by Holly Hook
"Attacking humans? That's your plan for Romulus?" the middle-aged man asks with a glare.
At least they know I'm speaking the truth. This pack doesn't dismiss Romulus as a myth. "That's not all. We have witches and warlocks who are helping us. They're trying to find the spirit of Remus, but even they're not sure if he's still in this world. If we can do that, maybe he'll help us fight his twin. Right now, we can fight Romulus, but since he possesses innocent people, that causes more problems than it solves."
The man shakes his head. "What is our role?"
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Vernon."
"Your role is to help fight the cult," I say, mouth dry. "Once we find where they meet. We take them out, we deal a blow to Romulus."
"And I'm Cayden, her mate," Cayden says. With a nod to me, he steps forward. "We also need more Wolves because our neighboring pack are Savages and working with Romulus's cult. They've put a curse on me that makes it painful to protect my mate or anyone else. Romulus needs the cult to possess people, and if we can fight them and the Savages, we can keep Romulus back."
I want to blow Cayden a kiss. He's a lifesaver and a reminder that I do have someone to fall back on.
"That's exactly it," I say.
Lawrence rises. He can't hold back anymore. "I've worked for years to keep this pack alive. My grandmother and I have done nothing but secure our borders. So far, we've kept all the Savages out. That's all we Nobles can do."
Though his voice is strong, I feel no power sweeping over me. I'm still the alpha. "Sit down," I order, whirling on him. "This is your business. If we don't fight, we're all going to be in trouble. Your borders won't matter if you lose your powers. And you will, if the Noble Royals die."
Or worse, I think.
I can't bear to tell them that if Romulus possesses me, his influence could spread to the other Nobles over time, turning them Savage.
The others look at me, calculating. I don't blame them. We came and took over, and they only have my word. Even the boy looks at me with suppressed hatred. And I don't blame him, either. Only Abigail, the oldest, looks at me with understanding.
I have to talk to Cayden alone.
"This is a lot to take in," I say. I can't trust anyone not to follow me and eavesdrop. “Maybe we should all have some breakfast and think about it?”
“Maybe,” Lawrence agrees, working his jaw.
“So, we came a long way for your help, and you can start here. Where do we get some breakfast?”
It's a smooth exit. Lawrence tells me there's a small restaurant called Maggie's in town. He leaves it at that.
Cayden, Everly, Remo, Aunt May and I leave the cabin while Lawrence stays with the others. No one speaks, but I listen to the cabin as we walk down a trail Lawrence says leads to town. The Wolves in the cabin stay silent, waiting for us to leave hearing range. Maybe they don't know I have better hearing than the rest of the pack. I'm counting on that.
Once we're about a quarter mile away, Lawrence speaks. He's very muffled from here, but I can make out his words.
“She's going to ruin everything,” Lawrence says.
I stop and hold up my hand. We all stop. Everly and Remo stare at me, waiting. Lawrence must not detect it, because he continues to speak.
“If she's in fact a Noble Royal, she may not. This may be a good thing,” Abigail says. “The strongest Wolf must lead the pack. We all know that. It's the best chance we have of survival. Perhaps it's time for the Noble Order to reunite.”
Someone's on our side. That helps.
“I am the strongest Wolf. I only lost because that tree branch fell on me. What if she had her witches or whatever help her win? That would pull the whole thing into doubt. And all the Order did was get Wolves killed.”
Cayden gives me a questioning look—he can't hear as well as I—and I shake my head, telling him I'll let him know later.
“Even the Savages adhere to tradition,” Abigail says. “We all felt the power shift. You can't deny that, either.”
“Well, tradition states no one can aid in a victory. Not Wolf or human.”
“She won fairly. Brie is the alpha now, and if she is a Royal, she will make a good alpha. Noble Royals are the purest Nobles there are.”
Lawrence mutters and says no more.
I wave to the others, sick inside. I might be less pure than she says. I didn't tell the new Wolves about my messed-up heritage. If they find out, everything's over. Everything.
