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My thoughts didn’t get far. Ryder approached us and gestured towards the house without saying another word. I gave a nod and followed without letting go of Addie’s hand. I couldn’t. At first, I thought my wolf had taken control of my arm, but I slowly realized it was me that wasn’t ready to let go of her. It was as if I thought she might vanish if I lost touch with her.
I braced myself for the pain that was on the horizon. Glancing back, I caught the reassuring smile that she gave me. This would end horribly, especially if I gave in to what I wanted so damn badly. If I wasn’t careful, losing her would be the end of me.
A part of me hoped that this bond to the Pack would override whatever hold she had over me. Deep down, I knew that her grip on me had nothing to do with magic. This wasn’t just her control over the dead that had me in the palm of her hand. Still, as much as I hated it here, I hoped the Pack would help me avoid the future strife when it came to Addie.
Ryder didn’t say anything about it, much to my relief. I thought he would address my lack of control over my beast. Instead, he had something else to say.
“I had a talk with Thor,” Ryder said, like I should know who he was talking about.
He quickly went on to explain that Thor was a bear shifter with a Pack in Tennessee. Apparently, the man specialized in helping out-of-control shifters get their life back. I stiffened at the thought of what would happen next.
“I can’t leave,” I said, quickly. “I have a job here, one that demands my attention now.”
For a moment, Ryder’s face betrayed his confusion. Then Addie touched my arm.
“He’s not talking about sending you to Thor. Because of the Lakesedge Pack’s civil war, they needed more shifters. Thor sent some people that he thought would be a good match for Ryder’s leadership,” Addie explained.
Maybe I needed to think before I opened my mouth. It was time to listen. I would give my opinion only once I got all the facts.
Addie
Maddox was on edge.I could tell because he hadn’t let go of my hand yet. It wasn’t like him to cling so openly. He’d spent so much of his time trying to distance himself from me that this sudden change had me reeling.
I bit my lip and questioned whether I should have brought him into the Pack. Ryder thought it was a good idea, or he wouldn’t have done it. Still, no one knew what would be the best for Maddox. Not even him.
“Thor sent three shifters to me,” Ryder said. He sat on the edge of the coffee table and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Only two of them showed up. I think it’s time we give him a call…If one of them succumbed to this hunter that we have in the area, then we should tell him.”
My skin prickled uncomfortably. I had a feeling that’s not where this conversation would go.
Ryder pulled out his phone and dialed Thor’s number. It rang on speaker phone while Maddox pulled a chair up to listen in. I crossed my arms over my chest. While I wanted to believe I would have seen the spirit of the dead shifter, there were no ghosts anywhere.
I still didn’t know where Perse was. She should have been able to materialize in my presence because of my aura of power. If she didn’t show up, that meant that she had to be trapped somewhere. All of these spirits were locked in the veil. That had to be it.
They could neither stay nor move on. They were simplystuck, unable to traverse the threads of fate.
“Stormcaller!” Thor boomed in greeting.
A smile reached my lips despite the nervous crackling in my chest. Ness had described Thor as an imposing but kind figure. He was the definition ofhot dad bod, from what I’d heard. His voice matched. There was a jovial warmth that covered a hard growl. It was the kind of voice you wanted to comfort you in the middle of the night when there was a strange noise outside.
You wouldn’t have anything to worry about so long as Thor was around.
“I’m sorry to call out of the blue,” Ryder said. He went on to explain the situation.
Thor sighed. “Vince… I’d been holding onto hope for the man. He needed someone strong to look out for him, which is why I sent him to a dragon shifter instead of someone like a wolf or bear.”
Ryder’s face twisted in question, but Maddox was the one who voiced it.
“Why is that, sir?”
There was a pause, like Thor had to adjust to the new presence on the line. It didn’t take him long to dive right back in. “When Vince came to me, he could barely even remember his own name. Whatever happened to him out in Boston really had him messed up. I did what I could to put him back together, and it seemed like it was working.”
A spike of cold hit my stomach. “Did you say Boston? Like the Boston-Salem area?”
Thor paused again. This time, it was a pregnant pause. I heard a grunt on his end, like he was listening to someone we couldn’t hear.
“Another descendant,” Thor said pensively.
Ryder, Maddox, and I shared a look. Thor’s words made no sense. It was the start of another conversation, I realized. Thor was off topic when we needed him to focus. However, Thor wouldn’t be deterred until he said his piece.
