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I couldn’t explain it, but everything was grating on my nerves. I was on more edge than usual. The only conclusion I could come to was that I was reacting viscerally to all the unfamiliar wolves wandering around the place. And there were the Greenthornes, socializing as if they hadn’t just threatened us with a mutiny that would destroy everything Ridge was building. Whenever I spotted them around the fundraiser, they were always having animated conversations with other shifters. They were bound to be spreading rumors, laying the groundwork for their attack on me.
Everywhere I looked, I felt like I was under a microscope. Everyone was watching me, discussing things while staring at me. I could tell the gossip was mostly about Ridge and me setting a wedding date, but others looked at me with cold, callous eyes. The Greenthornes must have gotten to them. Shifters were beginning to believe, or at least highly suspect, that what the Greenthornes said was true without knowing all the facts.
It didn’t help that people were bumping into me the entire time. It made my wolf antsy, and my temples pulsed with the stirrings of a headache.
The headaches were no longer annoying. They meant the difference between life and death.
Frantically, I scanned the crowd, hoping to spot Ridge. He could help me find my center quicker than I could on my own, but I couldn’t find him. With my history at the forefront of my mind, I went into panic mode, thinking the feral side was working to come out. The uneasiness I had been thwarting made it all the harder to find reason with my wolf.
People greeted me, and I tried to keep a smile on my face. I didn’t want to appear crazed despite what was simmering just beneath the surface.
Not wanting to risk having a feral reaction in public, I maneuvered out of the crowd and made my way behind the booths. I ducked into the nearest building, which happened to be Lola Kipling’s office beside the library. I couldn’t believe she’d left the door unlocked, with all that was happening outside her front door, but I needed a quiet space to refocus.
Taking several deep breaths, I bent over, my hands on my thighs, trying to calm myself and breathe the way Clawson had shown me.
“Are you okay?”
I jumped and growled, clasping my hand to my chest as if I could control the wild beating of my heart.
Lola’s face went red. “I’m so sorry for frightening you.” She held up her hands. “I got overwhelmed in the crowd, too, so I stopped in here to get a little break.”
Now that I didn’t think my heart would jump out of my chest, I eased my body into what I thought would seem a comfortable stance. Lola didn’t need to catch me having a freak-out moment. With her profession, she would want to talk, and with my problem, I couldn’t speak to her about it.
I forced a smile. “I completely understand. It’s a bit much out there. So many people came to this thing. I think I’ll take off from the fundraiser altogether. I’m not too big on crowds. That’s why I like small towns.”
Thinking of leaving the fundraiser hadn’t been on my mind, but now that I’d said it, the idea was really appealing. Ridge had said we only had to make an appearance, and we had. I wanted to find him, not just because my wolf and I hated being separated from him. Something else was bothering me.
After being so long on the run and on my own, I must have developed some paranoid streak because something was entirely off for me and my wolf. She wouldn’t settle, wanting to investigate even though I had no clue where to begin. I didn’t think she did, either. It was like there was this itch that she needed to scratch. However, I couldn’t risk losing control among so many humans and strangers.
It was safest for everyone if I returned to the manor and checked on Kyle and Audrey. Maybe that was what I felt off about. My brother was nearby and being threatened, and now I needed to check on him.
The knot in my stomach wouldn’t ease up, so I decided that was what I’d do. I’d send Ridge a text to let him know where I’d gone.
“I’m going to head back to the manor and get some peace from the crowds,” I began, but my phone started ringing, interrupting my goodbye to Lola.
Thinking it was Ridge, I grabbed it from my back pocket, but I didn’t recognize the phone number. The area code was from Blackwood Creek, and that funny feeling I was battling intensified.
“Tori, is that you?” my brother yelled into the phone, frantic and out of breath.
“Kyle? What’s going on?”
He started shouting. “You’re in danger! There are two hunters here!”
With the phone still glued to my ear, I shook when a loud sound blasted into my eardrum from over the phone.
“Fuck! Oh shit! Tori, where are the spelled capsules? I need them now!”
Trying to piece together what I was hearing, I couldn’t get my mouth to work until another loud shout blasted through the phone again. I heard a deafening gunshot, and my whole world fell out from under my feet as the line went dead.
I screamed into the phone. “Kyle?! Kyle, are you there?! Kyle?!”
Panic at what could be happening at the manor overshadowed everything else, and my tenuous control snapped. I couldn’t command my wolf long enough to get away from Lola. My wolf howled and catapulted out of my body, surging me into a full shift faster than I had ever shifted before.
In wolf form, my hearing was more sensitive, and Lola’s frightened screams made me cringe. Then, silence hit as she fainted and fell onto the floor.
I couldn’t do anything about that right now, but I was relieved that I was in control enough to be aware of my surroundings. I’d shifted and stayed conscious the whole time.
Harsh banging on the door had me quickly looking at Lola. I couldn’t afford to be found like this. I needed to get to my brother pronto—that was the driving force for my change. Whoever was on the other side of that door would only delay me further.
