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I glanced around. I had to stay, even if half of me wanted to cling to Dusk and bury my face in his shoulder and let him carry me out of here.
But I couldn’t.
They had fled, not returning to the seats they’d so dearly wanted.
I would return to mine.
Of course, every eye in the room was on us. Even the music had stopped.
“I want to stay. Even just a bit longer. If that’s…” I swallowed. “If that’s okay.”
When we reached our seat, Dusk drew me onto his lap again. I’d made a step for my own, but I’d felt a flicker of discomfort from him through the bond, as if he didn’t want me even that far.
“Something is wrong.” His voice was low in my ear as he drew me close.
“That was…” Roxy trailed off, having taken the seat I’d occupied before. “That wasn’t what I expected.”
“What uh… whatwerewe expecting?” I asked.
I was shaking. It was obvious as I looked down, seeing the rich, dark skin of Dusk’s hands contrasting the rippling goosebumps on my arms.
“I don’t know, but Flynn was…” Roxy paused. “He looked insane. I mean, I get it, scent matches are a whole thing, but they didn’t strike me as the kind of pack that cared that much.”
I couldn’t shake the look on Flynn’s face.
“How long do you want to stay?” Ransom asked.
I glanced around. The music had started up again, and everyone was returning to their dance or chatter.
“Not long.” My voice was weak. “I just don’t want to run from them.”
FORTY-ONE
UMBRA
“Decebal.”My growl was desperate as I turned.
We needed to warn Shatter not to reveal her scent, but there was no reception in here. “If they find out she’s their scent match?—”
“I’m going.” He was already backing up. “You get more information,” he told me, before vanishing.
“All of this is about aura sickness?” I said, turning back to Vandle.
“Fascinating sickness,” he said. “Really, not that devastating until ego’s involved. Tell an alpha he won’t be an alpha anymore? He’ll burn the world down to change that. And you know what they say about it, that it’s as random as a lightning strike? Yet, it’s funny how, if you look, and I meanreallylook, lightning seems to strike cruel packs—though Dr. Wren thought there was more to it than that.”
He rolled his shoulders, a grin on his face.
“More, like what?” I didn’t know what I was seeking anymore, I would take anything he would share. I didn’t know what was useful.
“That thing about mother nature,” Vandle breathed. “She doesn’t break. She is vengeful, and, more than anything in the world, she protects her children.”
“What do you mean?”
“Aura sickness,” Vandle said. “That’s what Dr. Wren used to say. Nature’s way of biting back.” He dropped his voice. “Vengeance for the pain of gold packs. But it’s not so simple to track crime from punishment. He didn’t think it distinguished alpha from pack. Its target could be any of them—and in that, I suppose, it is like a lightning strike.”
I rubbed my face, trying to work through everything he’d said so far. “Do you know what they did to me—why we’re sick?” I asked.
Vandle’s oddly coloured eyes were calculating as he took me in. “You’re 66, aren’t you? I think I remember. Became a success the moment your pack mate died.”
