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My mind buzzed with connections, a relief from might-have-beens about my father. If Ash was a pawn of the Guardian and the Guardian depended on Whelan pack bonds for power, then Ash’s outsized aggression pointed in a grim direction. Our so-called protector wanted a backup link into our clan in case she needed to force results I wouldn’t approve of. In that case...protecting the pack from fae intrusion had to take priority even over the safety of Natalie’s kids.
Because I was Alpha. Pack came first, now and always. I was down the stairs and off the porch before Natalie’s voice called me back.
“Where are you going?”
“Home. The pack needs me.”
As I spoke, something small and sparkly drifted off the porch and caught in the air. I tried to dodge, my mouth gaping open to warn the others. But I wasn’t fast enough, and they weren’t the ones in the line of fire.
Instead, the glitter landed on me. Settled like dew on my hair, my nose...and one particle on my tongue.
I shook like a wolf spraying water out of her fur, the effort successful in removing a cloud of glitter from my person. At the same time, Rune’s blade sliced through sunlight to settle at the fae’s throat.
But both efforts came too late. I felt the glitter imbedding itself inside my cheek like a cold sore. Scraping at the intrusion with my tongue then my finger, the alien object refused to budge.
“Don’t hurt yourself, dear,” the fae chided, peering down at me over the railing. “The charm certainly won’t hurt you. It’s simply insurance that you won’t go tattling to my sister. If you try to share information that’s none of your business...well, the words simply won’t come out.”
There was no persimmon in the air now. Just the reek of damp leaves matching the taut tendons on Rune’s forearms. He seemed half inclined to sever the fae’s head now and ask questions later. But....
“Kale and the baby depend on her safety,” I reminded him. The glitter in my cheek had faded to a tiny lump now. I barely felt it. Surely I could work around Lenny’s wife’s restrictions while protecting my pack.
Rune’s mouth tightened, but he lowered his sword even as I dug in my pocket for the van keys. Meanwhile, Natalie looked back and forth between the two of us. She cleared her throat, then shook her head. “You’re going to your pack instead of looking for Kale and Hazel.”
“Natalie....” I wanted to explain. Wanted to tell her I wasn’t willingly throwing away our friendship. For a moment there, we’d been sisters in arms...then our responsibilities had drawn us in two separate directions.
But the pack called. I was Alpha first. I would always be Alpha first. Natalie, on the other hand, would always choose to be a mother.
And speaking of responsibilities.... Despite myself, my eyes flew to Rune’s.
“I’ll call Lupe,” he rumbled. “But it’s my duty to remain with this fae until someone comes to relieve me.”
His duty was with the Samhain Shifters and mine was with Clan Whelan. The same as yesterday and last week and an endless string of tomorrows. So why did a vast pit of emptiness open in my belly?
Wordless, I returned to the minivan alone.
***
I PULLED OVER HALFWAY back to pack central. My eyes kept leaking, a frustrating occurrence. But that wasn’t why I stopped on the shoulder and padded into the trees.
The Guardian, I knew, could see what happened for miles in every direction. She could, but she didn’t often pay attention to happenings outside her immediate vicinity. As long as I didn’t draw her attention, she might remain unaware of the danger Lenny’s wife was sending her way. I might still have time to collect allies of my own.
To that end, I left my shoes on but let my tears fall into cushions of mosses, steering clear of the one nearby patch of wildflowers. The Guardian was fond of the little blue blooms, I’d noticed, while Erskine was drawn to salt.
Sure enough, warmth whuffled on the back of my neck after only a few seconds. I spun, hoping to see a unicorn.
And I did, for a split second. He was there...then he was gone. Sidling away from me so rapidly I couldn’t grab his mane and pull myself up onto his back.
Which hadn’t been my purpose, but the evasive action certainly got his point across. Until I was ready to pay my debt, Erskine wasn’t ready to take me on another ride.
“No innuendo?” I asked, forcing my words to lighten as I attempted to tease him back into good humor. “No double entendre about riding?”
Rather than sidling closer, Erskine stamped a hoof. He was as serious as I’d ever seen him. Impatient too.
“I get it,” I answered, wincing away from the unicorn’s disapproval. “I’ll be ready to give you what you want soon. Will you stay close until then?”
Erskine shook his head, not in a rejection of my request but in a puffing up of his mane. He was pleased that I’d promised to give what he demanded. Was pleased...and was likely also enjoying the way his new-found sparkles caught the sunlight.
I, on the other hand, froze. Those sparkles had originated from Lenny’s wife and been embedded in Erskine by action of the Guardian. Was I wrong to think this unicorn wasn’t a pawn of those other fae beings? Was I wrong to think that his attachment to Rune was deep enough to overcome his inherent fickleness?
