Page 32 of The Witch’s Daughter

Some party. After Vincent left, a somber mood had settled on the crowd that lingered. By the heated discussions, I could tell who’d received invitations and who hadn’t.

It was a divisive tactic. Pitting us against one another with the haves and have-nots. Alpha Oscar was famous for this during his reign, and I’d been eager to get rid of those ruling principles when I took over the pack.

The witches and warlocks still sitting by the bonfire couldn’t see that they were being played. This challenge Vincent offered wasn’t what it seemed. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I was going to figure it out.

“We should all go,” I told the rest of the coven, hoping to keep everyone together. The looks cast in our direction weren’t exactly hostile. More curious. But now that I knew what he was up to, I understood that the invitations to us wolf-witches were no coincidence.

Whether to make it look like he had our support by having the descendants of the western packs here or to publicly shame us for not doing more, I wasn’t sure. Both outcomes benefited his cause.

“I think some of us should stay here,” Calla said, relaxing as her wolves adjusted their sleeping bodies across her feet. “We don’t want our new hosts to think we’re up to something,” she added under her breath, soft enough for only wolf-shifters to hear.

Gentry and the twins looked to Calla and nodded, before Gentry turned to Trish. “You’ll send word to our Alphas too?”

“Sure.” She was already moving.

“Wait up,” I called, following as she weaved her way through the tents.

But she didn’t wait. Vincent had gotten under my skin a bit, but he’d affected her worse.

I don’t like the sound of that.

Me either.

Tisiphone hit the open field running, swiping the dress from her body in one solid move. Her bare skin bathed in the moonlight.

I looked away, gathering myself and getting control of my beast who wanted to tear through my skin and chase after her.

You know the rules.

I’m good. We’re wasting time.

Tisiphone’s beautiful brown wolf landed on her paws in the soft grass. Bluish tipped fur lined her tail and undercoat, making me smile as my own wolf took control of our body.

My bones broke, rearranging into that of the beast, and his black paws thudded heavily against the ground. He was so much bigger than the she-wolf that raced ahead. Everything about them was different. She was faster, but he was stronger. More obtrusive. More alpha. Hungrier. Motivated.

But he stayed steady, shaking with the effort to hold back. One yard. Two… Three yards.

His hide rippled with anticipation, fur bristling as he watched her get smaller and smaller in the distance. She needed space. If we charged right up on her flank, she’d push him away. Only when she was almost to the border did I release my hold on him.

And I realized my mistake too late.

She’s not going to like this, I said with a pained sigh, knowing how much Tisiphone hated being chased.

Her wolf will. My beast howled as he took off like a bolt of lightning. The grass and earth cushioned each of my heavy paws, absorbing his energy as the air filled his lungs with its soothing caress. We flew through that field, until he was right on Tisiphone’s wolf’s heels.

In his mind, he was winning the chase. But I doubted Trish saw it that way. Our dance didn’t allow for play like this. Not anymore. Not since we’d grown enough to know what games like this meant.

My wolf slowed to her pace once he gained on her, panting and pretending to be out of breath.

You’re not fooling anyone. I rolled my eyes.

Yet my heart caught in my throat as Trish’s wolf slowed and pressed her body against my beast’s side. The two of them walked together, nudging each other. Our scents mingled. Two animals reconnecting like long lost friends. A sense of peace washed over me as I thought back to our younger days, before everything had gone so wrong.

How long had it been since our wolves were together? Years? How had time slipped from us so fast?

The moment didn’t last long.

We crossed Ossory’s border back into Anubis territory. Tisiphone bolted ahead before shifting into her human form.