Blood Bond

by Heather Hildenbrand

Her eyes narrowed. “Your grandma said something about Wes. What will he do to her?”

  “He can make it so she doesn’t remember.”

  Her eyes widened. “He can do that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you do anything?”

  “Um …” I thought about how I’d almost shifted earlier and my emotional bond with George. George. I still hadn’t gotten to that part. Crap. The more I told, the harder it seemed to be.

  Grandma came in wiping her hands on a towel. Something about her expression made me sit up straighter. “What is it?” I asked.

  “Fee’s awake.”

  I jumped up but Grandma waved me back down. “She was a mess. Lots of pain. I gave her something to drink. She’s out again.”

  “How’s Jack?” I asked.

  “He’s pacing. And grumpy.” She scowled.

  “Is she going to be …?”

  “She’ll be fine. She took a bad spill,” Grandma said, “dislocated her shoulder and hip. It’s too painful to shift right now so healing is slow, but she’ll be all right. Wes went to get cleaned up, before you start badgering me about him,” she added.

  I clamped my mouth shut, pretending I hadn’t been about to ask. “Cord’s with her too?”

  She nodded. “They’re shaken. After Bailey … well, they don’t like the idea of Fee being injured.”

  I nodded in understanding. Inside, relief washed over me, sharp and sweet. Fee would be all right.

  “How’s it going in here?” she asked. She sent a pointed look at Angela.

  “I’m holding it together,” Angela said wryly.

  Grandma shook her head. “You’re doing more than that. Most level-headed first-timer I’ve seen.”

  “Maybe I’m tougher than I look.” Angela rounded on me. “Or than you gave me credit for,” she added. “So why are they after you? The evil hybrids, I mean.”

  I hesitated. I still hadn’t answered her earlier question, but since this one was easier, and right in front of me, I took the opening. “I don’t know,” I said. “They work for a woman named Olivia. She’s the one who sent them, who told them to use you and Sam. I have twenty-four hours to give myself up.”

  “You don’t know what she wants with you?”

  “No.”

  She tilted her head. “Are you going to give yourself up?”

  I looked over at Grandma. Her expression was neutral, blank. I suspected deep down she’d go along with whatever answer I gave. Alex, who’d returned in time to hear the last question, wasn’t so placid.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he said.

  I’d known this was coming since the minute they’d walked in from the rescue mission. I’d braced for it. “I can’t ignore them, Alex—”

  “You can, and you will. Don’t start with me. I’m serious.”

  “It’s not up to you.”

  “What’s not up to him?” Wes asked. He stood in the doorway, his hands securing the drawstring on his shorts, his hair still wet from the shower. For once, Alex’s reaction at seeing Wes wasn’t a scowl or muttered curse.

  “She thinks she’s going to give herself up to the Lexingtons,” Alex said.

  Wes’s head came up, and his hands stilled. His eyes on mine were fierce, determined. “Like hell.”

  “For once, we agree,” Alex said.

  Cambria and Derek appeared behind Wes.

  “What’s up?” I asked too brightly. Anything to quell the imminent argument. I didn’t like my chances against Alex and Wes on a good day—especially as a united front—and this was definitely not a good day.

  “Derek needs a buddy for patrols,” Cambria said. Her expression changed as the mood in the room registered. “Or we can come back later …”

  “No, it’s fine. I’ll go,” Alex said, rising.

  “I can do it,” Wes said at the same time.

  Derek leaned in, making a production of sniffing Wes’s shoulder. “You smell way too pretty,” Derek said. “I can’t take you.”

  Wes swung out, but Derek jumped back, grinning. “Save your energy. You and George have second shift.”

  “George?” Angela echoed.

  Both boys froze. The room went quiet.

  “Oops,” Derek muttered.

  “I thought you told her everything,” Wes said to me.

  “Baby steps.”

  “George is here? Where?” Angela’s voice rose with each question. “How?”

