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In less than a minute, we were all inside the SUV and driving toward our pack lands. The hour-long drive was tough. My friends tried making small talk, but what could we talk about when everything had changed so much in such a short time?
I couldn’t even wrap my head around it all. Dixon had played with us and handed us poisoned crystals, which were now killing our land and making our people sick. But Dixon had been a pawn. Someone else was behind it, giving the orders, laughing as we suffered. But who?
Then there was the dragon, the Whitecrest’s challenge, Shane’s uncured curse, and my demon father.
Oh, and now everyone knew I was mated to Shane. Not only that, but they knew I was half-demon. I wasn’t one bit ashamed of being Shane’s mate, but I was mortally embarrassed about being a half-demon. The wolves who were already glancing at us sideways, because of all the mounting problems and no visible solutions, now plain distrusted us.
By the moon, couldn’t things be a little simpler?
As Killian stopped the SUV in the middle of Main Street, where a few houses still had their lights on. We all got out of the SUV and huddled together.
“What is the plan?” Evelyn asked.
“I think Raika and Roman should do the talking,” Lavinia said. “We’re just here to watch out if any trouble arises.”
Killian nodded. “The wolves are used to you two. If we, the outsiders, try to step in, that might close them off more.”
I glanced at Roman and he nodded at me.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered.
Roman went south, I went north. The rest divided in half and followed us from a safe distance.
As I turned toward the first house, I glanced up to the sky. Clouds covered the sky again, and it was dark out, even for the middle of the night.
I knocked on the door. I heard shuffling inside, but no one opened the door. I knocked again. “It’s Raika. I’m here to talk. Please open the door.”
Moon, I hoped they answered, because if they didn’t, then … what? I had to leave them here until they too fell sick from the poison? That wasn’t an option.
An old lady opened the door. Lydia was her name. She had lost her mate, her sister, and one of her sons during the first attack. She lost her other son and her nephew during the second attack.
My heart hurt for her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, her tone resolute. “My family died here. I’ll die here too.”
“I understand but—” A loud scraping sound caught my attention. Several feet behind me, Killian and Lavinia stiffened. “What was that?” I asked.
“I’ll go see,” Killian said. “Stay here.”
He zoomed out of sight. Apprehension laced around my chest. “Lydia, go back inside. Close the door. And please, pack. I’ll be back to take you with me soon.” I pointed my finger at her. “No argument.”
She opened her mouth, but I didn’t stay to hear her. I walked to Lavinia, who stood very still in the middle of the street, looking at the darkness stretching beyond us. A few lights flickered farther ahead, where the main square was located.
I narrowed my eyes. “Can you see anything?” My regular vision was better than a human’s, but it was nothing compared to when I was in wolf form. But for Lavinia, all she had to do was focus.
She shook her head. “Just some shadows, but I think that’s the lights playing tricks.”
Another scraping sound came from the square. My stomach knotted. “Where’s Killian? We should go after him.”
Lavinia nodded.
Slowly, the two of us made our way toward square. With each step, our sight adjusted to the dark and slowly, the square took shape. Lavinia and I walked closer. We halted a few feet from the square’s edge and looked around.
There was nothing here.
Nothing to make the scraping noise. And no Killian.
The streetlamps around the square flickered and came to life.
