“Ceri, are you okay?” Amber asked, putting her hand on her shoulder.
She ignored the question as she brushed the melting snow off her attacker. “Was that all of them?”
“Yeah, I–I think so,” Amber said, her voice unsteady.
The man twitched, covered in burns. His eyes were glassy. She began a healing chant. Her hands shook as she gathered the magic. Sunlight wound around her fingers like golden threads. She coaxed them down toward the man.
“What is she doing?” Genevieve demanded angrily behind her.
“She’s healing him,” Amber said. There was a brief scuffle that shook her concentration slightly. “She can’t save him, but you’re going to let her try! It’s the right thing to do.”
She wasn’t so sure that it was the right thing, but she had to try. She’d never been able to turn away from someone that was hurting. The magic seeped into the man’s chest. His eyes widened and he exhaled as the pain faded, but Amber was right, she couldn’t save him.
His breaths became gasps. She continued the spell anyway, chanting faster and faster. If all she could do was dim the pain, then she would do that until the end.
The gasps grew farther apart and his unfocused eyes widened. She could take the pain, but not the fear. His hand twitched, brushing against her knee as he fought to hold on. But the injuries were too great. Another breath never came. He was gone.
She fell back onto her butt and put her head between her knees. Amber crouched next to her and rubbed a hand on her back. “It’s not your fault, Ceri.”
Amber was right. It was these witch’s fault for showing up here at all. It was this dead idiot’s fault for casting that awful spell. She forced herself to look up. “Are you okay?”
Amber nodded, but there was blood streaked across her face. Her hair was singed, and anger was still burning in her eyes. “Genevieve is hurt a little but nothing that won’t heal. Other than that, we’re all fine.”
“Gen is hurt?” She scrambled to her feet. No wonder she’d been angry. “I’ll heal her. I had no idea.”
Genevieve was limping toward Thallan, shouting something about shitty wards and idiotic witches.
“She’ll be fine,” Amber said, grabbing her before she could run off. “I don’t think you could get her to sit still long enough to help her right now.” She paused looking back over her shoulder. “Could you sit with Tommy, though? I think he’s a bit…shaken.”
“Where is he?”
“Out on the front porch.”
“Okay, I’ll go see him. Let me know if you need anything else,” she said.
Amber nodded. “Thanks. And I mean that, thanks for showing up. You didn’t have to.”
“That’s what friends do,” she said, plastering a smile on her face.
Ceri hurried downstairs and found Tommy sitting on the front step of the house. Woggy stood on his knee, petting his hair, but Tommy wasn’t paying any attention.
Halfway to him, she heard sirens. Her shoulders slumped in relief. They’d gotten here late, but at least the police would be here to clean things up.
Chapter 35
AMBER
The flashing lights were beginning to give her a headache. Amber rubbed her fingers against her temples and sighed. The police had been here for over an hour. There’d been a hundred questions about what had happened. Who the attackers were, which she didn’t know, and why they’d been targeted.
Worst of all, Peter, who she thought she’d killed, had disappeared. She was hoping the house had eaten him or something, but her gut told her he was still alive.
“Can I have a word?” Detective Sloan asked. He was a slender, unassuming man. His face didn’t give away anything, and she wasn’t sure if he thought she was lying or just didn’t care.
She nodded and followed the officer away from the group. His shoulders grew tense, and his eyes kept darting around like someone might see them talking. He finally stopped once they were far enough away to prevent eavesdropping.
“Okay,” he said, tapping his pen against his notepad. “Can you tell me again who you think is responsible for this attack?”
She dragged her hand down her face. This was the third time she’d explained this. “Donovan Lockhart somehow got a werewolf to attack myself, Genevieve, and Tommy. After that, he tried to coerce us to join his pack. I’m not sure why he wanted us. Ever since we turned him down, he’s been trying to make our lives hell. I didn’t expect him to try to kill me, but he did. I have no doubt he sent these people today.”
“But you have no idea why he’d want you dead?”
“No. He wants something from me, but I don’t know what,” she said, crossing her arms.
“We’ll look into it. However, we can’t arrest anyone just because you’re saying they don’t like you,” Sloan said.
She ground her teeth together. “That’s not what I said. He’s been threatening me.”
The detective took a deep breath, then glanced around to make sure they were alone before continuing. “I’ll be completely honest with you because I think you deserve it. Donovan Lockhart is respected and influential. My bosses won’t let me talk to him as a suspect without rock solid evidence.”
She curled her hand into a fist. “So that’s it? You’re just giving up?”
“It’s not that simple—”
“Sure it is,” she snapped. “You’re either going to try to find evidence, or you’re going to give up and walk away. Those are the only two options. It’s pretty fucking black and white.”
Genevieve’s head popped up at the shouting and she walked toward them.
“This is my job on the line. I will do what I can, but I can’t help anyone if I’ve been fired,” he said, his face going red with anger.
“How many people has he done this to?” she demanded as Genevieve stopped beside her, glaring at the officer.
“I don’t know,” he said, his face going hard.