  “I’ll explain,” I said. I looked at Cambria. “Can you get him?”

  “I’m on it.” She disappeared down the hall.

  Derek looked at Alex. “You ready, man?”

  “More than,” Alex said, following Derek out. I glared at their backs and listened to the front door open and close behind them. No one spoke while we waited. I could feel Angela’s eyes on me.

  A second later, George appeared. He’d showered and changed, but there were circles under his eyes. Carrying the stress and worry of two people weighed heavily. I knew, firsthand.

  “Hey, Ang,” he said quietly.

  Angela’s eyes bulged. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. “You’re supposed to be at football camp.”

  “Yeah, about that … I’m not.”

  “Obviously.” She glared at him, then me. “How could you tell him and not me? Everything you said about wishing you could tell me for so long, and then you went and told him?”

  The hurt in her eyes reflected back, and I realized the reason for her sudden show of anger. She wasn’t freaking out about Werewolves or Hunters or anything supernatural. She thought I’d chosen George over her.

  “I had no choice,” I said. “He was kidnapped and then turned. I had to bring him here to protect him.”

  “Turned into what?” As soon as she asked the question, understanding dawned. “He’s a Werewolf too?” I nodded. “I don’t believe this.”

  George frowned. “I don’t have to prove it, do I? Because I just put fresh clothes on.”

  “Angela?” I asked.

  She rubbed her fingers against her temples. “No, please, no more wolves tonight. Geez, Tara. Does it get any weirder? Anything else you want to tell me?”

  “Um. I’m a wolf too, now. Sort of. And George and I have this bond thing, where we can feel each other’s emotions.”

  “Of course you do. I need some air.” She stalked out.

  George went after her, and I let him. I didn’t have it in me right now. All I could think about was that I’d had Angela’s understanding, and then I’d lost it.

  Wes’s arms came around me, and I laid my cheek against his shoulder. “She’s going to hate me,” I said.

  “She’s not going to hate you.”

  “She probably already does.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  “She’s going to freak out, like Sam.”

  He paused and then said, “Do you want me to make her forget?”

  “Sam? It’s probably best.”

  “Angela.”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. She’s taken everything pretty well up until this point.”

  He didn’t answer except to pull me closer. For just a moment, I forced everything else aside and enjoyed the feeling of his body against mine. The way his shoulders curved protectively, the way we fit together—all of it was as familiar, as comforting, as coming home.

  “We need to talk about what you said to Alex,” he said, and just like that, the feeling slipped away. I pulled back, bracing myself.

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  He stared at me incredulously. “There’s everything to say.”

  “Wes—”

  “I knew you were going to do this. I knew as soon as they threatened your friends. That doesn’t mean I have to stand by and let it happen. It doesn’t mean I have to agree.”

  “Listen, if I can get close enough to the hybrids, figure out how this Olivia lady is controlling—”

  “We’re back to the hybrids? Is that what this is about f
or you? They can’t be saved, Tara. You need to realize that.”

  “You don’t know that. And we have to at least try. We could save lives.”

  “I am saving lives. Yours.”

  “Does that mean others have to suffer? That if it isn’t a direct threat to me, we should ignore it, do nothing? They were people before. With lives and families.”

  “And now they’re evil. They killed Bailey, tried to kill you, and tonight they tried to kill your friends.”

  His words weighed heavily on me. Still, I held on to my argument. “Tonight was a warning.”

  “The hybrids don’t know the difference. You honestly still think you can save them? That they aren’t evil, after everything they’ve done?”

  I hesitated, unsure. I couldn’t say they were evil. Not when I’d been the one to convince Wes and the others to try and save them in the beginning. Then again, Wes was right. Look where that had gotten us. Bailey was gone, Fee was injured, Sam and Angela could’ve died.

  Were they worth saving?

  Especially when the only way to do it might involve forging a bond with them like I had with George? The thought made it hard to swallow. Then I thought of Victoria, of the way she’d looked when I told her I’d seen her parents.

