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I don’t know how I missed it, but there’s an old barn on the other side of the visitors’ center, out on the fringes of the encampment. I hear a familiar whinny as soon as we’re within earshot, and I glance at Reyes with wide eyes.
“No,” I say. “You…”
He tilts his head with a smile. “Go ahead,” he says. “I’ll meet you there.”
I break into a sprint, my feet pounding against the earth as I race for the barn. I don’t know where they got the stuff, but they’ve outfitted the whole place with feed, halters, and hay, the familiar smell of sweet hay and horses filling my nostrils.
The barn is full of horses I recognize—just four, all from the fallen Homesteaders the night I got here. I pass a pinto mare, a chestnut gelding, and a palomino. At the very end is my horse.
My Annie.
She whinnies and scrapes her hoof on the floor as I run toward her, reaching out and taking her muzzle gently in my hands. She doesn’t make any indication that she doesn’t recognize me—it’s clear that she does, actually, her ears perking forward. She leans far out over the door to her stall, and I wrap my arms around her neck and run my hand over her hide.
“Oh, Annie,” I whisper. “I’m sorry I left you here. I hope they haven’t been too mean.”
I figured she’d been spooked and ran off after the gunshot, but now I realize that she must have still been tied to the tree when David shot me. The horses have been here all this time.
A flicker of rage shoots through me.
The horses have been here all this time.
I hear Reyes’ footsteps as he comes inside, and I draw away from my horse to stare daggers at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I demand. “She’s been here…”
“Because I didn’t know if you would try to run away,” he says. “And when you were in that grey area between hostage and newcomer, I just couldn’t risk it.”
“So I just had to fuck you to get my privileges back,” I mutter.
“Tilda, it isn’t like that,” he says.
“I’m just fucking with you,” I say. “Maybe. But I’m still angry.”
He goes silent as I continue to stroke Annie’s neck, crossing his arms over his chest. He’s so big that I don’t think he could even really ride a horse—or at least he’d need averybig horse. “You know how to ride?” I ask.
“It’s been a while, but I think I could manage,” he says. “Either that, or I could shift and run along with you, keep to the shadows.”
“I don’t think the people of Homestead would take it well if a naked giant strolled out of the woods once I get our meeting started,” I murmur. “So horseback it is. Did you want to go now or…”
“I thought we would wait until tomorrow,” he says. “Tell the pack what our plans are, make sure we have a chain of command in place in case things go sideways. Arden is being…difficult.”
“Who would you put in charge?” I ask. I don’t want to think about the possibility that something could go wrong, but I understand where he’s coming from—and I think he needs to talk about it.
“Will,” he says. “No doubt. Then Mateo, then Grant. Arden is too aggressive.”
“I think you should consider Suyin,” I say.
Reyes cocks his head. “But Suyin is a beta.”
“Just—from a human perspective,” I say. “I know she can’t have the magic ‘tell people what to do’ thing, but she’s smart, strategic, and has a good relationship with everyone in the pack. Maybe even Charlotte.”
“A pack led by an omega…?” Reyes snorts. “Jesus—I sound like a real misogynist, don’t I?”
“Little bit,” I laugh.
“These things get a little ingrained,” he says. “I’m hardwired for it, apparently.”
“I get it, though—you’ve been a wolf for a long time,” I say. “AndI’mhere to remind you the world doesn’t actually work that way, darlin’. I know these classifications are real, but…you don’t have to hold to them. Break the rules every so often.”