Chapter Four
Colling is a small town, probably with only a couple hundred people. Houses are scattered in the trees, and only a small trailer park stands beside the actual town. I eye a tiny motel with a couple beat-up cars outside it. I smell normal people, and the people here carry woodsy scents, almost like the Noble Wolves. Somewhere in the distance, a quad revs. These are outdoorsy people, aligned with nature. I can't blame Lawrence's pack for settling here.
Well, our pack, now. I now manage two territories, something Cayden says is rare.
Maggie's is a small restaurant that cooks game, because I pick up the faint scent of deer as I walk inside. It's the only place to eat in town. We take up a booth in the back while a waitress in a pink apron walks up and takes our orders. I read her name tag. Callie. "What brings you to Colling?" she asks with a smile. Her eyes are dull. Bored.
"Just passing through," I say. After walking so far in Wolf form, I'm hungry, since we didn't take the time to hunt on the way over.
Callie hands us menus and returns to the kitchen. Two state police officers sit in the corner, but otherwise, the place is empty.
“How is this all going to work?” I ask Cayden. At least I don't feel stupid about asking the beta for advice anymore.
“Well, according to tradition, Colling's now our main territory,” Cayden says. “It's always based where there are the most Wolves. We might have to relocate. Lawrence has a good place we can use. It sure beats that cabin the Russells have.”
“Relocate?” I ask, thinking of Noah and Leonora and my other friends. Selfish thought, but with Noah now out of the hospital and going through painful therapy sessions for his still-busted shoulder, I want to be there for him. And Ellie, too. She's still a bit torn up about Jansen's leaving, even if he accepted my apology and she knows this would have happened anyway.
“Yes. It might be a good idea,” Everly says. “Relocating might throw Romulus off. Breck is still our territory, too, but it might be too much watching over two areas. Though in towns like this, people wonder when a bunch of new people show up at once. We can still go to school in Breck and see our friends.”
“What about the coven? We need them nearby,” I say. Then my jaw drops as I realize what Everly is saying. “You're telling us we can still socialize with friends back home?”
“Well, we need to keep our sanity somehow, don't we?” she asks.
Cayden grins and pokes her across the table. “You and Leonora are friends now. Admit it. I'm not a girl, but I know shopping in the Grand Closet is something friends do together.”
“I've educated you well,” I tell Cayden. The Grand Closet is a small clothing store in town.
“Oh, they're friends,” Remo adds with a smile.
“I know the two of you are dating,” Everly says to him. “So there.”
Remo flushes. “Wait. You're not wedging yourself between us? Are you sick?” He feels her forehead.
“Enough,” Everly says. She looks to Aunt May for backup. But my aunt says nothing. Instead, she grins. We have Everly outnumbered.
“I have to tell you what I heard Lawrence saying. Everly was right about the branch. He thinks I cheated, but his grandmother is on my side.”
“Lawrence was top dog for a while, it seems,” Cayden says. “He's got the Batman psyche. He can't let them down. I'd know, because I have the same thing.”
“Really?” I ask, thinking back to how he acted before the Spooktacular Dance. “I think we all have that mentality. Comes from havi
ng Savages trying to kill you all the time. Could you imagine a world without them? Just Nobles?”
Silence falls over the table. All socializing is over and we're back to business.
“That'll never happen,” Everly says.
“And now we're back to form,” Cayden says.
The waitress returns with our water and orange juice. I slurp mine down, but my stomach isn't happy yet. “We have to break that cult up for good. It's the only way Romulus will stop being fed.”
“But you can't,” Cayden says, leaning close to me. Our bodies touch. Electricity flies, even through our borrowed coats. “We know what happens if you try to attack...people. And if I try to go after them, too. Getting rid of the cult will mean making the pack do things no Noble wants to do. Who knows what that will do to them?”
He's voicing my concerns for me. “I don't want to put them in danger, either,” I say, letting my forehead fall to my open palm. “Why did I have to come from two opposites?”
“To be fair,” Aunt May says, “your mother's Hunter family didn't know they came from Romulus's human descendants.”
“But they must have known, sometime long ago. Why else would they have taken up Hunting? Going after Savage Wolves?” I stop when the waitress walks up again, holding a plate of toast. I haven't been paying attention. Great.
