13. Kirsten

It had been nearly an hour since Jace left. I was still sitting at the table in my room, glaring at the fruit. No matter how hard I tried, the illusion didn't hold. At least I could make it happen now, but as soon as I lowered my hand, the illusion disappeared.

Jace's medallion, which sat beside the necklace Tinsley had given me, was doing something, though. The crystal hummed and vibrated more strongly than it had before, almost as though the medallion was fueling it somehow.

Harley hadn't returned, probably giving me some time alone to work on it, which I appreciated. From what I could feel, it was right there, on the outer edges of my mind. Like my fingertips were just brushing it, but unable to grasp the whole thing and bring it under my control. Illusionary magic was very difficult.

"Okay," I muttered under my breath. "One more time."

I shoved the apple out of the way. Perhaps focusing on one object would make it easier. Placing my hand on my chest, I covered the crystal and the medallion, then let my hand hover over the orange. The items against my chest thrummed to life, and I took a deep breath, focusing on the power within me. The medallion warmed beneath my fingers—a similar heat to when Jace pressed his chest into my back and wrapped his arms around me. A faint smile twitched at my lips, and I murmured the incantation.

A second, perfect orange appeared beside the other. I held my hand still, waiting, but the illusion held. Slowly, I moved my hand back and watched in delight as it continued to hold. Once I knew it was stable, I leaned forward to inspect it. There was no way to tell the fake orange from the real one. They were identical in every way.

Leaning back in my chair, I pressed my hand to my mouth and laughed. Still, the illusion held. Eventually, I waved my hand across it, and the orange disappeared in a flash. I wanted to try more illusions.

I did the same with a book, a pillow, and a lamp. I even managed to get the lamp to turn on and cast a wavering, almost real light on the floor. By that time, I was exhausted and decided to take a break. Some fresh air would do me good.

Harley was asleep on the couch when I came downstairs. Rather than wake her up, I tiptoed to the front door and went out on the porch. The late summer air was thick and hot, but it felt nice on my skin. As I leaned on the railing, barking, howling, and angry growls echoed through the trees.

"What is that?" I called over to Tank, who was leaning against Jace's mailbox.

He grinned at me over his shoulder. "You mean the noise? Jace and the others have a whole crew of people from town up here in the clearing. Putting them through the moves of how to protect the town."

"Really?"

"Yup."

That intrigued me. I'd never seen a whole group of shifters fighting together. Would it look like the movies, or would it be more brutal? Maybe even less?

"Can you take me down to watch?" I asked.

Tank looked unsure, glancing from to the forest and then at me again. Finally, he shrugged.

"Anyone else in the house?" he asked.

"Harley is taking a nap."

"Okay, let me tell Brad. He's the other guy on guard duty."

Tank jogged to the rear of the house and then returned a few moments later to lead me to the forest. Once we'd stepped into the sanctity of the woods, the sounds of battle grew louder. A sudden and intense howl erupted, sending gooseflesh up my arms. Even without seeing the wolf who'd made the noise, I knew it was Jace. Something about the sound spoke to and connected with my magic.

After trudging through underbrush and around saplings, we stepped out into the same clearing I'd been training in, though it looked much different now. At least two dozen wolves were sprinting around, launching themselves at one another. Jace sprinted through the midst of battle, easily recognizable due to his size. Compared to the other wolves, he was a giant.

"Are alphas always bigger than the rest?" I asked Tank.

He shrugged. "Usually, yeah. It's part of it. Higher strength and speed, more testosterone, size, all that stuff. Langston and I are bigger than Jace in our human forms, but his wolf dwarfs ours."

"Wow."

Almost as though he heard me, Jace's head turned in my direction, his yellow wolf eyes locking on mine. A shiver went through me. Another shifter lunged toward him. Without taking his eyes off mine, he raised his hind leg and kicked the wolf aside effortlessly. They went tumbling over, and Jace didn't look fazed at all.

Suppressing a laugh, I smiled and waved at him. Wolves couldn't smile, but whatever look Jace had was as close as it could get. He turned and jumped over another attacking wolf, leaping at least six feet in the air to do so, landing in a crouch before leaping forward to knock another shifter over.

"He's showboating now," Tank grumbled, but he was grinning.

My smile faded. I blinked and tilted my head. Something was wrong. I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but there was a presence I didn't recognize that had my magic pulsing. My crystal buzzed angrily against my skin.

"Tank?" I asked hesitantly. "Do you sense that?"

He didn't answer, too enthralled by the wolves before us. Jace skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest, his head jerking back and forth. He'd noticed it as well. He raised his head to sniff the air.

A split-second later, a wolf exploded from the forest and lunged at Jace.

"Motherfucker!" Tank shouted, starting to run.

Waylan and Langston bolted toward Jace to help. The small gray wolf snapped its jaws at Jace's back, trying to sink its teeth into his neck. Its feral eyes rolled wildly as it fought.

