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Bryn walked away, with Tavi and Jasper following to make sure she made it back to Mom’s cabin safely. My wolf began to howl as she moved further away from me. He ached in her absence and pawed for control to make me follow after her. I reeled him in.
I would have loved to have Bryn in my arms again, but I knew that some space would do us both a lot of good. I wasn’t sure about her, but my emotions were still too high. I still felt so tender.
I turned to Dom, who stood near the front door. The sight of his stupid smirk irked me. I didn’t have to reach into his mind to know exactly what he was thinking. I couldn’t say that there was nothing going on between Bryn and I, not at this point. I couldn’t deny that my wolf and I were extremely protective of her. And I couldn’t deny the way my heart stirred in my chest whenever she was nearby.
But I didn’t know anything about human/shifter mating. I didn’t even know where to start.
I turned and headed back inside my cabin, with Dom following me.
“So, what do you plan to do now, Night?” he asked.
I sighed. “I honestly don’t know.”
“I guess you’ve got some time to think about it.” Dom’s smile told me that he wasn’t going to tease me more about it. For now. I supposed that was as good as I was going to get from my beta.
Dom and I stood in the living room. I had walked into the room without thinking, unconsciously following the lingering fragrance of Bryn’s scent. Dom probably would have teased me about that too, but when he spoke again, his voice had grown serious.
“Those wolves,” he began, “how did they get so close to our territory without our sentries seeing them?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I said. “Iggy mentioned that she’d scented them around our borders. I asked her to keep an eye on it.”
Dom cursed under his breath. Iggy’s death was not only a tragedy and a massive loss for the pack, it had also created a loose end—one that had come to bite us in the ass.
I sighed and crossed my arms. “We need to verify that these were the same wolves she was talking about. They didn’t smell like pack, but maybe they were from a group that was just wandering through town.”
“I’ll send some men into Colville. You could be right about the wandering packs, but I think they were hungry ferals. They looked scrawny enough to be.”
I thought back to the fight and nodded. I hadn’t even noticed how gaunt those wolves looked at the time. My wolf and I had been so focused on keeping Bryn safe that the other wolves were little more than shadowy dangers that were in my way. Now that she was safe, I reflected more about the incident. If those wolves were desperate and hungry ferals, then it made sense that they would keep going after Bryn even after we started killing their companions.
“We should speak to the other wolves who were with Iggy when she scented the ferals. We’ll all go together to the cave and verify that the scents match.”
“If I could interject,” Mom said, speaking for the first time since Bryn left. She stood in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against the wall. I hadn’t even heard her come in. “I think Dom should go alone so you and I can have a talk, Night.”
I frowned. “Mom, this is important.”
“I know. I know. I’m just saying it doesn’t take two to get it done. Besides, I know that you’re really just looking for something to do so you don’t think about our Bryn while she’s gone.”
I stared at her, my cheeks filling with hot blood, while Dom tried to hold back startled laughter.
“You can’t hide anything from me, love.” She patted my cheek and walked further into the living room.
Dom looked at me, still trying (and failing) to hide his snickering. “If they were the same ferals, it won’t take me an hour to confirm.”
I avoided looking back at him. I didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of seeing me blush. “I know. Keep me posted.”
As he left to do the investigation, I turned to my mom. She gestured for me to sit on the couch, and I did so. Bryn’s scent was still on the fabric, and my wolf whined. I wished she was sitting with me again—that I had more than just her scent to keep me company.
Mom took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she wasn’t looking at me but off into the distance at something I couldn’t see. I could tell that she was about to tell me a story about the old times.
“Many centuries ago,” she said, her voice easing into the gentle monotone of the story, “when the first pack mothers started the original packs, no one was sure what to think of them. They had all been human women who had been ignorant of the paranormal forces of the world until they were chosen by the greatest spirit, fate herself, to give birth to the first generation of shifters and to become shifters themselves.” She clasped her hands in front of her, gazing reverently into that middle distance.
“Over the years, the shifter communities grew, and no new pack mothers were created by fate. Instead, the communities populated on their own, and the pack mothers faded away. Or at least, that’s what some choose to believe. Those of us who know, who understand that the old ways never die, know that their power has been passed down through the generations. The wounds caused by the murder of pack mothers have produced a ripple effect, one that still wounds us shifters to this day.”
I sat quietly. I knew the story, but I wasn’t sure where she was going with it. I had never heard that the pack mothers were human first, but everyone knew that their familial lines ended with their deaths. The last pack mother had died only a few decades ago, after hiding for years with the Wargs until she was killed by the Kings. Her death was a huge blow, and it allowed the Kings to take control of the Kaniksu National Forest from us.
Mom stared at me expectantly, but I wasn’t sure what to say. “It was a tragedy,” I said hesitantly. “I think, despite that, wolves have managed pretty well.”
“Night!” Her voice cracked like a whip, and for a moment, I was seven years old again, scolded for uprooting the sprouts when I went into the garden to play. “How can you be so blind and closed off from the magic of the land?”
