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RAIKA
I tossedand turned in bed, unable to sleep anymore, despite the early morning hour.
My guest bedroom at the alpha’s mansion was better than my old home. I had a queen bed (before I had a twin one), a walk-in closet (a cheap, rickety armoire), and a bathroom (I'd shared one with my mother). I had salvaged some things from my old house—my clothes, my favorite books, a pink touch lamp my grandparents had given me when I was a child, and a portrait of my mother and me on my twelfth birthday. This was one of the few pictures we had together. She had been the quiet type, shy, a little lost inside her head, but at the same time, she had been my best friend, and I knew she had loved me.
My grandparents died years ago, but I lost my mother during the attack. Phell killed her in front of me. I had been too shocked to do anything about it at the time, but I attacked him once the massacre was over. He would have killed me if Conri hadn’t stopped him.
Why had Conri singled me out? Why was I the only wolf in the pack he didn’t hurt, except for the occasional slaps and insults? He didn’t hurt Minsi either, but that was only because I had begged him to let me take care of her. She was having massive panic attacks locked away in the school. It took Rue and me a good three months to calm her down enough so she could go a day, then a week without a panic attack. The last one she had had been a little over two weeks ago, when I had fought with Conri in front of her. When he slapped me, she broke down.
Sometimes I worried Conri would imprison her with the others, or he would hit her. She would go down in the rabbit hole again if he did, and I wasn’t sure I could bring her back this time. The girl had lost her parents in the attack. Tyren, her middle brother, was locked in the school, and her older brother, the alpha heir, had fled.
I sat up. I didn’t care if it was earlier than usual. I could get a head start on my day. I had to help Rue with the pack’s meal and teach Minsi. I didn’t want her to miss out just because our lives had been uprooted. I wished Rue would teach her, since she was a real teacher, but Conri wouldn't allow it. I was already grateful he let her help me with the cooking; I wasn’t sure I would be able to do it every day by myself.
I pulled on ripped jeans, a cropped top, and my peep-toe wedge boots. I brushed my long, wavy black hair down my back until all the knots were gone, and I applied eyeliner to enhance the blue of my eyes. I didn’t care what Conri’s demons and wolves thought when they saw me. I wasn’t dressing for them; I was dressing for myself.
I opened the door to my bedroom and was surprised to see no demons in the hallway. I tiptoed to Minsi’s bedroom and put my ear to her door. With my faint wolf hearing, I could hear her slow, deep breathing. She was still sleeping.
But where were the demons?
Not seeing them worried me a little, but at the same I was relieved. It had been so long since I was able to walk around without being followed. The only places a demon didn’t come with me were the library, my bedroom, and when I went in any bathroom.
I glanced at the other doors in the corridor. The main suite, which had belonged to the alpha and his mate—now Conri occupied it. Tyren’s bedroom. And the last door in the corridor … the alpha's heir’s bedroom.
His door often called to me, but in the year I had been living here, I hadn’t succumbed to that call, to my curiosity. I had never entered his bedroom. He had left us here. He had abandoned us. Left us to suffer and die. He didn’t deserve my thoughts.
My longing.
A yelp reached my ears and I stilled. Hushed voices, a groan.
The demons were downstairs with Conri.
Knowing most of them were at least half-wolves, I tiptoed carefully to the stairs on the other side of the house, climbed down, and reached the kitchen. Half of the kitchen was open to the breakfast room, which had another wall open to the family room. I couldn’t get farther in if I didn’t want to be seen or heard.
I flattened myself to the wall closest to the opening, focusing on their words.
“… if not that, then what is your explanation?” Conri asked.
“I don’t have one,” Draz said. He was one of Conri’s favorites but I rarely saw him around. “We’ve been searching for almost a year now, and we still haven’t found it.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
This wasn’t the first time I overheard their conversations. I had talked to Rue about it because sometimes I thought Conri had attacked our pack because he was searching for something.
“I won’t admit defeat,” Conri said, his voice tight. “We need to find it and soon.”
“I’m doing all I can, sir. My group and I—“
“I’ll assign more men to help you, but I want to see progress soon, Draz. Find a clue or a map—something!—that leads you to it.” He paused. “You know what will happen if you don’t.”
“Yes, sir,” Draz muttered.
Conri groaned. “Dismissed.”
The shuffle of feet and bodies was loud and clear. I tiptoed back to the stairs and pretended I was just now coming down.
Three demons walked into the kitchen and halted when they saw me. I opened my mouth in a fake yawn and ignored them, as I usually did, while turning toward the fridge.
“Sir, Raika is awake,” Phell said. My usual shadow. My mother’s killer.
