“No! We used to tell each other everything, Ru. You’ve been walking around like a damn ghost for weeks, and I’ve had it with you not telling me. What is so hard that you can’t talk to me about it?” Her voice cracked, her lips quivering with pent-up emotion.
“Nothing! There’s nothing going on with me!”
“I don’t buy it!”
“Girls.” Dad’s voice came from the doorway. “What is going on here?”
“Ru is hiding something. I want to know what is so hard in her pathetic little life that she cannot share with us.”
I gaped at my sister. She’d never spoken to anyone like that before. The bitterness in her voice was shocking.
“Elizabeth, enough!”
“But, Dad—”
“I said enough! Go to your room.”
“You can’t order me around. I’m twenty-one years old, for crying out loud.”
My father rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “Then act your damn age. So the boy didn’t feel the same way. It happens, Liz, but that doesn’t give you the right to talk to your sister like that. When the time is right, Ru will tell us what has been bothering her. I know she will. And you need to trust that she will confide in you.”
Liz shook her head, her face still red with anger and tears. “Fine, whatever,” she hissed and stomped off.
I turned to my father, incredulous. “Liz blew up at me like that because Collin doesn’t like her? That’s the reason for her little temper tantrum?”
From the look on his face, I could see he wasn’t exactly pleased with me either. “I’m with your sister on this, Ru. You haven’t been yourself lately. Can’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“Dad, I’m—”
“Don’t you dare say you’re okay. Because I can see that you’re not. I don’t like the headaches you’ve been getting.”
My gaze snapped toward him.
“Are you sick, sweetheart? If you are, we need to get you to a doctor.” His face was filled with concern.
“No,” I said, a bit too fast, but I couldn’t let my father take me to a doctor. There would be tests and scans, and I didn’t know what would show up on an MRI. Was my brain built differently?
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fine, Dad. I’m not sick. We have other things to worry about.”
“You are my daughter, Ru. You are my life. You, Theo, Liz. If anything happened to you, I could never forgive myself. Sickness doesn’t choose. You know that. Let me take you to the doctor to make sure.”
“Dad, please.” Tears fell from my eyes. “I’m not sick, okay? Something is wrong, but it’s not that. Give me time. I will tell you, I promise.”
Confusion and worry warred on my father’s face. I couldn’t blame him; I was confused and worried myself.
He walked over to me and put his arm around me. “Fine, but if this gets worse, I’m stepping in. I’m the parent, I don’t care how old you are, you hear?”
I nodded against his chest.
“I love you, peanut. You know that.”
I nodded.
“You know you can tell me anything.”
“I know. I need to make sense of it first.”
“Okay.” He kissed my head then let me go.
I walked to my room, my mind racing. This secret of mine was tearing my family apart, but if I told them, they’d never believe that I was sane.
As I passed Liz’s door, I could hear her muffled sobs.
How could Collin not feel the same way about Liz? Liz was the embodiment of perfection. She was smart and brave and gorgeous. And she was one of the best people I knew.
She didn’t deserve this heartache but my father was right. You couldn’t make someone like you. That was the way life worked.
* * *
COLLIN
* * *
On the full moon, shifters took our place. It was the same ones that had taken our place that day to prove to the SHA that we weren’t werewolves or vampires or witches or djinns. Luckily, they had no clue about shifters.
Shifters were as close to humans as a supernatural creature could be. They could only shift into another human. Nothing in their anatomy differed from that of humans, so the SHA system didn’t recognize them as supernatural. They could touch silver without getting burned, they could walk in sunlight without shriveling up in pain.
They were the best cover a wolf could get.
On the night of the full moon, we hid out in a nearby caves. I had to be close enough to hear the conversation between the hunters and the shifters.
Liz was being difficult tonight. I felt sorry for Steve, the shifter who had taken my place, but he was handling it well.
She was fighting. She wouldn’t give up.
But I wasn’t worried about Liz. I was worried about Ru. She wasn’t coping with her gift. She was disappearing further into a deep hole, and I needed to be ready to pull her out of it.
Of course, telling Liz that what had been between us was over, that I didn’t feel the same way, was shooting myself in the foot. Now I didn’t have access to the farm. But I couldn’t lead Liz on forever. It wasn’t right. She was a nice girl, sweet, but she wasn’t meant for me.
Steve kept quiet, kept his distance, and begged Liz nicely to let this go.
He was a good guy and had even asked me why I dumped her. What was wrong with me for letting her go? I’d told him it was a wolf thing, which wasn’t far off.
The hunt was unsuccessful. There were no casualties, but they also hadn’t managed to catch a werewolf.
Nevertheless, we prepared ourselves for the next hunt as soon as the shifters left, apologizing profusely for the mishap with the hunt. They’d be back the next full moon to cover for us. The shifters weren’t great hunters, but they were great at hiding it.
John, the shifter who had stood in for Greg, blamed the failure on an equipment malfunction. Huck had been all over him, because Liz had barely escaped with her life.
