Byron sat back in his chair. “I think I’ll do whatever the family needs me to do. I don’t want another person getting hurt.”
“There’s just one catch,” I said, flinching at the glares from Byron and Opa. “Vin has this werewolf’s daughters, just like he’s planning on taking Amelia. He, Ryan, wants our help getting his girls home, and he’ll help us protect Amelia.”
“We’ll have to go to Vin?”
I shrugged, holding my grandfather’s gaze. “Or lure Vin out. Force him to act like an alpha rather than letting the rest of his pack do his dirty work. First, we have to deal with the group that’s coming for Amelia. Who knows? Maybe this will persuade the others to leave us alone for good.”
“I don’t know. It sounds too simple.”
“This is what you wanted!” I reminded him heatedly. “You knew they would come. You wanted this. We have an opportunity to make the first strike, so what are you waiting for?”
“Dad, it’s about time we put this to rest. She wouldn’t have wanted this. Not at all. We all miss her, but now is the time to be smart, not full of so much anger we can’t think straight.”
Opa stood. “We don’t lie down with the enemy to win small, petty battles.” He stormed out of the room.
“I can’t deal with his crap for much longer,” I said, clenching my fists.
“I need to speak to this Ryan wolf,” Byron said. “Can you arrange that?”
I glanced at Jeremy. It had to happen at some stage.
Jeremy took over everything—calling Ryan, setting up a meeting, telling everyone where they had to be. I was pushed into the background while he pretended to be alpha. Everything was happening too quickly. I didn’t have the chance to get used to the idea of us working with Ryan and Willow.
Opa had to know what was going on, but he ignored us, and in a way, that felt as though he were giving us permission.
“He wants to meet tonight,” Jeremy told us after ushering Byron and me outside the house.
“Short notice,” I commented.
“Doesn’t give them time to screw us over, though.” Jeremy nodded at his father. “What are you thinking?”
Byron rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m thinking we need to move fast, before anything else can go wrong. I’ll give this wolf a chance, but if I think for a second that he’s lying, it’s over. Agreed?”
I trusted Byron’s instincts, so I had no problem agreeing. Jeremy hesitated, and I could tell from his expression that he preferred being in control of the situation.
Jeremy took Byron to see Ryan that evening. I went along, keeping my distance as backup. Byron was surprisingly composed when faced with Ryan. They had a quiet discussion for a while, but they were too far away for me to hear them clearly. I also had to concentrate on watching for any werewolves trying to sneak up on us.
Ryan jogged off in the opposite direction, and Byron and Jeremy strolled toward me, looking relaxed. The knot in my stomach loosened a little.
“I believe him,” Byron said when they reached me. “He’s not lying, but I’m worried about the other wolf. She’s the wildcard.”
“I can keep her under control,” Jeremy reassured him.
Byron stared at his son. “That’s partly what worries me.”
The atmosphere between Byron and Jeremy tensed, and I half-expected them to get into it right there. But Byron, careful as always, simply said we should head home. We walked together, but there was no easiness, and I realised that my family had a lot of work to do even after the werewolves left us alone. Relationships badly needed repairing.
By the time we got back to the house, Opa seemed to have had a change of heart. He approached us almost apologetically, avoiding our eyes.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll go along with your plan. But if it comes down to it, I must deal with Vin. It’s the only way. It’s the only thing that will get me through this.”
Jeremy and Byron agreed, but I hesitated. “Fine, but then you have to make this up to Perdita and her family. You’ve screwed everything up for them. Fix it.”
He seemed startled at how forceful I sounded, but he didn’t argue, and that made me wonder. Why had he even changed his mind?
“When it comes to the fight,” Jeremy said. “We have to be like them. No thinking twice. No holding back. Wolf against wolf. I know it’s not the way we do things, but it’s the way we’ll win. This is the only time we’ve ever had the chance to make this kind of an impact. I think we need to take it.”
