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“You guys figure out how long it’ll take,” I tell them, straightening up. “Rachel can come and check the forest with me.”
If those shifters are still camping out, I want to be the one to deal with them.
Cheryl frowns at me, but she doesn’t voice her concerns.
We’re both Alphas here. I’ve been on my best behaviour.
I’m not going out there to break heads. Even if the deepest, darkest parts of me want to.
Rachel gets up. “It should only take a few seconds to tell if anyone’s still around, but we need to go outside, unless you have a detailed map of the forest lying around somewhere?”
“No map,” I tell her, shrugging.
I move to the door of the lounge and look down at my broken hand.
The blood has thickened, and my skin’s starting to bruise.
I shouldn’t let it stay like this for much longer.
“Are we going?” Rachel asks.
I open the door and lead her out of the room.
My broken hand left drops of blood on the black and white tiles of the hallway. They get bigger and darker the closer we get to the back door. I force my hand through a shift in form that makes me growl through the white-hot pain of a shift that knits my bones back together instantly. I push past the feeling and shift my hand back to its human form, gasping lightly at the aftershock of it when my hand goes back to normal.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asks, as we get to the back door.
She doesn’t look convinced when I glance at her and nod.
I get my keys and unlock the door. It strikes me when I let it fall open how lax I’ve really been about securing the mansion. The woods aren’t walled off. The garden isn’t fenced off. Anyone could have come on to my property, anytime, and I wouldn’t have known.
Bianca let herself in a bunch of times. Other kids from the academy did the same. This place was party central for close to two years. Anything could have happened during that time.
I was such a fucking idiot, and this is what I get for being stupid.
I make sure I lock the door behind us.
The sun’s out and making the forest seem bright and cheerful.
The grass is green, the sky is blue, and there are flowers everywhere.
It’s like a fucking cartoon. I walk into the woods, half expecting to be accosted by helpful critters looking for a fairy-tale princess.
“Christ, it’s bright,” I mutter as Rachel joins me at the entrance to the woods.
“It really is,” she admits. “I can cast the spell from here. I just need you to take a few steps away and stay quiet while I’m casting. We can check the place they were camping after this.”
I nod and step back, giving her the space she needs.
It’s harder to keep quiet. Agitation makes me want to curse and growl.
I manage to stay silent while she casts her spell.
When she’s done, she looks around expectantly and doesn’t stop until she’s walked in a circle.
She shakes her head. “No sign of anyone in your forest.”
“That’s it?” I ask.
