AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dean shook his head. “I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but I’m having problems communicating with Brody. It’s almost as if he has us—”
I drew in a sobering breath. “Blocked?”
Levi’s face drained itself of all life. “If that’s the case, then it’s not good that he has control of the pack.”
I held out my hand. “Help me up. I have to stand.”
They both helped me to my feet before I shook my head. There were so many unanswered questions, and none of them had popped up until Raven had come back into town. I turned around, trying to get my bearings. Trying to stuff down the pain my body was determined to put me in.
And after the swells of nausea faded away, I cleared my throat.
“I have to go after her. I have to convince her to come back,” I murmured.
“Raven?” Levi asked.
I spun around and stared him down. “No, shithead. Her mother. Yes, Raven!”
Levi bucked up to me. “You better watch that fucking tone of yours.”
“Oh, yeah? And what are you going to do about it? Block me out, too?”
“Enough,” Dean said as he shoved himself between us.
He pushed us both in opposite directions as I raked my hands through my hair.
“Can you tell if she is in Portland already?” Dean asked.
“I can’t cast out that far,” I said flatly.
Dean chewed on the inside of his cheek. “You know that leaving the pack right now is dangerous. If you’re on your own, you might be attacked.”
I shrugged. “Since when can I not handle my own?”
That shut them up, which also made up my mind.
“I’ll head into Portland and try to cut Raven off at the airport. Maybe I can talk some sense into her, even if I can only get her to agree to stay for a few more days.”
“What good will that do, though, if she’s already handed the pack over?” Levi asked.
I pinned him with a look. “While she verbally gave it to him, I don’t think that she did a binding ritual.”
“Can he do a binding ritual with the blood contract?” Levi asked.
Dean shrugged. “I’m not sure. My guess is that with the blood contract it wouldn’t have worked and we would have all felt that power. Which is probably why Brody didn’t have her do it. He didn’t want us to know, at least not yet.”
I snickered. “Then, the pack isn’t his. It’s still hers until that blood contract is broken and the ritual takes place.”
Levi pointed at me. “That. She has to be physically present for that to take place. Use that to get her to stay.”
In the blink of an eye, I shifted back into my wolf form. As long as I stayed in the woods, my black fur would shroud me in the shadows as I navigated to Portland. I knew there was a risk of bears picking up my tails. Sniffing me out just to take me out. But as long as I didn’t allow my mind to reach out to Brody in curiosity, the pain wouldn’t take me to my knees like it had.
I only hoped that the bear shifters would leave me alone once I approached human territory.
“All right,” Dean said as he petted my neck, “there’s at least fifty miles of wooded territory before you get to the highway. Make sure you keep an eye out.”
I nodded my head as Levi came and stood in front of me. “We’ll keep our wolves near the surface so you can reach out to us. Leave Brody alone for now.”
“I can do that.”
