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Carter nodded tightly. “Still.”
But even I could see it was beginning to fray.
“IT’S PACK,” Ox said, watching Carter flee through the trees.
I waited.
“For me.” He stared up at the sky. That frozen ice smell in the air was stronger still. The snow was coming. “Like it was for Thomas. It’s my pack.”
I wasn’t surprised. “He’s struggling. Already.”
“I know. That doesn’t mean he’s weaker.”
“He can’t shift, Ox. If what Michelle said was true, then it makes it worse.” I swallowed thickly. “Mark either. He can’t—you have to tell them.”
“Full moon’s coming. What then? They won’t have a choice.”
“I don’t know.”
He smiled faintly. “He’ll need you. Now more than ever.”
I hung my head. “You know?”
“About you being his tether? Yes. I know.”
I sucked in a breath. “What if—Ox, I’m not enough. For him. It—”
“You are enough,” Ox said quietly. “Even if you don’t believe it yourself, you have a pack that believes it for you. And a wolf who will do anything to keep his tether safe.”
“We have to fix this,” I said, sounding desperate. “We have to find a way to stop this from happening.”
His eyes flared red. “Trust me. I’m just getting started.”
I WATCHED Mark and Ox disappear into the woods.
Behind me, I heard Robbie pleading into his phone. “Please, Alpha Hughes. Please call me back. We need help. You can’t just leave us like this. You can’t do this to us. Please. Please don’t do this to my family.”
AS THE meager light began to fade outside, I walked down the stairs to the basement.
Behind the line of silver stood a shifted Omega wolf.
He snarled at the sight of me, smashing into the barrier again and again and again.
Eventually he started to bleed.
But he didn’t stop.
LATER, AT home, I took a duffel bag out of the closet.
I unzipped the secret pocket.
Inside lay a wooden raven.
I traced the wings with my finger.
I set it on the nightstand next to the bed.
I watched it for a very long time, waiting for sleep that would never come.