  “What if it were our parents instead of Victoria’s?” I asked. “Would they be worth it then?”

  “It’s different.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes! I couldn’t save them—I can save you. I will not lose you like I lost them!” His voice rose to a yell in a sudden show of temper. The air thickened. Something inside him seemed to strain against its hold—his wolf.

  My bones ached, my muscles bunched. I stared him down. A part of me—a less-than-human part—knew this moment defined the future. Who looked away first mattered very much. I felt enough sympathy that, had the stakes been lower, I’d have given in. He’d lost so much, rebuilt it piece by piece. No wonder he was terrified of losing it. Of losing me. But the stakes weren’t low. To me, to the wolf straining inside me, this moment defined a leadership I thought I’d never want.

  He blinked. “This is insane,” he said. “We’ll find another way.”

  “And while we figure it out, everyone else is in danger. Sam and Angela … it could’ve been bad.”

  “But it wasn’t. We saved them.”

  “And so you’re going to what? Let them move in here so you can protect them around the clock? What about their families? What about George’s? What about anyone I’ve ever met? You can’t protect everyone forever.”

  He pressed a hand to my cheek. “Neither can you.”

  “It’s my decision. It’s my life.”

  “It’s our life.” His voice was instantly fierce. Not angry, but desperate. He leaned in so we stood toe to toe, eye to eye. “We’re a team, remember?”

  “We are a team,” I agreed, “so be on my side. Believe in me. I can do this.”

  I waited, fully prepared to continue the argument, but he nodded slowly, looking defeated, and pressed his forehead to mine. “I need you to come home,” he said. “Promise me.”

  “I promise.”

  *

  At five, Wes went to find Alex and Derek to help with patrols. George still hadn’t returned from talking to Angela, but Cambria came in and told me they were huddled in the supply room, so I knew she was safe. I wanted to see Fee, but Grandma said she was still sleeping, and I didn’t want to sit in a room with a worried Jack—or Cord, worried or not.

  I found myself knocking on Vera’s door. My mom hadn’t come out since the others arrived home. When I poked my head inside, I realized why. She was passed out on Vera’s bed. Vera sat sideways on the loveseat, a book propped on her lap. A lamp cast a yellow beam of light across her face, throwing the rest of the room into shadow.

  “Tara, come in,” she said quietly. “Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. I’m just tired.”

  “You should get some sleep.”

  “I will soon. I was waiting for my friend, Angela.”

  “Your mother speaks highly of her. How’s she taking everything?”

  “Better than I expected. Worse than I’d like. Mostly, I think she’s angry that she was the last to know.”

  “Betrayal is harder to forgive than murder. My mother said that once.”

  “Great, so there’s no hope.”

  Vera smiled, a rare, genuine gesture. “You should know my mother was clinically insane by the time she was fifty.”

  “I see.”

  She laughed. “Hopefully, you don’t.” She glanced at my mom. “She was worried about you.”

  “Me?” I frowned. “I was here the whole time.”

  “I don’t think that matters at this point. She knows what you’ll choose.”

  “With her, I don’t have a choice.”

  “Your fate, your choice.” I didn’t say anything to that. If my mom had her way, she’d choose for me and lock me in a closet, but I didn’t argue it. If Vera said I’d get a choice, somehow I knew I would. “George came earlier and sat for a while. Your bond with him is strong.”

  “I guess,” I said.

  “Could come in handy, if you decide to go.”

  My head came up. I stared at her, suddenly alert. “The bond … he could feel what I’m feeling. He’d know if I was in danger.”

  “Naturally.”

  I shook my head, though I wasn’t all that surprised anymore. Vera seemed to have a knack for quietly pushing me against the tide. “I’d have to convince them to let me go.”

  “They’ll vote on it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “It’s our process. Everyone gets a vote. As I said, your fate, your choice.”