“Liar,” Genevieve said, mirroring Amber’s posture. “You’re just scared.”
“Look, I tried to help and be honest. If you can find any sort of hard evidence, here’s my card,” he handed it to Amber. “I am going to keep investigating. If I find a way to connect this back to Lockhart, I will. Going after him with a weak case will make me look incompetent, and it won’t be enough to stop him. That’s the truth, whether you want to believe it or not.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” she said before turning and walking away.
Genevieve lingered for a moment before following her. “So they aren’t going to do anything?”
“He’s going to investigate, just like he said. And he isn’t going to find any evidence, so yeah, they’re aren’t going to do a thing,” she said from behind clenched teeth. The medics were carrying out a stretcher with a dead bodies.
Bile rose in the back of her throat. This wasn’t how she’d wanted things to be. Tommy was barely seventeen; he shouldn’t be fighting for his life. This was all wrong. She wanted to scream and rage against the injustice of it all, but it would be pointless.
Instead of protecting her pack, she was just dragging them into more danger. She had barely survived today. Tomorrow, she would probably fail the Trials. She shook her head. She couldn’t even think about that. Failure was not an option.
Chapter 36
TOMMY
He should have run that first day. It had been insane to stay. They were going to get killed if they didn’t get shipped off to the freaking werewolf prison.
“Tommy,” Ceri said, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. “Are you hurt?”
He shook his head and dug his fingers into his shirt a little tighter. She was the last person he wanted to talk to, because he knew if he left, he’d miss her most.
His whole body was starting to shake, and he felt weirdly cold. He always felt like this right before a panic attack. Every time it felt like he was dying. He hated feeling like that.
She sat down beside him and wrapped her
arms around him. The scent of her citrusy perfume surrounded him, blocking out the oppressive smell of death. He relaxed just a fraction and leaned into the embrace.
“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered.
“You can’t know that,” he muttered. “Unless you’re psychic.”
She snorted. “Psychics are all fake. But I believe in Amber, and in you.”
“I learned a long time ago that things don’t always turn out okay,” he said, finally lifting his head. Woggy climbed up Ceri’s hair and patted his cheek. The pixie signed his name a few times and he couldn’t help but smile.
“You were homeless, right?” Ceri asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. After my mom died, my dad started drinking. He married this woman. She was a total bitch. If they weren’t drunk, they were high. We got in a fight one day, and he kicked me out.”
“Where are you now?” she asked, laying her head on his shoulder.
“Getting attacked by mercenaries.”
She gave him a sad smile. “That’s what happened, but that’s not where you are. You have people that care about you like you’re family. Amber would do anything for you. You have a home, friends, and Woggy.”
“For now,” he said, tugging on a strand of her hair.
“Everything is temporary. Happiness doesn’t last forever, but neither do the bad days. Soon, this will be over. Amber will be your alpha, and you’ll get to move on. Don’t forget that, okay?”
“How can you be so optimistic?” he asked. In the next twenty-four hours, he’d either have everything he’d ever wanted, or lose it all. Again.
She sat up and turned to face him. “It’s just a choice. You miss your mom, but I wish mine would drop dead. She’s the only person, other than Selena I guess, that I’ve ever hated. I was angry when I was your age, but one day I realized that every moment I spent being angry was a waste. I was letting her win. She wanted me to be ruthless, so instead I chose compassion. She wanted me to be ambitious, so instead I chose generosity. I can’t live my life expecting every day to be awful, so I look for the positive and I cling to it like a life preserver.”
There was a lot of positive, if he looked for it. He got to cook almost every night. He had Woggy, Ceri, and his pack. Even if he had to run after this, at least he’d had a good month. He’d forgotten what it felt like to be safe.
He rubbed his hands over his face. That was probably why this had shaken him up so much. Every morning he woke up terrified he’d lose this all. Today, that nightmare had been perilously close to coming true.
Amber and Genevieve walked over toward them. They both looked upset. He stood abruptly and walked over to Amber, wrapping her in a tight hug.
She stood shocked for a moment before returning the hug. She was trembling. It was easy to forget she didn’t know any more about this than they did. He couldn’t imagine being in her position. The pressure had to be unbearable.
After a moment he stepped back awkwardly, embarrassed by the impulsive action. “Sorry, you just…I’m just glad we’re all okay.”
She gave him an odd look but smiled. “Yeah, we’re okay.”
“We should order pizza tonight,” Genevieve said forcing her lips to turn up to a smile. “And we got stuff for s’mores. We could have a bonfire!”
He grinned at her. That’s exactly what they needed. A celebration, and a distraction. “I love s’mores.”
Amber laughed and punched Genevieve on the shoulder. “All you people ever think about is food.”
“The beast hungers,” Genevieve said, growling dramatically.
Ceri bumped his elbow and winked at him. He smiled back. This sucked, but he could be optimistic for one more night.
Chapter 37
AMBER
Amber licked the sticky marshmallow off her fingers and laughed at Tommy, who was just setting marshmallows on fire instead of roasting them now.
