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"It could have been his sire, but right before the attack, Madaline paid us a visit in the woods," I admitted. "I'm sure the Order tipped them off.”
"So much for a truce."
"Yeah. No kidding. The thing is, I'm pretty sure Atticus is acting on his own."
"Really?" he asked, frowning. "Do you think Mother Cerise is…?
"I don't know," I replied. “Knowing Atticus, I wouldn't be surprised if he has her taxidermied in his room and is speaking for her like a puppet."
Dr. Kelly grimaced. "Now there's a colorful visual I didn't need."
I snorted. "Sorry."
"How are you doing?" he asked, studying me. "Any other new developments?"
"If you're asking if I've shifted, the answer is no," I said. "Believe it or not, I have been trying."
"Now that is a surprise," he remarked.
"If we're dealing with the Order and the pack that killed my family, we need all the help we can get."
"I won't disagree with you there," he said with a heavy sigh. "A word of unsolicited advice—if you want to get in touch with your wolf side, you might consider involving the one who brought it out in the first place."
"Eddie?" I asked, frowning.
"Who else? He is your mate now, if the mark on his neck didn't make that clear enough.”
"He is, but…”
"But you still think you can keep him out of this," Dr. Kelly said, shaking his head. "My, how quickly you adapted to the alpha male mentality.”
I shot him a half-hearted glare. "If protecting the man I love makes me a cliché, so be it."
"I never said it was bad," he said, holding his hands up. "As a matter of fact, I think it's kind of charming. I just never thought I would see the day you declared your love for another so easily. Let alone a shifter.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, well, that makes two of us."
“I'm going to get a couple hours of sleep while I can," said Dr. Kelly, patting me on the shoulder on his way by. "Tell the others not to need me unless someone is bleeding profusely."
"You got it," I said, watching him walk down the hall.
I decided to go back to my room and check on Eddie, since there wasn't anything else I could do at the moment, and I figured I might as well make the most of the downtime to regroup and plan our next move.
I knew perfectly well that this wasn't the last we would be hearing from the Graystone pack. Now that they knew of Eddie's existence, they were just going to keep coming after him until they succeeded—or until every last one of them was wiped out.
I had been biding my time for years, waiting for an opportunity to do just that, but for the first time, revenge wasn't my greatest motivator. It was protecting what was mine.
Now that the Graystone wolves had declared war first, and the Church was already in danger, there was really nothing I had left to lose. On the other hand, if I let the accursed Graystone bloodline continue to exist, I stood to lose everything.
I wasn't all that surprised to realize the room was empty when I returned. Eddie rarely stayed put in one place for long, and I knew he was probably not just being dramatic when he said he was going stir crazy from not being able to hunt.
I was about to go look for him when I noticed something on the bed. The fact that it was neatly made probably should’ve been indication enough that something was off. Usually, he left a whirlwind of mess behind wherever he’d been, and as anal-retentive as I usually was, I was actually starting to find the chaos charming.
I swiped the envelope off my pillow, and even though it wasn't addressed, I knew who it was from. I opened the letter and found a brief yet terrifying note in Eddie's handwriting.
Castor,
By the time you read this, I'll be long gone, but I'm writing this letter for two reasons. First, in hopes of convincing you not to come after me. Second, even though I've been trying to find the right words for a long time, I can't bring myself to leave without saying goodbye.
