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But the look of horror on Ox’s face the first time he’d accidentally done that was enough to show it would never happen. Not that I thought he would ever do it to begin with. It wasn’t the type of person he was, no matter what he’d become.
But there were moments, like this one with Robbie, where he’d push and we’d all feel it. It wasn’t about control. It was about being pack, about being connected in ways I’d never felt before. Even when it’d been a handful of us on the road circling around Joe, it hadn’t been like this. Those years were born of desperation and surviving in the big wide world. We were home now, and complete.
For the most part.
Which was why they all stood in this small office, ready to dig into me again.
But before they could, a sharp twinge rolled over my arm. I looked down to see two lines begin to ripple quickly, glowing a deep forest green.
Ox and Robbie stiffened.
Even the humans felt it, if the looks on their faces were any indication.
Ox’s eyes were on fire and his voice deep when he said, “The wards. They’ve been breached.”
OX, ROBBIE, and I were in Ox’s old truck. I was behind the wheel, Robbie between us as Ox radiated anger near the window. The others were following behind in Rico’s car. It was the middle of October, and the leaves in the trees around Green Creek were bursting in orange and red. Halloween decorations lined the shops on Main Street. Styrofoam pumpkins sat in the diner windows. The sky was already beginning to fade toward night, and the sidewalks were full as people left work.
We were barely out of town when Ox’s phone rang. He put it on speaker and set it on the dash.
“Ox,” a low voice said. “You felt it.”
Joe Bennett, sounding as if he were growling through a mouthful of fangs.
Ox said, “Yes. From the woods.”
“The others.”
“With me. Jessie is still at the school. You?”
“Mom. Carter. Kelly. All at home.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ox glance at me. Then, “Mark?”
A brief hesitation. “He’s on his way.”
“We’ll be there soon.”
The phone beeped as Ox shoved it in the glove compartment. I counted down from three in my head, and as soon as I hit one, he said, “Gordo. He’s going to—”
“Drop it, Ox. It doesn’t matter.”
“This isn’t over.”
“I said drop it.”
“I’m really uncomfortable right now,” Robbie mumbled between us.
We drove the rest of the way in silence.
WE HIT the dirt road that led down to the Bennett houses. Rocks and dust kicked up around us as the steering wheel tried to jerk in my hands. The others were close behind us.
“Brakes need work,” I said mildly.
“I know.”
“Maybe bring it in. Could get you a deal.”
“You know the owner or something?”