She’d done this so often with her brothers. It still wasn’t exactly cool this time of year in Texas, but that hadn’t stopped them from spending all their time outside. Bonfires, sneaking beers, and mudding in their trucks had been the best part of high school.
Grabbing a broken piece of chocolate, she retreated back into the house. Tomorrow was the day of reckoning. She wasn’t ready, but these sorts of thing never waited for you to be ready.
She walked back to her room and plopped down in one of the chairs they’d found in the attic. It was red brocade and looked a little like a throne. Genevieve had left in her room as a joke: red for the alpha. She’d been meaning to move it out but hadn’t ever gotten around to it. There was always something more important to do.
Sighing, she pulled out her phone. Her hand shook a little as she dialed Derek’s number. So much had changed since she’d talked to him last. It felt like a lifetime ago. It rang twice, seeming overly loud in her ear.
“Yo, this is Derek’s phone,” her eldest brother said, answering the call.
She considered hanging up right away and not speaking, but she couldn’t bring herself to. “Heyyy, Jackson.”
There was a pause and a shuffling noise. “Amber?”
“The one and only,” she said, trying to sound like her old self, but it came off a little sad. She’d completely forgotten it was Sunday. The weekly family dinner must have continued. That shouldn’t have surprised her. A little thing like your son dying and your daughter leaving shouldn’t mess with such an important tradition.
Derek cleared his throat. “How are you these days?”
“Fine, nothing special going on,” she said with a wince. Palming her face, she was glad she was sitting in a dark room alone where no one could see her facial expressions.
“Right.”
She wanted to demand he put Derek on the phone, but that would be a little insulting. This might be her last chance to talk to her brother. She and Jackson had never been close. He’d been half grown by the time she and Dylan were even born. When she was in high school, she’d jokingly called him Uncle J.
“How have you been? Still seeing…Mary? Or whatever her name was,” she asked finally, uncomfortable with the silence.
“Maria, and no, we broke up four years ago,” he said, a little bitterness leaking into his voice. The you would have known that if you had called hung unspoken between them. She didn’t need him to say it out loud to feel the reprimand. “Derek is finally out of the bathroom. Here he is, I’m sure you don’t want to talk to me anyway.”
Before she could protest, the phone was handed off.
“Amber?” Derek said, sounding surprised.
“Yeah,” she said shortly, uncomfortably guilty after the short conversation with Jackson.
“What’s wrong?”
“Who said anything was wrong?” she asked, leaning back in her chair.
“You called me. That hasn’t happened in at least six years.” A door shut in the background of the call and gravel crunched under his feet. He’d always preferred to take his calls out in the shop, away from the ruckus of the family.
“I just…wanted to see how you were. Catch up, or something,” she said.
He sighed. “Well, I’m still working for dad. I’ve been thinking about opening my own shop, but I’d have to leave town to do that. The old man would throw a fit if he thought I was trying to compete with him.”
“You? Get out of town? Never thought I’d see the day,” she said with a laugh.
“You aren’t the only one that wanted to get out. I’ve been thinking about leaving for a while, it’s just never seemed like a good time. Now dad is having problems.”
“He’s got three other kids to take care of him. You should go, if you want to.”
“It might have been easy for you to leave, but it’s not that simple for me,” he said. His tone was normal, but she felt the verbal jab like a kick to the chest.
“No part of that was easy, but thanks for the reminder,” she snapped, angry that the old wound still hurt so much.
Derek sigh
. “Sorry, I just…it sucks. I wish you and mom would reconcile.”
“This is why I don’t call,” she said, pushing out of the chair. She couldn’t sit still when she was this agitated. “It’s always a guilt trip. I can’t check in on any of you without you giving me hell. None of you will let me forget what happened.”
“Amber, come on, don’t be like that—”
“No, you don’t be like that. Just…I love you, okay? Give my love to the whole family, even Mom. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Wait—”
She hung up the call, breaths coming fast as tears stung her eyes. She hated crying. Hated this weak, guilty, helpless feeling that came with remembering what had happened.
Dropping to the floor, she buried her face in her knees. The wolf howled inside her. It wanted the pack and comfort. She refused to go to them. They couldn’t see her like this.
Chapter 38
GENEVIEVE
Genevieve curled her hand into a fist to keep the shaking from being visible. The betas had shown up a few minutes ago. Thallan was watching the group, looking bored and smoking in the house. It was going to stink for days.
When Shane had greeted them this time there was no hint of flirtation, or even that he’d been to the house before. Tension was thick in the group of betas, which, as she’d read, was common when packs gathered. Everyone’s instincts went a little haywire, and it was hard to hold back the need to compete for dominance.
“She is not a werewolf,” a tall, lanky man blond hair and a thick beard said, pointing at Ceri.
Genevieve tensed, ready to argue if needed. She had read every rule she could find. There was no reason they shouldn’t be allowed to bring Ceri with them. Amber hadn’t ever come out and said it, but it felt like she’d accepted the witch as part of the pack. Genevieve certainly had. Especially after what they’d done on Halloween. She’d go to bat for Ceri anytime, and she knew the witch would do the same.
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