The three older wolves talked strategy then, but I focused my thoughts on what it would really take to win, and what might happen if we didn’t. I would have to empty my mind when the fight came, because if we lost, Perdita and Amelia would be helpless. We had to trust our enemies to beat bigger enemies, and we had to trust in ourselves to make it until the end. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I had to try.
Everyone was depending on me. Even though I was the youngest, I still had a big part to play, and I had to thank Perdita for making me talk to Ryan. If she hadn’t, we would never have found out about Vin’s plan to kidnap Amelia until it was too late. The close call made my heart race. There was too much violence in the air, too much in the voices of my family members. But violence was all we had. Violence was the only way to protect our loved ones. And that sucked most of all.
Chapter Twenty
Nathan
“Maybe I was wrong.” I fidgeted nervously. “Maybe this is a bad idea.”
“We need to get the initial meeting out of the way so we can all calm down and come up with a plan,” Byron said, his voice steady and firm.
“Dad’s right,” Jeremy said. “Willow needs time to adjust.”
I gawked at Jeremy, wondering yet again whose side he was on. “Since when do you care about her?”
“Since she became our backup. Nathan, we don’t have time for hate. We’re all after the same thing here. We need to work together, whatever it takes.”
“They’re here.” Opa stood ahead of us in the park, waiting. It had taken some arguments, but we had eventually decided that meeting on open land was safer than all of us packed into a room.
We stood together on an empty stretch of grass behind a football pitch. Sounds of a training session floated on the air. Byron had hoped the large number of ordinary people close by would help prevent any aggravation between us werewolves.
The dying sun hit the backs of two figures emerging from a batch of trees. I sniffed the air, catching their scent on the wind. Wolf twisted, eager to show the werewolves whose territory we were on.
Willow trailed after Ryan, her head lowered. Ryan stood straight, but he didn’t meet our eyes to avoid provoking us. They looked like an odd pair, and I had to fear the way we were pinning all of our hopes on them. They stopped a couple of yards from us and waited. Opa trembled, struggling to hold in his wolf. Byron stepped next to him, and we all surrounded him, hoping he would calm down.
“You’ll help us,” Opa said.
Ryan nodded. “In return for your help. His fighters have orders to come after me, too. He still trusts Willow. He’s told her that they’re coming, that she should be ready to distract you so they can take the girl. They won’t expect us to attack first, and I think that’s our best defence.”
“We can’t leave Amelia alone,” I reminded. “In case one of them gets away.”
“Perdita will be with her,” Opa said. “She has enough sense to keep them both out of trouble.”
“No, I don’t want her involved.”
“She is already involved.”
“Nathan’s right,” Ryan said. “It’s safer if everyone is in one place. You have dogs. Your home is the best safeguard for now. I know some of the werewolves coming. They’re young and arrogant, and they won’t be a match once we outnumber them.”
“Nobody dies,” Byron said.
“Why do we care if they die?” Opa’s voice rose angrily.
“We use them to send a message,” Byron said cal
mly.
“What better message than death?”
“There’s been too much blood spilled. Sparing them sends a stronger message to the entire pack, that we’re not the monsters this Vin wolf is.”
Ryan nodded. “You’re right. Dominate them and send them home with a challenge to Vin. One he can’t ignore.”
“Keep out of it! You’re nothing but a traitor!” Opa shook with anger.
Ryan eyed Opa sternly. “You speak of traitors. Why is Vin after you? How does he know you? Why is he so intent on destroying your family? Why did you not heed the warnings I sent? What are you hiding?”
My grandfather made as if to charge Ryan. Willow hissed a warning as Jeremy held Opa back.
“Tell the truth,” Ryan said. “You knew Vin once. What happened? I’ve heard the stories. I know what he did to your son. And I see how strong you all are as a pack. So why have you done nothing against him before now?”
Opa sagged against Jeremy.
“What happened to my brother?” Byron stepped toward Ryan, ignoring Willow’s growl. “Tell me what happened.”
