AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How could she meet me and then just … disappear?” Beyond our initial introductions, I haven’t spoken with Dina since I arrived at headquarters. She ran off, along with Gabe and Joseph, to discuss the latest developments in the fight against the Darkness.
Call me crazy, but I thought a person might want to catch up with the child they abandoned eighteen years ago.
Looks like I was wrong.
“She leads The Alliance,” Joey reminds me gently. “She had to go strategize. I’m sure she’ll speak with you more soon.”
“I hope not.” I adjust in my seat. “I don’t really have anything to say to her.”
“All the same,” Joey says.
Silence hangs over us. For the first time in our friendship, it’s not a comfortable silence. I can’t remember the last time I felt so awkward around my best friend.
Speaking of best friends, I ask, “Have you caught up with Annie lately?”
He shifts in his chair. “Um, no. Not yet.”
“I assume she doesn’t know you’re a werewolf?”
He shakes his head. “And I assume she doesn’t know you’re the Cursed One.”
“You are blessed, but you are also cursed… your power is only dangerous to those you view as enemies.”Odette’s words play in my mind, as well as how she and Lukas had pretended not to knowexactlywho and what I am when they worked to remove the ward blocking me from accessing my angelic powers. I’ve been deceived multiple times, and I’m determined to not let it happen again.
“I don’t even know what that title means,” I mutter.
Joey says, “I don’t know anything except for the fact The Alliance believes it’s important to keep you out of the Darkness’s reach.”
Screeching demons and fiery bodies appear in my memory. As well as a large wolf diving to knock me out of danger.
“I don’t think I ever said thank you.”
Joey tilts his head. “For what?”
“For saving me during the attack at the Dark Embassy.” My blood runs cold when I think about how close I came to being imprisoned by the corrupted Dark Council and the resulting fight that caused so much bloodshed. “Thank you for helping me.”
Joey leans forward and reaches out. His hand lands on my knee. “I’d do anything for you, Ronnie.” He gives my knee a gentle squeeze. The gesture brings tears to my eyes.
Joey removes his hand. “Ah, no. No tears, Ronnie. You know I can’t handle tears.”
I chuckle at his horrified expression, brushing away the tears from my face. “I know. Sorry. I’ll stop.”
He exhales a dramatic sigh of relief. We both laugh.
In the moment of levity, I decide to ask after him. “So, are your parents members of The Alliance?” I assume they are. Otherwise, Joey wouldn’t be involved.
“Yup,” Joey answers. “So is Jeremy,” he mentions his older brother.
“When did you know?”
“The summer I turned thirteen.”
“When you spent the entire summer at your grandmother’s house out in West Texas?” Annie and I had been so bummed when the third member of our summer shenanigans trio had disappeared for our favorite time of year.
Joey nods. “I was lucky my first shift didn’t happen in the middle of the school year. Jeremy struggled to catch up for the months he missed when he shifted in seventh grade.”
“It takes months to shift?”
“It takes months to get control of shifting,” Joey explains. “That’s why I went to grandmom’s place. She owns a lot of acres. I had privacy to get a handle on my wolf. By the time I returned to Valley Lake, there was no risk of me shifting during the middle of Mrs. Jones’s boring history movies.
