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“So they might have been trying to restore balance?” Perdita asked. “Or did they fail in their attempts to wipe out the wolves?”
“Who knows?” Joey said. “Perhaps it was on purpose. If there are no more wolves, they stop getting paid to destroy them. We only have theories. I feel sorry for the animals, but imagine living in those circumstances, worrying about a wolf dragging off a child. What else could they do, especially if there was payment involved that could keep their family alive for another winter?”
Perdita’s glance passed over Victor and me, frowning at his expression. “The reason we’re curious about all of this is that Dorian’s girlfriend is quite interesting,” she said. “She’s adopted. When her parents found her in an orphanage, she was kept separate from the other children. They called her a child of a harbinger.”
“Superstitions last,” he said in a pitying tone. “Does she have any birthmarks or something else that makes her stand out, at least visually?”
“She’s naturally very pale, her hair and eyelashes are almost white,” Perdita said.
“Her eyes change colour sometimes.” I cleared my throat. “When people are in danger.”
Joey stared at me for a long moment. He glanced at Perdita who shrugged. “You were right. That’s pretty interesting.” He turned back to me. “I actually published a paper on the relationship between phenotypes and myths through the ages.”
Victor and I exchanged a blank look.
“I was interested in how appearance, even human evolution, might have influenced stories at a time when the science to explain phenomena didn’t exist yet.” He held out his hands. “Take a man calling a pretty woman a witch or a siren to cover up rape or infidelity, for example. Perhaps a particularly tall, strong, or even hirsute adult was compared to an animal leading to shifter stories.”
“How would you explain Margo being connected with harbingers?” Perdita asked.
“You said she’s particularly pale. Among darker complexions, she might have seemed almost ghostlike to her carers. That would have played into stories of danger and death. If the harbinger story is prevalent enough, it might be a warning.”
“Warning about what?” I asked.
“Any number of things. Mothers might have warned their daughters not to go into the woods at night or they might end up with a pale-haired child connected to death. It was a warning not to run around with men from the compound. Everything gets twisted, but some true elements remain.” He sat back in his chair, looking satisfied. “The eye colour change does give me pause, but certain shades can pick up surrounding reflections easier. The superstitious would certainly connect a mere trick of the light with something unearthly.”
“And warning us of danger?” Perdita held his gaze. “What do you make of that?”
“I don’t have the answers to everything.” He smiled. “Maybe she’s observant and has a high level of awareness without even realising it. But what do I know? She could be a delinquent who causes the danger in the first place. There are too many variables.”
A low growl came from Victor. Perdita shot him a harsh look. “You two should head upstairs and get some studying done. Joey and I have a lot of catching up to do. I’m sure you’re both behind on your homework.”
I laughed nervously as I gripped Victor’s shoulder, feeling the tension hidden there. I said our goodbyes then hauled Victor upstairs after me. I turned on him as soon as I closed my bedroom door. “What was that about?”
“He shouldn’t have said that about her,” Victor said sullenly.
“Why do you care?”
“Why don’t you?” he demanded. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about what’s going to happen with these death creeps?”
“Worried?” I looked away, trying to gather myself. A red rage had instantly risen in my head, but it was no use letting anger get in the way. Perdita would freak if Victor and I came to blows in her house. “Of course I’m worried, you big idiot. It’s on my mind constantly. I have to try and protect Margo without making her feel like she can’t protect herself. I have to prepare for people who might come at us with magic we’ve never seen before. So, yeah, no shit I’m worried, but growling at some dude who tried to help—even though he hasn’t a clue what’s going on—isn’t going to do us any favours.”
He turned his back on me. “I don’t know what to do. I couldn’t help with Dom or when you were gone, and now I’m still useless.”
Something in his tone reminded me of my old, unconfident self who thought I would be sent away from the pack if I didn’t come up with ways to prove my worth.
“It’s not like that,” I told him. “We all feel a little useless right now, but being there for the pack is enough."
He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“We could do some research online,” I offered. “Try to track down stories about the wolf hunts and stuff. Something might pop up.”
“Fine,” he muttered.
Half an hour later, we were both absorbed in reading up on how crappy things were in the past for humans and wolves.
Victor stretched. “People seriously hate wolves.”
“They were scared.”
