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“What does that even mean?” Mam cried in a panicked tone. “What’s happening?”
“The harbingers will come for us,” Byron declared, “but we will be waiting to greet them.”
Some of the pack cheered, but a chilly feeling of foreboding gripped me. Death was coming, and I wasn’t sure I could ever be strong enough to stop it.
Nightmares filledmy sleep that night. Eli appeared in every single one, hurting the werewolves I’d gotten to know, the people I cared about, and all for some sick, twisted purpose. What did he gain from going after us? In the dreams, bony hands had clawed at Eli’s face, but he acted as though he didn’t see them.
I finally decided I didn’t want to see his face again, so I went downstairs for a drink. My parents were already in the kitchen, nursing cups of tea.
“Trouble sleeping?” Mam asked in a tired voice.
I shrugged, getting a cup of juice. “Nightmares about creepy Uncle Eli.”
“They’re just dreams,” Dad said. “Not real. It’s your brain trying to process everything.”
“It felt real.”
“What happened in the dreams?” Mam beckoned me to the table.
I sat next to her, resting my head on her shoulder. “Death happened. Eli hurt everybody, except me. He wanted to take me with him, but I don’t know why. He didn’t care what he did. He had no feelings, no sympathy, nothing.” My voice broke. “I feel so helpless. Everybody’s at risk because I exist.”
Mam wrapped her arm around me. “This isn’t your fault. I dread to think what’s been done to Vira to leave her so…”
Her voice trailed off, but we all understood. There had been no life left in my birth mother.
“She was scared,” Dad said. “If she stayed, it would have caused more trouble, but I didn’t like seeing her leave with that man.”
“He called her his sister,” I said. “That makes him my uncle. Like, we share DNA.” I shuddered at the thought. “How can we have anything in common? He’s awful.”
“He’s not your family,” Mam said. “We are. He has nothing to do with the way you were raised, so don’t go taking that on your shoulders, too. None of this is your fault.”
“He was so weird.” I made a face. “I didn’t like how he looked at us. I don’t know how to explain it, but even the air felt off around him. Gave me the creeps. What can he do to us?”
“Back at the compound, the others experienced something chasing them,” Dad said. “What if he can do that? Bring it here, I mean.”
“Then why hasn’t he done it already?” Mam asked. “Why drag it out?”
“Vira didn’t know he was going to say all that,” I recalled. “Does she even know what her people are planning? It all seemed like a massive waste of time.” It felt as though Eli was using me as an excuse to provoke the werewolves.
“Maybe he was trying to save face,” Dad said. “Byron asked how we’d feel if someone from the pack stayed at our house.”
“I’m not sold on that idea,” Mam said. “It’s bad enough they’ve been hanging around outside without them living with us.”
They kept discussing that idea, but I had other thoughts in mind.
“Do you think Eli was the one in the car that tried to knock us down?” I asked. “Even if he wasn’t, we could accuse him. All of the harbingers are a problem.”
“We can update the police,” Dad said. “Give them more details.”
Mam agreed immediately. “Technically, this is another incident. We're supposed to keep track, but this time, we have witnesses. I mean, he threatened everybody.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t involve the pack when it comes to the police,” I said. “They might try to twist it around.”
“At least they'll start paying attention,” she persisted. “We can’t let this one go. We can’t have strange men running around town threatening us.”
“Imagine if he had shown up back home,” I said. “In the village hall, with that little sneering face of his, telling the parish priest he’s going to play with everyone until they learn to obey commands.”
Mam giggled, abruptly and loudly enough to set Dad off.