She was fine, though—not even a scratch on her.
Ru, like always, had been so damn quiet.
Tonight, I’d try to get through to her. She needed to unburden herself. I needed to know what her visions revealed and what her sight was linked to.
We met them at our next destination, nearby a pack.
This wasn’t normal entrapment. This pack was sadistic and evil. Three of our pack members weren’t here tonight. They had gone to meet with this pack, to tell them how I would be able to help them, and our members had barely come back alive.
They were still healing.
This pack wouldn’t think twice about killing other packs. They seemed to relish it.
They spent every night in their wolf forms and didn’t even care who saw them.
Greg and I didn’t like it, but there was nothing we could do. We had no idea where Heiko was hiding out, and he’d been asleep for the past two thousand years.
Heiko wouldn’t like what was going on with the packs. I’d heard the legendary stories about him from Greg, who was one of the ancients, one of the original pack members, who got separated from the pack by the new curse when madness during the shift took over.
And it wasn’t easy tracking other wolves down.
All the wolves were my responsibility until we found Heiko.
Tricking the hunters to get close to Ru so she could find him was the only way to save the wolves. It was wrong, but I had no other choice.
Ru had the gift.
Sure, all the women of our pack had the gift, but it was only focused on one thing.
The young ones, when their gift made its appearance, saw bits and pieces until their foresight stabilized after about a year.
Ru was still young, so I was sure she was still seeing fragments.
I leaned against the truck with my arms resting on the hood and drummed my fingers on the rigid steel. Huck wasn’t here yet and I was beginning to worry; he wouldn’t join the hunt if he thought his daughters were in danger.
; “Please tell me that tonight—”
“Emily, you need to calm down,” Greg said. “Last time, the equipment failed and I’m sorry about that, but we’ve checked it a hundred times for tomorrow night. It won’t be entrapment, though.” He set his bag on the tailgate.
“Excuse me?” Emily said, baffled.
“We chose this area for a reason,” I said. “There’s a pack nearby. They are extremely dangerous. We couldn’t go after them during the full moon, but we can tomorrow when they’re not as strong.”
“We’re hunting again?” Ronny grinned.
“Just this hunt. In the past week, they’ve been killing in this area. They’re always on the move. They stay in one place for two weeks then move on. We’ve been trying to track them down for six months.” The lie slipped easily off Greg’s tongue. “We finally found them. They won’t hesitate to take any of us down. So don’t give them a chance.”
“How many are in the pack?” Emily asked.
“About five. Three men, including the Alpha, and two women.”
“About? You’re not sure? You’re sending us to our death and you don’t know the exact number?” Emily snapped.
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure,” I interrupted before Greg could respond.
“And we’re supposed to take your word?” Liz’s voice came from behind me.
I whirled.
Huck had arrived.
“Elizabeth,” Huck reprimanded.
“I’ll play nice,” Liz muttered, throwing her hands up in surrender.
It bothered me that I was responsible for her bitterness, but I needed to break things off with her.
“Why are we trapping an entire pack? We can hardly trap two at a time,” Huck said.
My eyes drifted to Ru, but it was like she wasn’t even here.
“We aren’t trapping this time. We need to kill. This is a vicious pack that lives for the kill,” Greg said.
“How many?”
I turned my gaze back to Huck. “We’re ninety-nine percent sure that there’s only five in the pack.”
“You’re not sure?” Huck asked.
“One percent not sure.”
He nodded. “Do you have eyes on them?”
“We have a few scouts, but they can’t get closer. The pack will know.”
“Let me guess, they’re using Stra-vain.”
“Every night, except when they are breaking away.”
“So, they will kill tonight.”
“Most likely.”
“Then why not go after them tonight?” Huck demanded.
“Because it’s two days after the full moon,” I said. “Do you have any idea how strong they are after a full moon? The shift will happen tomorrow, and they will lose most of their energy. If we hunt them tonight, it’ll be suicide. We won’t stand a chance.”
Huck pursed his lips but didn’t say a word.
I grabbed my tent and backpack from the bed of the truck and left to set it up.
Everyone else followed suit, settling in and trying to get as comfortable as possible.
Two groups still hadn’t joined us, and I hoped they were just late, but I had a sinking feeling that they had decided to abandon us.
I could feel Liz’s eyes on me. She was having trouble dealing with my rejection.
I hadn’t meant to break her heart, but it was for the best.
Ru was my next problem. We needed to get her on our side. And soon.
But I didn’t want to think about that now.
We roasted a couple of hogs some of the hunters caught, and everyone sat down to eat, talking loudly with their mouths full of food.
Suddenly, Ru clutched her head in her hands and Huck rushed her to her tent.
“Ru, I think it’s time to take you to the doctor,” he muttered as they walked past me.
“Uh-mmm,” she mumbled in agreement.
Greg caught my gaze with a raised eyebrow. I chewed on the inside of my cheek.
Liz was watching Ru’s tent with concern.