Ryan dipped his head again. “I’ve heard stories about the one I replaced. They found a new tracker, and they knew a woman in the family had given birth to a girl as well as a son. Vin decided he had to have the mother in his pack, so he sent the tracker and some others after her. Her mate was there.” He took a deep breath and nodded at Byron. “Your brother fought like an animal until they pinned him down. The tracker was sadistic, taunted him with his wife, and… he went too far. She died, and your brother lost his mind. He tore the tracker apart, then killed two others before they finally managed to take him down. One of those died of their wounds later on. Vin used what happened to convince the pack that letting your family breed would lead to the end of everyone else. I’m sorry.”
Byron sank to the ground in despair. It was rare to see exactly how he was feeling. I didn’t know what to feel. My parents… my dad hadn’t killed my mother. He hadn’t gone down without a fight. But Vin had taken my family away, and the need for revenge surged through me. Maybe Byron was wrong about having mercy on the wolves coming to take Amelia.
Byron looked up at his father, his eyes filled with hate. “Tell me everything.”
“It’s true. This is all petty revenge.” Opa looked at Ryan. “What do you know about the tracker who stalked my mates?”
“You murdered her,” Ryan said, so matter-of-factly that I wondered what he had done since he joined with his pack. What was he capable of?
“I didn’t. Vin did. Although I’m sure he told a different story.”
“Why would he do that?” Ryan asked.
Opa sighed heavily. “Vin met my wife first and fell in love with her. He saved her life when the tracker came along. He killed the tracker to stop her from sending others. He was trying to court Lia when I finally found her. The tracker’s lies had slowed me down, and Lia had the time to start up a relationship with Vin. Of course, the curse won that battle. He was desperate to do anything to get her back, but it ended badly. Over the years, he’s made threats, but we’ve kept moving. I hoped he would give up and go away. I had no idea he had become alpha.”
I exchanged a horrified glance with Jeremy. Could my family’s history get any more screwed up?
“Didn’t you ever think we might need to know this?” I blurted.
“No, I didn’t,” Opa snapped.
“Mémère did,” I said. “She wanted to tell us about blood threats and stuff, but you wouldn’t let her. You could have done something before.”
“I’m doing something now,” he roared, and a shiver ran down my spine.
“There’s no point turning on each other.” Byron stood, holding up his hands. “We have the chance to end this, if we’re all willing. Are we all willing?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.” I glared at my grandfather. “But no more secrets.”
Jeremy shrugged. “I’m up for the fight.”
Byron turned to my grandfather and waited.
The old man nodded after a couple of seconds. “I’m in, as long as we get to Vin.”
Ryan held Willow’s arm. “As long as I have your word that you’ll all help get my daughters back, I’m on your side.”
Byron shook his hand. “I swear to you, our goals and your goals lead down the same path. The more he sends after us, the less he has watching over your daughters. We’ll figure out a way to get them out of there safely. This fight is just the first step.” He looked at Willow, and his face softened. Again I wondered how my family could bear to be around her and Ryan after everything they had done. It seemed as though I was the only one with a problem. “Willow, can we trust you?”
She nodded, transfixed.
“You want to help Ryan. Don’t you?”
“Yes, I… yes.”
“Then you must listen to him. I know it’ll be hard for you to disobey Vin, but it’s the right thing to do.”
“But my father—”
Ryan squeezed her arm. “Vin set up your father. He had to fight. It was in his nature. Coming here was never going to end the way Vin said it would. He wanted to get rid of your father. That’s why he sent him here, so he could blame him when everything went wrong.”
Willow’s jaw tensed, and her eyes grew cold as she held up her chin for the first time. “Then he must die,” she said simply, and the tone of her voice sent chills down my spine. I was the youngest of the group, the least experienced, and I suddenly saw what I was getting myself into. All of the other wolves had been raised like Willow, not like Ryan. They knew violence first. They knew vengeance. And for the first time, I desperately wanted to be like them.