I had nothing other than my gut to go on, and my gut told me Erskine was my only potential ally at the moment. So I whispered secrets into the unicorn’s furry ears. Secrets that weren’t mine to share. Secrets that felt like a betrayal of his brother.
When I was done, Erskine no longer danced and teased. Instead, he hung his head.
So...that might have worked, or it might not have. Either way, I left the unicorn behind. Got back in my van and returned to the place where my home had recently been destroyed.
Where, right under my nose, Ash had been twisted by the Guardian. Who knew if the rest of the pack was already twisted in a similar manner?
But they were my family. I was their Alpha...at least for a few more hours. And there was no way to hurry the strike I was planning.
So I shifted to wolf and ran with my pack one last time in fur form.
Hours later, we curled up together and slept amid flower-studded mosses until the moon rose above us. Then, padding back to the spot where we’d discarded our clothing, we returned to two legs.
I turned human first, sweeping the entire clan along in my undertow. My voice was Alpha hard and their bodies were still shifting when I told them: “Tonight, I will choose the best fighter among you as Beta.”
As if in response to my words, the earth growled. My pack mates murmured their fear, but I was ready.
I was ready when the ground gaped open and Ash stepped out of the dark.
***
HE BOASTED A SWORD and I had nothing but my daggers. All other weapons had fallen into the underground caverns along with our mansion. No matter. I drew two of my blades and lowered my stance into a crouch.
The old Ash, the Ash who made me pancakes every morning, would have dropped his sword and requested daggers to match mine. This Ash extended his three-foot-long blade in my direction point first, something dark glinting in his eyes.
“We fight for the role of Alpha,” he growled, “not Beta.”
Around me, the pack rustled their distress. I hadn’t explained about Lenny’s wife and the Guardian—couldn’t with the glitter embedded in my cheek. But the hole Ash had stepped out of spoke for itself. None of this was right.
Fighting, however, came easily. My plan was to capture Ash’s sword between my two daggers and spin it away from us. But whether I succeeded or failed, innocent pack mates shouldn’t be caught in our midst. So I lunged forward while barking, “Stand back.”
Most of the clan obeyed, but two wolves resisted. Willa and Caitlyn. They wanted to protect the pack and I was the heart of the pack so they wanted to protect me above all else. My attention split as I battled two silent rebuttals. Ash took advantage of that lapse to parry my blow.
Our blades clanged together, the grind of steel on steel quavering at the end like the call of a screech owl. This wasn’t the sword-removing blow I’d hoped for.
But Willa and Caitlyn had caved to my silent orders, better late than never. I felt them pushing the clan backwards. Now Ash was the only problem I faced.
Ash...and the Guardian, who knew my weaknesses the same way I knew Ash’s. How many times as a child had I run away after a lesson with my father to spill my woes to the listening forest? How many times had I growled about the unfairness of paternal tactics?
At the time, the Guardian had been warmly supportive, albeit wordless in her encouragement. As her sister claimed, she did appear to like children.
Unfortunately, I was no longer a child. And a few of my most intrinsic weaknesses still remained.
Which I only realized when Ash backed into the darkness rather than pressing his advantage. “What would you do if my sword wasn’t pointed at you,” he murmured, “but at a pack mate?”
Too late, I saw what he—or the Guardian—had already noticed. The clan had been close a moment earlier, but they’d obeyed my demands and moved backwards.
Well, most had. All save one youngster who dawdled behind.
No, not dawdled. Caitlyn had obeyed my command by retreating three paces, but after that she’d placed her body between the others and danger. And yet...she possessed no weapons. No way to protect herself other than retreat and hope Ash wouldn’t attack in the face of her pack mates’ combined strength.
But a Beta didn’t retreat. Instead, the girl stood tall, unarmed, as Ash’s sword flickered away from me...and toward her upturned face.
No, that wasn’t Ash leading the attack. That sword was wielded by the Guardian. My friend would never have pressed the tip of his blade into the palm Caitlyn instinctively raised between them.
And my friend would never have smiled like that while promising to maim a pack mate. “Do you think she’ll serve the clan if I sever a tendon here”—his sword swiped out a tiny trickle of blood across Caitlyn’s wrist—“and here?”
Another swipe and he’d bared her elbow. Cloth fragments fluttered to the ground. The entire pack held our breath.
The Guardian was right. This was my weakness. If the Whelan clan was threatened, I would do anything in my power to protect them.
So I did. I feinted and pivoted then lashed out while Ash was still raising his sword to defend himself. Without hesitation, my dagger pierced my oldest friend.
Steel ground against bone as the blade thudded hilt deep into his body. Fae faded from Ash’s eyes as he fell.