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“Is Margo a friend of yours?” Amelia asked me, slowing her pace to look at me. I had an odd feeling that she had just separated me from the pack to question me.
“She could be,” I said. “If she isn’t turned against us first.”
Amelia blinked in surprise. “Has it gotten so bad?”
“Both sides have made things worse,” Perdita said from behind us. “People are suspicious of half the pack, and they should be, what with the way they behave. The bonfire party seemed to be going well, but this issue of a prank has divided everyone again.”
“Byron’s going to have to do something soon,” Amelia said. “Why has he let this go on for so long?”
“It’s a dominant heavy pack,” Nathan said, “but they still need to be helped. They’ll never settle into the real world without this place.”
Amelia shrugged. “Do you trust them all?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t put a group challenge past half of them, even after everything he’s done for them. He can’t send them off because most of them are nowhere near ready to live away from him. It’s difficult while nature tries to balance itself out. It means too many wolves of different ages need to be close to the alpha. But in the long run, it’s for the best. The more stable the pack is, the better chance the feral teens have. No offence, Dorian.”
I didn’t mind the term. Most of the pack’s problems came from the younger wolves. Even those who had left their teens behind, like Alex or Dom, were still dealing with the challenges of their upbringings.
“I thought I saw a good future for us here,” Amelia said sadly as I opened my front door for her. “We changed this town for the better.”
Inside, Nathan sat on the sofa. “We need you here more often. Especially now when we don’t have nearly enough space for everyone. The teens alone outnumber the adults, and they’re constantly getting on each others’ nerves.”
Nobody had expected me to shift, but I’d known the wolf for as long as I could remember—I just suppressed the shift so I wouldn’t stand out. The pack thought I wasn’t enough of a wolf, and I wasn’t much of one if I couldn’t even protect one girl from a ghost.
“Byron needs to send away the most dominant wolves and disperse the weird tension here. I felt it as soon as I got into town. There are too many conflicting members in too confined a space.” Amelia searched her bags for the things she needed. “Taking more territory here just puts eyes on us that we don’t need. We need to establish territory elsewhere. New packs under this one. It’s time to spread some wings.”
“He thinks he can tame them here before they move on,” Perdita said, sitting next to Nathan. “Make them more human so they’ll have easier lives elsewhere.”
“And they don’t like that either,” Nathan said, automatically pulling Perdita closer. “But what’s the alternative?”
“We don’t want to find out.” Amelia straightened her back. “I think I have everything. I’ll set up the circle. Dorian, please go get the others. We’ll begin soon.”
Ryan knocked on the living room door before popping his head around. “Need a hand yet?”
“Ryan,” Amelia said warmly. “I haven’t had a chance to say hello to you properly.”
“We’re all busy with this spirit,” he said stiffly.
“Come on,” Nathan said to me as he got to his feet. “I’ll help you round up the rest of them.”
Relieved, I let Nathan usher me out of the room. “Are you all right?” he whispered. “You seem rattled.”
“Just not used to dealing with spirits.” Not quite the truth, but I didn’t want to discuss his sister with him.
He sighed. “Trust me. Nobody here is. But Amelia will fix everything. She always does.”
I wished I had his confidence.
By the time we returned with the others, Amelia was ready. Tall white candles were lit in a circle, pretty coloured crystals surrounding each candle. The omega sat cross-legged in the circle, a look of peace plastered all over her expression.
Alex made to back out of the room, but Dom forced her forward. I went ahead, knowing the others would feel they had to follow if even the weak one wasn’t afraid. Perdita shot me a knowing smile, and some of the tension in the pit of my stomach eased off.
“Sit,” Amelia said. “Hold hands. I’ll draw power from you all, and it may help me reach whatever is out there.”
I nervously took a seat next to Nathan who took my hand.
“Stay calm,” he murmured. “There’s nothing to fear.”
But the memory of Halloween night was still fresh in my mind. A second try at the spirit board seemed a lot like tempting fate.
