's siblings, aunts and uncles to Elly and Maria, pack members who had lived together for decades... killed. Executed. But as horrifying as the splashes of crimson across Osborn's memory, what was ev
Evan wouldn't be returning to the Scarlet pack house for a while. His absence should have made it easier for me to stay there, but the idea of walking in alone, knowing how everything had changed in just these last few precious hours... I couldn't. I stayed at Raf's apartment, and we had late brunch together while we went over our assignments. No classes today since it was a Reading Day with mid-terms drawing closer, but that didn't mean we could slack.We decided to go to one of the libraries on campus so we could study without the distraction of thumping neighbors. But when we got there, I only lasted an hour before my thoughts began to wander.Curse.Evan had thought something about a curse, but his mind had clouded and darkened before I could hear anything else. What was it? What had he been talking about?It was stupid of me to dwell on it when Evan clearly didn't want me to know. What was I goi
When Monday came around, I dragged myself to classes with bags under my eyes. The nightmares that had begun bothering me never left even after several days, and they were becoming more and more graphic each night. Maybe it was because I was trying to hard to forget about Evan. The futile conditioning I tried to put my mind through was only making me think of him more.I couldn't keep going like this. Seeing Evan in my dreams was torment enough, but Evan doused in blood, in pain, drowning in anger and hatred as he killed me over and over again... The banshee weed might find good use with me, too, not just him.The first class today was physiology and the discussion of the evolutionary leap from human to werewolf. Hundreds of years ago, a mutation in a small group of our progenitors became a dominant trait, one that spread to many of their offspring. The ability to shift into a wolf form was determined by the inheritance of a protein chain. Th
When Peelle had called mentioning that Evan was worried, I had assumed he meant Evan had not yet returned to the manor. But when I headed upstairs to my bedroom, the door to his own was wide open with the lights on. If I hadn't seen his long shadow sliding across the threshold of the doorway, I might have thought it was a maid cleaning up, but there could be no mistake. Evan was home.My gut churned. So he had been able to talk on the phone after all, and yet he had ordered Peelle to call me instead. Was he that determined to keep distance between us now? I had drawn back and patiently waited to see what he would do, even though I had tried so hard to convince myself I no longer cared. But this... Just more proof that it was far too late, if there had ever been a chance in the first place. Evan was avoiding me.And yet just as I took the first step across my bedroom doorway, ready to throw myself into a miserable night full of more nightmare