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Elara gapes. The others died?
“I don’t remember any of it,” she says, shrugging helplessly. Even the fragments that she managed to dig up about her vision turning yellow and last night being a full moon were a struggle, let alone anything else.
Denzel nods. “When someone transforms into a wolf, they become animalistic and tend to forget their human alter-ego. But that doesn't mean it isn’t there. The memories will come back, eventually. If you train, that will happen sooner.” He holdsher gaze squarely. “And that’s why I want you to be part of my pack.”
Elara hesitates. She's overwhelmed and apprehensive, and she has no idea what she should do. She wants to run. She wants to hide. She wants to go back to that fateful night at the waterfall and go home while it was still light.
But she can’t turn back time. Nor will running help. Denzel’s words, as crazy as they are, might be the best explanation that she has yet. There’s a strange sense of relief…alongside the numb shock. Still, she has no way of knowing whether Denzel can be trusted. He might be the one who turned her, for crying out loud.
Unfortunately for her, he’s not done yet.
“With your status in uncharted territory, it also courts danger if you get on the wrong side of the shifters. Something is coming and we must be prepared for it.” With that ominous note, he hands Elara a card from his jacket pocket. “Take some time and think about it. Just not too long.”
Elara stares down at the card in her hand as he leaves, tapping it gently against her opposite palm. Can she trust Denzel? More to the point, does she have a choice?
Because if she rejects his offer, then she’s left on her own to figure all this out.
And that feels more dangerous.
15
Kade
Guy disappears behind the bush in front of Kade. It’s dark, but the waning moon sheds enough light for even a human to see clearly. They’ve been patrolling the outskirts of the city for hours now, searching for the enemy. Kade knows that somewhere out here they lay in wait. He will never let them hurt this city, never again.
He follows Guy through the dense brush, both men so skilled in the art of tracking that neither makes a sound nor leaves a single track in their wake. Like shadows, they stalk, one after another, all their senses focused on the forest around them. They’ll hear the enemy before they see them, but if they’ve been out here a long time, they may smell them first.
“We’re getting closer, I can feel it,” Guy whispers, holding out a hand for Kade to stop. “Remember, we need to question them. We need to find out what they're up to. It’s life or death, Kade. We need to keep our wits about us.”
Kade only nods, keeping silent and to the shadows as he obeys his mentor without question. Guy has never steered himwrong, and he would follow him to death's door and through it if he told him it was necessary.
They stalk slower now, crouching low to the ground as they keep their senses peeled. Shortly the acrid scent of a fire using wet wood stings Kade’s nose, and within a few more steps the glow of the flames can be seen through the foliage. The pair crawl over to a stone outcrop and lay on their bellies, overlooking the small party of shifters below.
“I’m telling you, I saw it with my own two eyes!” a man yells.
A group of men and women are sitting around a fire, various shifters in their animalistic forms roaming just beyond the edges of the light.
“She’s the one we’ve been looking for. Why won't you believe me?”
“Because the last person who would ever find the chosen one is you, Carl,” a woman snaps, rolling her eyes as she strokes a cat on her lap.
“Shut it, Sadie, you don’t know shit,” Carl growls.
“I know that any shifter who can only change into a rat would never be given the honor of finding the chosen one over our leader. You’re the scum of all shifters,” Sadie says, her brow arching with her cocky insult.
“Well, when I tell the boss I know who the chosen one is, I’ll be more important than you or your husband will have ever been!” Carl shouts, jumping up and clenching his fists at his sides.
The cat in Sadie's lap stands and hisses before shifting and getting in Carl’s face. “You’re drunk, Carl. You should know better than to insult my wife. Why don’t you go fetch some water, and while you’re at it, drown yourself!”
“You tell him, baby!” Sadie says, coming up behind her husband and wrapping her arms around his chest.
“It’s Elara, I know it. One of these days you’ll all regret treating me like this!” Carl whispers. “I bet my life on it!”
“You know what a cat’s favorite snack is, Carl? Live rats.” Sadie giggles and shoos Carl away. “Scamper away, little rat, before my man decides you’re his next meal.”
At Elara’s name on the enemy's tongue, Kade goes preternaturally still.
“They know?” he whispers, disbelief tinging his voice.
