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Please answer.
His nostrils flare, and he thumbs the screen hard. I barely manage to hold in a sound of relief as he answers.
“Hello?”
The sound is turned too low for me to eavesdrop on her side of the conversation, but I can tell whatever his sister is saying isn’t making anything better. His whole body tightens, his muscles fraught with tension as he holds himself painfully still while the quiet murmur of words I can’t quite make out carries to my ears.
“No, Callie.” There’s no missing the frustration that laces his words. “You need to stay there with Leah. She won’t agree to leave unless there isn’t another choice; and if anyone followed you, you need to be there to protect her. Our family owes her that.”
He maintains our eye contact as he listens to her.He’sdoing this for you. I get an involuntary thrill from it, though I would never admit it. A spark of awareness straightens my spine.
“I promise we’ll talk.” He manages to force his voice into something marginally friendlier than the near-growl from before. “If you want to make things right, I need you to stay and keep an eye on Leah, okay? No more turning our backs on each other. The two of you stay there as long as it’s safe. Call me if at any point it’s not. Okay?”
I turn my attention back to the map as he says his goodbyes to his sister with one final reassurance that everything is going to work out. I really believe she regrets putting us in danger.
Like Paxton, Callie just didn’t think things through. I’m starting to think impulsivity is a Glass family trait.
“What’s in the center here?” I ask as Paxton hangs up and takes a step toward the table so that it’s the only thing separating us. I point to the spot at the center of the circle that Tevin seems to be making.
Paxton rubs his thumb over his lower lip as he leans closer to the map. “I’m not sure,” he admits. “It’s all rogue territory. These woods back up to a major city right here.” He points to the star on the map. “It’s a big expanse of land. I’m sure the only reason a pack hasn’t formed there is because of the proximity to all those humans.”
“The thing is… Tevin wouldn’t be this obvious if he’s running from something—and he has to be running because otherwise he would have made contact with Tess or I by now. Is it possible the city is his real destination?”
“Why would he be interested in the city?”
“I’m not sure. This is Bellesfield right here. It’s not known for anything but poverty anymore. They used to be a manufacturing hub until someone exposed the biggest company in the area for contaminating the river that runs along the north side. Now it’s mostly a wasteland for families that can’t afford to move elsewhere.”
Paxton straightens and stares at me, his gaze hot as if he’s trying to see inside my head.
“What?” His intense scrutiny makes me shift self-consciously on my feet.
“Why do you know all that?”
“It’s my job to know.” Technically, that isn’t true. It’s the Luna Sovereign’s job to know shifter history, not human history. “Besides, I like history, and Bellesfield is full of it. A lot of lawyers argued it was a human rights violation since the corporations behind the factories weren’t following safety regulations to keep toxic waste out of the river.”
Paxton shakes his head. “That sort of shit is about the only thing that sets humans and shifters apart.”
He’s right. We protect our environment because we’re a part of it. We all know that the world around us is what breathes life into our bodies. We would never consider contaminating a river because our bodies are sacred. Our bodies have to do twice the work to sustain both our human and wolf forms. We would never risk poisoning ourselves.
“You really think your brother might be interested in Bellesfield?” Paxton stares down at the star on the map that now seems ominous.
“I think Tevin wouldn’t be running in circles for nothing.” My brother knows something we don’t.
* * *
“I fixed dinner.”
I jerk in surprise and glare up at Paxton. “Why do you keep sneaking up on me?”
“I wasn’t trying to.” His lips slide into a grin. “I called your name, but you didn’t answer. What’s that you’re looking at?”
I push the heavy book shut, hesitating. Paxton hasn’t shown a lot of interest in his family, so I’m not sure he’ll appreciate what I’m doing the way his brother might. I’m a natural fixer. I was always trying to fix things for Tess growing up, and then for the pack as I got older. My natural instinct now is to try fixing things to keep myself from thinking too closely about my own problems.
“What is it?” he presses. His eyebrows are quirked, so he seems curious, not angry. Not yet, anyway.
“It’s uh… birth logs from the past fifty years. There weren’t any other records like it, so I’m guessing it must have just been a hobby of the last Luna Sovereign to keep track of shifter births. She kept meticulous records.” I can feel a nervous sweat break out on the back of my neck as I wait for his reaction.
“Why are you looking at that?” He was leaning in the doorway, but he straightens. He asked the question, but I’m pretty sure he already knows the answer. His face shutters, the openness in his eyes vanishing and giving way to darkening irises.