Huck came back and sat down with a heavy sigh. Everyone was silent.
“Is she okay?” Emily asked.
“I don’t know. These headaches have become more frequent. It’s bringing her down. She’s like a ghost.”
“I’m so sorry, Huck,” Emily said as she stroked his back. “What do you think is causing it?”
“No idea. She told me she isn’t sick, but I think she’s lying. Doesn’t want me to worry.”
Emily smiled. “But she must realize that we will never stop worrying about our kids.”
I kept a close eye on Ru’s tent while we ate, waiting for her to come out of her vision. I hoped she would want to walk away from camp, like she had the last time she’d had a vision while the hunters were gathered.
I was surprised at her control. She’d barely made a sound. How many visions had she experienced to be able to control her body like that?
From the corner of my eye, I saw her sneaking out of her tent while everyone was still focused on their food. Furtively, I glanced around; the others seemed to be oblivious.
I needed to know what she’d seen.
I got up and put my plate in the small container that would be used as a basin and grinned at one of the women from my pack who was already starting to clean up.
I walked in the direction Ru had gone, having already picked up her scent. With my enhanced senses, I could hear her heart racing and her heavy breathing.
Her response to this vision was much worse than the previous one.
I found her sitting behind a tree, hugging her legs to her chest, eyes clenched tightly shut.
I stopped in front of her and cleared my throat. “What did you see?”
“Shut up,” she groaned.
“Ru, what did you see? Please. We need to know.”
“Would you sod off?” she hissed.
“Sod off?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Go. Away,” she snapped.
I softened my voice. “The headaches can’t be easy to deal with.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
I sat on my haunches in front of her. “You’re still playing that game? Why haven’t you told your father? The man is worried sick.”
She scowled at me. “How do you suppose I do that? They shoved my grandmother into a fucking asylum because of this shit.”
So she was afraid they’d lock her up. Hunters were so ignorant sometimes. They had no problem believing in werewolves and vampires and everything else they hunted but drew a harsh line at visions.
“Okay, so telling them is out of the question.”
Her face fell as she blinked at me. “What?”
“You said they thought your grandmother was crazy.”
She heaved a sigh. “They did. But I think I’m crazy.”
“You’re no such thing, Ru. You have a gift. It’s extremely rare, but not unheard of. Plenty of humans glimpse the future.”
“It’s so simple for you to accept this?”
I smiled. “You’d be surprised how open-minded I am.”
I sat next to her, staring past the trees. The forest was quiet tonight; the animals sensed that we were here. I missed the sounds of the animals rustling through the trees.
“Why did you break up with my sister?” she asked.
I turned my head to her. “She’s too perfect for me.”
She snorted. “Bullshit.”
“You don’t agree?”
“Liz has her flaws.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Name them.”
Ru fell quiet, frowning in concentration.
“Just as I thought,” I said with a grin after giving her a moment.
She sighed. “You won’t find anyone better than her.”
“I know that, but Liz and I are not meant to be, Ru.”
“Bull—”
“Stop saying bullshit. I learned about it from the wolves. They call it the lockpass.”
“The wha
t?”
I grinned at her, then looked away. “The lockpass. The men go through it when they find their true mate. It’s magnificently beautiful, but also completely messed up.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a sign, a process. You go through it, and when it’s all over, there isn’t anyone but your true mate. Wolves only have one true mate. There cannot be another. You don’t know what love is until you experience the love of a wolf.”
I could feel her eyes on me, and knew if I looked at her now, she’d either look bewildered or judgmental. “You are not a wolf.”
“It doesn’t matter. You need to feel that kind of love, and it doesn’t matter what or who you are, you’ll feel it when it happens.”
I’d been trying so hard to hide that fact from her, but when she was near me like this, I knew what she was.
“Well, it sounds nuts.” She looked away.
“As nuts as seeing things that haven’t happened yet?”
She huffed and shook her head, and I had to bite on the inside of my cheek so I didn’t laugh at her. I was annoying her. Greg had told me that would happen. “What did you see? Was it about tomorrow?”
She stiffened.
“It is, isn’t it? How far am I off?”
“The pack has nine members,” she mumbled.
“Nine?” My eyes widened.
She closed her eyes. Her face hardened, pulling into a grimace at the memory. Whatever she had seen must not have been pleasant.
“I saw the death of every single person in this group, Collin. This hunt is a suicide mission.”
“It won’t be if we prepare, Ru. How many times have you seen your family die in your visions?”
“Nine times, ten, twelve, I can’t even remember anymore.”
“But every time you’ve managed to change their fate. Talk me through everything that happened in your vision.”
She inhaled slowly and deeply, then exhaled even slower.
I could hear her heart rate calming down instantly. The level of control she had over her body amazed me. I waited for her to start, but she didn’t.
“Who dies first, Ru?”
She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them and turning her head slowly to look at me.
Her eyes were dark and fathomless. It baffled me that she hid herself, that she had no idea how gorgeous she was.
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