Chapter Twenty-One
Perdita
“Where’s Meredith?”
Gran shook her head, smiling. “She’s been busying herself with seeing her old friends. It’s as if she’s never been away. I’m meeting her for lunch shortly. What are you doing cooped up in here all morning?”
“Dad says I have to keep away from Nathan.” I forced a sincerely mournful look on my face.
“Nathan? Why?” She sounded shocked, exactly what I was hoping for.
“He thinks being around Nathan’s family has been making me miserable. Now I’m miserable because he’s banned me from seeing Nathan. I can’t win.”
“Oh, you poor thing! Of course you’ve been feeling down. His grandmother died, and it probably reminded you of me. Don’t worry, my pet. Nothing’s going to happen to me.” She hugged me.
I couldn’t believe how well the conversation was going. “Um, yeah. Exactly why. But he’s blaming Nathan anyway.”
“But you’ve been so happy since you made friends with Amelia and Nathan. You know what? I bet it’s the morphine.”
I was pretty sure Dad wasn’t on any morphine, but I didn’t argue.
“He doesn’t know what he’s saying. As soon as he’s home from hospital, everything will be fine. He’ll forget all of this nonsense. Don’t you worry. Now, if you need to see Nathan, then go. I know I can trust you to be good.”
She smiled so sweetly that I felt guilty for manipulating her. But I really needed to see Nathan to find out more about what had been happening. I couldn’t get a minute alone to call him, and I preferred to hear news face to face anyway.
I headed over to Nathan’s house, the entire time wondering if a strange werewolf might be watching me, but knocking on Nathan’s door made me feel even more uneasy. Cú greeted me fondly, and I was happy to see him, but Jakob was the one who opened the door. He nodded, and when I moved to go by him, he held my arm.
“I am sorry your father’s ill. I’ve been thinking about it. We should talk while you’re here.”
I didn’t fancy the idea of talking to him, and I definitely wasn’t planning on forgiving Jakob anytime soon. He intimidated me now that he wasn’t the jolly old granddad figure anymore, so I was more than happy when Nathan came to rescue me. He grabbed my hand straight away, and I felt a lit
tle stronger.
We went upstairs, but I hesitated at the door of his room.
“What’s wrong?”
I shrugged. “Don’t think Dad would approve, somehow.”
“It’s okay. Opa’s downstairs.”
“He’s not exactly sure of what’s right and wrong at the moment.” The truth was, I was terrified of going into Nathan’s room. The curse was so strong that it had made me act crazy more than once, and I didn’t want to go crazy in a boy’s bedroom.
Nathan looked puzzled. “We can hang out downstairs if you want.”
“Okay,” I said, a little too fast.
“Any word on your dad?” he asked as we headed back down.
“Nothing new. They’re running some more tests tomorrow. Not that they’re expecting to find anything.”
“That sucks. Bet he hates being the patient.”
“He’s so bad at it.” I laughed. “But at least he can’t stop me from seeing you while he’s stuck in the hospital. Gran let me come over.”
“Tell her thanks.” He leaned in for a kiss, and I forgot about everything, including stopping his roaming hands. That was an unfortunate side effect of getting close to Nathan.
Someone cleared their throat behind us, and our lips parted ways.
“What’s up?” Jeremy asked, waggling his eyebrows.
“Do you have a reason for being here?” Nathan said. “Apart from getting in the way, I mean.”
“Funny, little cousin. Opa wants to talk to you. I’m a messenger boy now. You wait until I find my mate. You’re gonna slide all the way to the bottom of the pack.”
Both of them laughed, but I felt a bit lost and more than a little embarrassed. My better judgement seemed to hide during important moments.
Nathan took my hand and led me into Byron’s office, away from Jeremy’s laughter. I felt as though I were about to get told off. Facing Jakob wasn’t something I wanted to do. I still felt as though he had caused my father to be attacked.
In the office, Jakob sat in Byron’s chair, twisting the lid on and off a pen. “How’s your father now?”
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