  “Even George?”

  “Especially George.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You haven’t figured it out yet? He’s more a part of you than they are. He’s your pack.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  My mind wouldn’t shut up. It didn’t help that I’d been awake for almost twenty-four hours. Or that everyone else seemed to have a job but me. Wes, Derek, and George were still outside. I wondered if they really expected an attack or if they were too wired to sleep and couldn’t stand the thought of being cooped up inside. George’s exhaustion was evident through the bond—which only added to my own—so I assumed the first.

  Grandma was in the kitchen, cooking more tea for Sam and Fee—just in case. Alex had gone to shower, muttering something about the whole house smelling like dog. I pretended not to hear. Cambria was upstairs, showing Angela to George’s room to let her sleep. Sam was there, still under the effects of the drink. I hoped she stayed that way a while longer, for her sake.

  Angela still hadn’t spoken to me. I wasn’t sure what that meant. I didn’t go to her when she’d finished talking to George. I couldn’t, not until I knew what she thought, where she stood. If, after all of my honesty, and all of the shock, she rejected me because she thought I’d chosen George instead of her … I wasn’t even sure what to say to that. So I curled up in Jack’s chair and closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.

  I awoke to footsteps on the stairs, disoriented by the fresh sunlight streaming in through the blinds. Cambria looked up from the mug of coffee she cupped in her hands. Her lids drooped despite the caffeine. I sat up and twisted back and forth, trying to loosen the kinks in my back for having slept curled in a chair.

  Cord poked her head in. “Fee’s awake. She wants to see you. Both of you.” She spun and left before I could respond.

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “Almost noon,” Cambria said.

  “I was asleep that long? We only have—”

  “Four hours, give or take,” Cambria said, interrupting my mental math. She rose and held her mug out to me. “Here, this will help the numbers make sense.”

  I took the mug and gulped. “Nothing helps numbers make sense,” I said, following her upstairs.

  Fee l
ooked … like Fee. She looked rested—more rested than I did—and her eyes were bright and clear.

  “Hey girls,” she said, waving us into the room while she rubbed a towel over her damp hair.

  “Where’s Jack?” I asked, taking a seat on an oversized chair dragged in from one of the spare bedrooms.

  “I kicked him out at dawn. He was on my nerves.” She rolled her eyes. “It was a dislocation, not a loss of limb.”

  I hid a smile. It brought a rush of relief and happiness to hear her talk about it like no big deal, like she was completely fine. Then again, Fee always dealt with the medical stuff that way. Jack was the baby.

  “Here’s the deal,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed, grimacing as she settled herself. “I need to shift so I can finish healing. I’m going for a short run with Jack to check the perimeter. Two birds, one stone, if you will. After I get back, we’re having a house meeting.”

  “To vote,” I said, remembering what Vera had told me.

  “Right. Everyone needs to be present, so make sure your mom is up. And your friends, Sam and Angela. Wake them too. We need to figure out what to do with them.”

  “Um, I think Sam is better left out of this,” Cambria said.

  Fee looked at us questioningly. I filled her in on Sam’s reaction to everything, her shock. “Altering her memory is probably the best thing,” she said, nodding. “What about Angela?”

  I exchanged a look with Cambria. “I’ll talk to her,” I said.

  We rose to leave but Fee stopped me. “I called you girls in here for a specific reason,” she said. “You know this thing is going to be put to a vote. The decision will be final. Everyone gets a say, but majority rules. That’s how we work. I know you are used to doing things on your own, however you see fit.”

  She pursed her lips and looked at Cambria. “I also know about your methods,” she said pointedly. “So, I’m telling you now, because I won’t say it again, the decision is final.” I’d never seen Fee so stern. Her disapproving glower weighed heavier than Jack’s. She reminded me of my mom, only scarier, since I wasn’t sure exactly what she’d do if I went against her.

  “Got it,” I said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Cambria muttered.