“Is everything okay?” she asks. A bit of light enters her eyes. Curiosity. She probably doesn't hear much news in this town.
“We're fine,” I say. “We're just discussing a plot for our school play.” The lie slips off my lips.
“Are you sure?” she asks with a grin.
I sniff, but she doesn't smell of Wolf or anything out of the ordinary. My nerves calm as I lean on Cayden. “We're sure.” I grin. “Thank you. How much longer on our food?”
“Twenty minutes.”
Aunt May shakes her head at me. We're drawing attention just by being from out of town. We should eat our food in silence.
While we wait, I listen to the kitchen. There's one guy inside doing all the cooking, and the waitress helps to chop onions. Then she picks up a corded phone and says something about pancakes with real maple syrup. We're fine.
“Brie, we might have to have the other Wolves fight the cult,” Cayden says. “While you stand back. That's what we came here for. I know that's bothering you.”
“It's Lawrence,” I say. “And that boy. I hate to see them go into danger. I mean, we both saw what happened to Wyatt.” Until now, I've held back these thoughts.
Cayden sighs. While his wounds have scabbed, they haven't healed and never will. No one speaks. Even Remo and Aunt May look down at the table grains.
“Brie,” Aunt May says. “You have to be the alpha. We got to where we are today because Remus and his descendants didn't want to fight. Even the Savages admit that. All Wolves know that life is rough. These new Wolves are no stranger to it.”
“Well, I laid the case down,” I say, forcing a smile. “With the cult gone, Romulus can't possess people, right? He needs a ritual to do that.”
“I talked to Leonora about it. She's learning a lot more,” Remo says. “She says the cult probably uses a binding ritual to 'bind' Romulus to a certain person. A lot of magic is involved.”
I shudder. They started to do the ritual on me. Did they get Romulus sort of stuck to me, and just have to complete it? The orange juice tastes bitter. “Then taking out the cult will really help."
Cayden slips his hand over mine. “You're going to have to stand back and let the pack do the work. Don't attack humans."
“I don't know if I can do that, and that scares me,” I say.
Our food arrives, and we stuff our faces full of breakfast. Our plates are heaping, with bigger servings than I've seen at any other restaurant. At least there's one good thing about Colling. Strength flows back into my limbs as I eat, and my mood improves as I feel the life return to my muscles. The trip back will be easier than the trip here.
Wolf or no, I can't miss classes. That's another point Lawrence will bring up against me.
“Well, we accomplished nothing,” Everly says as we pay using the money we borrowed from Lawrence.
“We all got on the same page,” I say once out of the building. “I need to order the pack the attack the cult, so these rituals stop. It won't stop the Savages, but maybe with Romulus gone from the world, they'll start weakening. If there aren't any Savage Royals walking around.”
“They eventually become pure animal,” Cayden reminds me. We link hands and more electricity flies as we step back onto the trail. “And those Wolves don't last long. They're found by—”
Air cuts and whooshes as something flies toward us. I pull Cayden out of the way as an arrow—no, a bolt—thunks into the tree trunk beside him.
“What the heck?” Cayden asks, eyeing it.
"Get back!" I sniff the air. Just pine and sap. No Lawrence, and besides, his cabin is still a mile off.
But then I catch the acrid smell of wolfsbane, wafting from the bolt that still quivers in the tree trunk.
"Brie—" Aunt May starts.
A twang sounds from the trees ahead. A shape blurs towards me. Panic explodes. I wrench Cayden down to the ground. Dead pine needles fill my vision as the bolt zips overhead and plows into the trail behind us.
“They're shooting at us,” Remo shouts, dodging behind a tree.
“Hunters!" Cayden yells, rising.
Hunters are only supposed to hunt Savages. Right?
I lift my head. The trail slopes upward. We're at a disadvantage. But at this angle, the shape of a wooden platform reveals itself halfway up a tree. It's nestled inside the thick branches. The shape of a man shifts on top of it. Though the wind blows from his direction, he's masked in pine scent. The Hunter is prepared.
