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Though I had found out the attack yesterday hadn’t been a random action or an error. The Whitecrest pack wanted me dead.
Delco placed a hand on my shoulder. “I remember when I became alpha. I was young too and it took me a while to earn the respect of the other alphas.”
“Did they try killing you?”
He chuckled. “Not that I can remember, but who knows? Maybe one of the attacks from that time was one of them in disguise.”
This was ridiculous. Five strong packs nestled in the same region in northern Canada and we couldn’t act like adults and get along?
“Thanks for coming,” I told him.
He nodded. “We’ll talk soon.”
I frowned, not liking that. I watched as he and his betas left, sure he would ask something of me that I wouldn’t be willing to do.
17
RAIKA
I leftthe school and walked across the main square—avoiding the huge crack in the center—toward the library. Despite all the heavy things weighing on our shoulders, life didn’t stop and there was a lot of work to do around here.
Last night, I had spent hours reading the books about poisons that I could find. Some I had already read before, but I didn’t remember them all that well. I napped with a book in my lap for a couple of hours, but then went right back to work before sunrise. I still had a few more books to comb through, but so far I hadn’t found anything.
To be honest, I didn’t think I would, but I had to hold on to hope.
Lavinia and Almae had been at the library early in the morning, asking for some books about enchanted crystals. They hoped they would find what kind of spell it was used to poison the crystals, or something similar that could lead them to a way of rendering the crystals useless. That meant we would never have the barrier back, but from where I was standing, that seemed like a faraway dream anyway.
If it wasn’t the poison, then it was the dragon. I knew Shane was still torn about it, not because he hadn’t made the decision—in his mind, he had already chosen to save the dragon—but because he had to admit he was ready to doom this place.
Our home.
And then we all would have to adapt to extreme cold, build fireplaces or other heating devices in all our houses. We would also have to learn how to live without a barrier. As far as I knew, no other pack had something like that, so I was sure this was the least concerning, though right now, with all the craziness happening around us, I was a little worried about the pack’s safety. Without the barrier, anyone could enter, and as proven yesterday, we weren’t even safe from the neighboring packs.
A cold breeze blew past me and I groaned. It was June, for crying out loud. Even here, it was supposed to be warm, wasn’t it? Honestly, I had no idea. I had been born and raised with the barrier over my head. I didn’t know how it was supposed to be. Perhaps even the weather was messed up now because of the poison? That was something we should research.
I reached the library’s door and halted as another gust of wind blew past, bringing her scent to my nostrils. I spun around as Lucille walked toward me, a soft smile on her lips.
“Hey there.”
“Hey.” I frowned. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been thinking. Shane agreed we could train, but apparently, there’s a lot going on around here and most of the male wolves are too busy.” She cupped her mouth and whispered, “The alpha and his huge to-do list. Who knows what’s in that?”
I knew. I helped him make his long to-do list. “Right?” was all I said, feeling pathetic.
“So, since no one tells us what’s going on and we’re fixing the town and being underutilized, I say we should practice ourselves. You, me, Jena and, Celina. What do you say?”
I opened my mouth … what would I say to her? She knew about the missing crystals and Shane’s curse, but she had no idea about the rest—the dragon, the Whitecrest attack, the poison.
I smiled at her. “I would love that.” I really would, but chances were, it wouldn’t go as planned. And if they really got together for practice and called me, I would think about it. If I had time, I would join them. If I was busy—when wasn’t I busy?—I would make some excuse.
“Great.” She tilted her head and her smile widened. “I think that when things are a little smoother here, we could have a girls’ night out. Or, actually, a girls’ night in. At my house. All the girls around our age, a cheese and salami platter, cheap wine, and a funny movie.”
I offered a tight smile, my heart strings tugged hard. “I reallywould love that.” I had never done anything like that and the prospect of having real friends, girl friends, was unreal. If Lavinia was still here, I would rope her in too.
“Great.” She took a step back. “I’ll go back to my chores, but I’ll keep in touch. I’ll create a group chat so we can talk about our first practice.”
“Sounds good.”
