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“Make sure he doesn’t leave,” I ordered them. “I’m going to go get someone to help me build a cage or something.”
Atlan groaned while Kiran cheered theatrically, laughing and shoving his brother as I carried on into the camp. Zuzanna was probably my best bet, if only because she could help me talk the others into this hare-brained scheme the twins had pitched to me.
As if fate was on my side, I found the witch with a group of kids, showing them breathing exercises to keep their magic under control. I’d never known that witches were prone to outbursts until she’d explained that they were so interwoven with the world’s magic it responded to their emotions—which was vastly different from fae, who only utilized the magic available to anyone with the proper skill set.
“Zuzanna! I need your help with something,” I called out.
She nodded, telling the kids to keep practicing their breathing, then let me lead her out into the forest.
The twins were eyeing Tyler when we found them, unbothered by his growling and snapping.
“Oh, boy,” she deadpanned, which was accompanied by an automatic flick of her wrist. Vines and roots weaved together around the wolf, trapping him, and Zuzanna looked at me expectantly. “Now what?”
“Now, I have to convince everyone that we need to keep him and try to find a way to heal the fallen wolves.”
Zuzanna blinked, Then, a slow smile formed on her face. “You really are something else, aren’t you, Aria?”
The trio came with me to the evening meeting. I sat politely through the usual debates before Zuzanna elbowed me. Sariel immediately scowled at her, then checked in on me; I kissed his cheek before clearing my throat.
“So, everyone,” I started, making them all turn to me. “I caught Tyler Bastille—”
“What?!” Sariel blurted in a panic, rage slashing through the bond. “And you’re just now mentioning this?!”
I gripped his hand, petting his knuckles to will him to calm down before I continued.
“He’s feral. He was wandering the woods, and I had Zuzanna build a cage to trap him so that he couldn’t come any closer and hurt us. I’m not sure how he got here, but he was probably a part of that Upper Council attack, got left behind, hid, roamed around, and eventually just… lost himself.”
I didn’t mention how the twins had already known he was there, in those woods.
It was sad when I really let myself think about it. I tried to push down the pity. “Anyway, I think we should try to use him to cure the fallen wolves.”
There’s a chorus of alarm and confusion from everyone present, excluding Auren’s friends and Sariel. Even Kiyomasa seemed alarmed, trying to interject an opinion.
But then I realized that none of them understood.
I met Kiran’s eye across the room, and he gave me a small, sad little smile.
We were hybrids, but that didn’t necessarily mean we couldn’t eventually go mad like the others. We couldn’t say without a doubt that hybrids were immune.
No one but those with fallen wolf blood running through their veins could really understand that kind of fear, and because we were hybrids, everyone in this room had dismissed the possibility that we could go feral at any time. We were labeled as “different,” even though there was no proof we really were.
“That’s a no.”
Auren’s soft declaration would have made me wilt at any other time, but Kiran and Atlan were watching me with a desperate sort of anxiety that told me there was more at stake here than anyone was realizing.
I steadied myself. “It’s a yes, actually.”
Everyone inhaled sharply when I disagreed, turning to meet Auren head-on. “Not just because it’s the right thing to do, either.”
He pursed his lips but tilted his head to let me know he was listening.
“If we do this, the fallen-blood wolves will work with us. That’s how Azazel lured in Tyler and the Bastille Pack, to begin with. If we can show them what we’re doing and prove that we’re actually trying to help, they’ll follow us. It’s more warm bodies to add to our ranks.”
“Kiran tried pitching this to me a few years ago, but—”
“You have fallen-blood hybrids and a full-blooded wolf now, though. You have the lab and doctors. Instead of working on whatever weapon you have Reese sworn to secrecy over, you can do this andknowit will work because it’s already been tested by Azazel. They’re willing to do anything if it means being saved.”
His big hand slid under his aviators as he rubbed at his face, nearly knocking them off his face. “It’s dangerous for everyone in the compound to have fallen-blood wolves roaming around.”