A cord pulls back.
“Run,” I order. “Run. Now!”
Cayden slaps my back. I rise and shove Everly back down the trail. We all bolt as the Hunter pulls his bowstring back. I jump over the second arrow, now lodged into the ground, as a third flies. My hearing traces a path inches to my left, to where Cayden runs, and I shove him into the trees. The arrow zips past him—
—and strikes Remo in the arm with enough force to make his flesh quiver.
He cusses, looking at his injury. The bolt swings, lodged into his skin, as blood forms around the sleeve of his borrowed sweater.
“Remo!” Everly shouts.
He seethes, but Remo's a trooper. He pulls at the arrow shaft as iron fills the air. Blood coats it. And an acrid smell mixes with the iron.
Then I remember with an explosion of panic.
The wolfsbane.
It's toxic enough to take down bears.
Lawrence broke pack tradition and hired someone to kill us.
"Remo!" Together, Cayden and I shove him into a thick group of trees—the only shelter—while Aunt May and Everly follow.
"It hurts." The tip is still in his flesh.
Everly leans close to the wound along with Aunt May.
“We have to pull it out,” Aunt May says. “If the tip stays in his skin too long, it might kill him.”
I'll trust her. She knew my mother, a Hunter.
“It really hurts,” Remo seethes, leaning against a tree.
Cayden looks at her. Do something, it means. He saved Remo's life and can't bear to lose him.
“Don't move,” Aunt May says. “Let me pull it out. I know about these weapons. Brie, watch for any more Hunters.” She rolls up Remo's sleeve, breaking the wooden bolt shaft and revealing a twisted flower of blood with a silver center. The stench of wolfsbane constricts my throat.
“D...dude,” Cayden says.
Aunt May plunges her finger into the wound, drawing another seethe from Remo. Despite her telling me what to do, she has a point. I do the hardest thing I can and turn away, peeking around a huge tree trunk to where the hunting platform hangs. The Hunter's outline remains, crouched, waiting for us to exit the thicket. He's a patient
man, not daring to climb down.
Or a coward.
Remo seethes again. “Don't move,” Aunt May whispers to him. “Breathe slowly. Don't get your heart pumping too fast. The slower, the better.” A squishing sound follows. “It's out. You're already healing.”
“I hope,” Remo says.
“You're strong,” Everly says. “And you're the biggest. Your body might be able to handle it.”
“It depends on the dose,” Remo says. A question hangs on his last word.
“Well, at least you're acting like yourself,” Everly says.
“I still don't feel good. Dizzy.”
Taking a breath, I eye the surrounding trees. In this part of the woods, the trees stand well apart, giving the Hunter a good vantage point the second we leave this thicket. He must have a limited supply of bolts, because he's saving them for when we emerge again. He's just a couple hundred feet away, highly trained, and a killer.
“Sit down,” Aunt May tells Remo.
“We can't stay here forever,” he says, echoing my thoughts. “I'm interested in knowing how this happened.”
“Come on, man,” Cayden says. “Brie. What do you see?”
“We have to hunker down," I say, exhaling, but my pulse still races. “He's waiting for us. Aren't we more vulnerable to poison in Wolf form?”
“Yes,” Cayden says, stepping up beside me. His eyes shine with terror. And it's not just for us.
“I'm not going to let the pack get any more hurt,” I say, eyeing Remo. He looks at the tree above him as he sits up against the trunk. He's paling and he smells of chemicals. His best hope is to get him out of here. "I've got the best chance of reaching the Hunter."
I'm going to kill Lawrence.
“No. I'll go. The Russells have their spirits protecting me now," Cayden says. "Let me. Please."
“Cayden, that's—”
But he's off before I can finish.
I reach for him, but close my fist on air. Every instinct tells me to run after him, but Aunt May grabs my shoulder, yanking me back. Cayden tears across the trail, drawing the fire of the Hunter. Another bolt flies, but Cayden's too fast, and leaps over where it lands. Then my mate plows into the trees, running, leaving us alone as he draws another arrow. It cracks as it strikes a tree, missing him by inches.
