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Before I reached the houses, I noticed the pack waiting at the gates, or at least, a group of them, led by Victor. Mostly the younger crowd, none of whom were particularly loyal to Byron. It was then I realised that he had let too many things slide. They were out of control. One more death, andhewould be next.
I froze to the spot, unsure of what to do. If I ran, that might trigger their hunting instincts. If I kept going, I would walk right into a beating, at the very least. And if they started, could they stop?
“Dorian!” Victor shouted. The group parted, and he moved to the forefront, the leader. Mara would never have let that happen. Couldhebe the killer?
Beyond the group, most of the cars were missing from the driveway. Something else had happened. If I wasn’t careful, I’d be the next dead body.
The group began to approach—stalk me, more like—and I took a step back, trying to figure out if there was a way to reason with them. Too late, I realised there wasn’t.
“Did you help her?” Victor called out. “Tell her more of our secrets?”
“Traitor,” somebody shouted.
Victor grinned, his lips curling back to reveal teeth that had already lengthened.
“I’m not,” I protested, but it didn’t matter what I said. They wanted to rip the murderer apart; I would do instead. I had let them use me to blow off steam too many times. This was the consequence.
I did a brief mental calculation of the best path to take while I ran, the one that would cause the least damage, but before they started to run, Dominic came out of nowhere, leaping over the wall to face them. He said something, his arms raised out, and they hesitated, Victor grudgingly.
“Back up,” Dom commanded, letting his dominance colour his words. I shivered at the power there. I hadn’t noticed how much of it he had. “Dorian is one of you. Let him say his piece before the alpha who will be the only one to judge him. Now get back inside before somebody sees you acting like a pack of animals without any brains.”
He waited for them to move on a little before turning to me.
“Run,” he said urgently.
I took a step back. “What?”
“The police have taken Byron and Nathan in for questioning. Somebody found a bloody hoodie belonging to Mara. It’s going to get bad here. Without Byron to control them, they’ll take out their anger on you. They will rip you apart if you don’t run, and when Byron and Nathan find out you’ve been protecting the killer—”
“Margo’s not a killer.” If Nathan turned on me, I would die on the spot. Margo couldn’t be the killer. I couldn’t have lost everything for nothing.
“All we know is that you protected an outsider over one of your own. Think about it, Dorian. Loyalty reigns supreme here. Go. Get out of town. Listen, this girl couldn’t have killed Mara and Alex, but that just means a wolf did. Who’s benefiting from that now? The likes of Victor. You need to go before he turns on you. The alpha has enough to deal with.”
How could I leave? “What about Perdita?”
“You’ll only put her at risk. Imagine if she tries to stop Victor and his buddies from attacking you while they’re in this state? They’ll make mistakes they can’t take back. Keep away from Perdita Rivers before you get her killed. You know how that will turn out for Nathan. I’m depending on you, Dorian. When things have calmed down, I’ll find you, but don’t return before then.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Okay?”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“I’m sorry,” he said grimly. “It’s too late to do anything but run.”
I wanted to cry, but instead, I nodded and slunk away. I had a feeling Dominic would never come to find me. I looked over my shoulder. He was with the others already. He had given me a chance to run. He might not be able to afford me a second.
So I ran, straight to Margo. If I was in danger, she was, too, and I still had to convince her to help me find the killer. I needed a big win to regain my place in the pack. It was the only way. Without them, I was nothing. And Margo wasn’t safe until we proved her innocence, and we couldn’t do that in town when half the pack wanted our blood.
It was time to take things into our own hands. The pack couldn’t save us, but if I could help Margo figure out how to control her sleepwalking, then maybe we could save them.
Chapter 27
Margo
I heftedmy bag over my shoulder. “Are you sure they won’t hurt my parents?”
“Your parents will be fine.” Dorian shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes fixed on the train timetable. “Train should be here soon.”
Dorian had come to my house with a look in his eyes that had frightened me, telling me that the pack wanted us dead, and nobody was able to protect us. I didn’t know who I was more scared for—him or me. And no matter what crazy things he believed in, I agreed with him that Victor was someone best to avoid. Between Victor and the fact my sleepwalking was out of control, running away felt like my only option—the best way to protect my parents fromme. Even if Dorian was actually bat-shit crazy, I felt safer around him since he’d protected me from Victor’s terrifying rage. Who would protect my parents fromthat?
Dorian nudged me. “Seriously, Margo, we’re the problem, not your parents. The others will be too busy looking for us.”
