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“You’re right. It is, but they need to do something to cope with their grief.”
“Why did Alex have to die?” A shudder of emotion ran through me. “A wolf did this, Ryan.”
“I don’t know what happened, but I don’t disagree with you. I think the killer made it look like a human killing. I think they made it look like Alex ran from us. And I think they won’t stop with Alex.”
“What if they didn’t start with Alex?” I said after a long moment. “What if they started with Eric?”
“Eric called,” he said, “but it’s not outside the realm of possibility to imagine that someone pretending to be Eric called. Either way, if you see anything, hearanything, tell someone, Dorian.”
“Why are you saying that?”
“Because something’s troubling you, and I think it goes beyond finding Alex or pack gossip. We have a lot in common, Dorian. Byron took us in, and we’re grateful for that. And I know from experience that it’s better to be upfront than carry secrets alone. I’m here to talk if you need to. Just think about it.”
He left me then. I watched him walk away. Maybe he could read me well because he was a father. Or maybe he was really the killer and was trying to figure out what I knew. I shivered and shook that off. I couldn’t go around suspecting everyone in my life.
And I couldn’t openly grieve either because if the police looked at us too carefully, other secrets might unfold. So we pretended Alex left, and Byron made sure the body was removed, and I wasn’t even sure what happened next. I just knew it wasn’t the first time a body had been hidden, and it likely wouldn’t be the last.
* * *
Mara cameto my house after dark, her eyes red-rimmed, and her cheeks tear-stained. She didn’t say anything, just stood in the doorway, staring at her feet. Perdita was the one who moved first, ushering Mara into the living room. Nathan made some snacks, and I watched Mara cry on Perdita’s shoulder, letting herself mourn. She’d been so close to Alex that it had insulated her, made her reluctant to trust anyone outside her inner circle.
The four of us sat up most of the night, and Mara talked, more than I’d ever heard her. About Alex, their plans, how everything had changed for them both in the pack.
“She would have been okay.” She brushed her sleeve across her nose. “She was getting better. She trusted Byron. She told me to trust him. That was hard for her. To trust men. But she trusted the wrong person because a wolf killed her.” She shot Nathan a hot, fierce look. “Are you going to tell me it was a human?”
“No,” he said gently. “Some of us know it had to be a werewolf, and I swear to you that we are looking into every member of this pack. We just don’t want to alert the killer too soon. So for now, we want everyone to go around in groups of three or more. No walking alone until we figure out what exactly happened. We’re using the spirit board fiasco to cover up what we’re looking into, but know that we won’t let this go. Alex won’t be forgotten.”
Mara nodded, her lips thinning as she pressed them together. She wouldn’t let it go. Not ever.
* * *
The next morning,Mara and I walked to school with the others. Mara’s fingers clenched into fists as the others gossiped loudly about Alex.
After a number of idiotic comments, Alison spoke up. “Some people are saying she went after Eric, and he killed her because she’s the one who drove him away in the first place.”
“What did you just say?” I blurted.
She cast me a scornful look. “That Alex missed having it off with Eric.”
“She wasn’t with Eric,” Mara said in a voice that was too calm to be safe.
Alison didn’t see the danger. “I mean, not only him.”
Only I heard Mara’s growl. “Watch your mouth.”
Victor turned around impatiently. “Oh, come on, Mara. Don’t act like Alex wasn’t sleeping with half the pack. She used people. Eric, Dom, she was even givingmehints.”
“Shut up, Victor,” I said, inching ahead of Mara, preparing myself to stop her.
“Why, you jealous, Dory? You were about the only one she wasn’t coming on to. She was probably sneaking into the alpha’s bed. We all know he’s been lonely since his human bitch couldn’t take the pressure and left him.”
The world boiled up around me, whistling in my ears as something deep inside me threatened to explode.
“But wait,” Victor said, a smug grin on his face. “Maybe all of that was a front to cover up who she was really doing. I mean, you two had a lot of girlie nights in, didn’t you, Mara?”
My fist connected with his nose before the words even sank in. I wasn’t sure why I’d hit him, only that I didn’t want Mara to. And he deserved it.
His eyes widened with surprise as he pinched the bridge of his now bleeding nose. “Your mistake was not running after you got a lucky shot in, Dory.”
