AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
I'm drifting in and out of sleep in bed when I hear voices drifting up the stairs. The bedroom door is open, so I hear their heated words pretty clearly. My sister's voice brings me back to full consciousness.
"You can't just take her somewhere overnight and not tell me. Tess is my responsibility, I'm the one who keeps her safe, not you. I told you I would give you a chance because it meant keeping her safe, but how do I know she's actually safe if you two wander off at night and don't come back?" She's in full-blown panic mode.
I sit up in bed, thinking I should go reassure her that everything is okay. That I'm right here. I don't know why she's overreacting so much. She was all too happy to push me out the door with him.
"Does she know?" Tasha's voice lowers, but not enough to keep me from hearing.
"No," Dominic answers. "We've had a bit of a rough morning." I snort under my breath because that's putting it lightly.
"What do you think? Do you think it's related? Do you think my sister is in danger too, Dominic?" Tasha's panic is starting to get to me. Despite how much I hate that they seem to be talking about me behind my back more than I realized, I want to reassure her that I'm okay, whatever is going on.
I leave the bed and walk out to the landing at the steps. Leaning over the banister, I wave at my sister. The expression on her face makes me drop my hand. This is anything but a social visit, and whatever it is looks far more serious than my sister being worried about me disappearing for a night.
"What's going on?" I ask as I head for the stairs, taking them two at a time and nearly tripping over myself as I reach the bottom. Dominic's hands dart out to catch me before I lose my balance.
"Nothing," Tasha shakes her head, clearly bent on keeping whatever it is from me.
Dominic shoots her a disapproving look, then turns his attention to me. "Last night, the small Sovereign Pack that resides at the base of the hill where the Luna Sovereign’s house is reported an unfamiliar wolf in the area. They sent a couple of wolves to check on the Luna and…" His voice softens, "They found her dead in the garden. No one is certain yet if it was natural or foul play. All of us with big packs have sent teams out to help look for the wolf that was passing through, see if maybe they know anything."
"What? We just saw her, and she was fine." Aside from her being on the older side, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her health while we were there. "Do you really think someone could have hurt the Luna Sovereign? If it was a shifter…"
"They'll be put to death for it if they're caught," Dominic finishes matter-of-factly.
"Dominic!" my sister snaps. The animosity between them that was there when I woke up in the pack clinic is back in full swing. She glances nervously, as if expecting me to be freaking out.
But I'm not.
My mind goes to the pack. Dominic's pack is mine now too—mine to care for and worry about. If someone did hurt the Luna Sovereign, we could be looking at a full blown shifter war on our hands. Tradition is important to our culture, and the Luna's role has always been sacred. We need to prepare the pack for the possibility of unrest.
"Do you think we should go there too, maybe see if anything at the house looks disturbed? We're probably some of the last people to see it and her." I bite my lip as I look at Dominic. I'm not really sure if it's my place to make a suggestion like that. I know he said I'm his partner, but in some packs the Luna still submits to the Alpha's rank. Surely we can't stay here and just do nothing though.
"Absolutely not!" Tasha jumps in. "The only reason I've let you stay here is so you can be safe. You're not going wandering out there to the middle of nowhere when who knows what's really going on. The whole thing could be a trap!"
"That's not your decision to make," I tell her. I love my sister, but she is not my keeper.
"It's my job to look out for you." She moves as if to reach for me, but Dominic shifts to block her.
"Actually," he corrects, "that's my job." He brushes my hair away from my shoulder, exposing my neck for my sister to see.
Tasha's eyes widen, her bottom lip quivering as she looks from my neck to my eyes. I'm not sure if she's upset because it makes her think of Jimmy, or if she's upset on my behalf—either way, it makes me feel terrible seeing her so emotional.
"Tasha…" I try to think up something to comfort her.
She suddenly elbows Dominic out of her way and flings her arms around me. Big, heaving sobs escape her as she holds me so tightly I can barely breathe.
"I'm so sorry, I don't know why I'm blubbering like this." She sniffs. "I just never thought we'd get to see the day. You have no idea…" She tries to regain composure, but I can tell it's a struggle. "Tevin and I almost lost you once, but now here you are, and now you're someone's Luna." She dissolves into more tears as I turn us slightly to meet Dominic's bewildered gaze over her shoulder.
I shake my head slightly, helplessly. I have no idea what she's talking about.
"What do you mean you almost lost her once?" Dominic growls. I can see him tense up as if he's considering whether to yank me away from her—even though her words don't suggest imminent danger.
Tasha takes a deep, shuddering breath and manages to pull herself together enough to release me, though she keeps her hand on my arm as if she can't bear to let me step away. “Nothing,” she says. “It was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter.” I can feel her clamming up, her lips pressed so tightly together they almost disappear from view completely. I don’t know the circumstances, but based on that expression alone, it must have something to do with our parents. She’s only ever made that face when forced to deal with our parents’ history.
“He knows,” I tell her. She might as well find out now that I’ve already spilled that sordid family tale.
“You told him?” She’s surprised, an elegant eyebrow rising.