It was even smaller than the last feral to attack, and my heart shattered. It was another child. Urged on by some instinct, I rushed forward, running across the field. Everyone had already stopped what they were doing to watch their alpha struggle with the attacker.

Jace, being stronger than all the full-grown wolves, had even less trouble with this interloper. He bit it on the scruff of its neck and pressed it to the ground, placing a paw on it. He shifted into his human form and picked up the thrashing beast. He didn't even flinch when the wolf snapped its jaws at him.

The closer I got, the better I could see the other wolf. Its eyes were a light blue, almost like a husky instead of a wolf. The look in those eyes was a mixture of rage, terror, and panic.

Langston shifted into his human form and stalked forward.

"Christ, Jace. He can't be more than ten, if that. Hell, he looks like he might have gotten his first shift early. Could even be nine."

Jace, still holding the thrashing shifter, glared at Langston. "So Eren probably had this kid tortured before his first shift."

Still holding the scruff of his neck, Jace handed the young wolf over to Langston, who subdued the creature as easily as Jace had.

"But how can Eren force a child that young to shift? Before he even knows how?" I asked.

"An alpha can use their aura to get a young wolf to shift if they're having trouble their first time. The initial shift can be painful and scary," Jace explained. "A good alpha uses their power to help them get through it quickly. Afterward, every subsequent shift becomes more and more natural, a relaxing and pleasurable experience. Eren," he said the name like it was the most abhorrent word in the English language, "has been using it for a much more sinister purpose."

Waylan stepped forward, pulling his belt out through its loops. "Hang on," he said. With deft movements, he encircled the pup's mouth and cinched the belt tight around its muzzle. "There. Now he's a little less dangerous."

Unable to bite, the wolf pawed at Langston's massive arms and chest to get away, his malevolent eyes locked on Jace.

"We may need to speed up our plans," Jace said, eyeing the young child shifter sadly.

"He's right," I said. "I don't give a damn how exhausted I get, I will have that spell ready. I don't want this happening to another child. As long as Stephanie gets that guy to switch sides, I'll be good to go. I promise."

"I know they all just left not long ago, but call everyone back," Jace said, nodding toward Waylan. "Things are escalating even faster than we thought."

Less than an hour later, the other alphas and council members of multiple packs stood in Jace's garage. Ivy knelt down, staring through the bars of the cage where Langston had put the young wolf.

"Dear God," she whispered. "He's so young." She looked up at me, eyes full of sorrow. "Is there anything that can be done? Magic or otherwise?"

I stared at her, blinking rapidly. I hadn't expected this question.

"Yeah," Hollis added. "Is there something Kirsten could do, Jace?"

"I don't know," Jace said slowly. "His humanity is gone, torn away by whatever torture Eren put him through. There's a chance some of him is still in there, deep inside, but it's probably too difficult to get to."

Waylan's phone rang, cutting off the conversation. I let out a small sigh of relief.

"It's Stephanie," Waylan said, answering and putting the phone on speaker. "Steph? It's Waylan. Everyone is here."

Stephanie moaned, and it sounded like she'd been crying. "Is Jace okay? Is everyone all right?"

"I'm fine, Steph," Jace grunted. "Did you know about this latest attack? We've got the child here, locked away safe."

"I only heard about ten minutes ago. Eren was bragging." Her voice grew thick. "We may not have two days, Jace. The boy he sent only turned ten a month ago. His name's Carter, and Eren has his mother locked up. She tried to fight Eren off when he came for the kid."

"So, he's not only taking children, but locking up the parents who don't go along with it?" Langston asked, his face a mask of anger.

"More than locking up," Stephanie said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Dale White, a man from Scottsdale, told Eren to fuck off when he came for his son. He vanished that night. Most folks think Eren had him killed for disobeying his alpha."

"You said this boy's name is Carter?" Reese asked.

"Yes. Carter Edgerton. If there's one good thing to come from Eren doing this to Carter, it's that it's helped Byron see reason. I spoke with him just after word broke about the boy being sent off. He's completely on our side now. It didn't even take much convincing. He‘s terrified Eren's gonna go for his son next."

"Hell, yeah," Langston muttered.

"I have to warn you all, Eren is talking about using the other kids he has trained as a distraction to try and take Kirsten again."

An angry growl rumbled from Jace's chest, and I put my hand on his shoulder to calm him. His entire body vibrated with rage.

"That rat bastard isn't getting anywhere near Kirsten," Jace said through gritted teeth. He put his hand over mine on his shoulder. "I swear to that."

Eren should be fearing for his life. From the expression on Jace's face, if the other man was standing here right now, he'd have ripped his head off with his bare hands.

The others continued to talk, discussing the plans as I went to the cage and knelt in front of the wolf, who was still thrashing about with Waylan's belt tied around his muzzle. Jace and the other alphas agreed that we needed to move up the timeline and move on Eren the next night. Langston was informing everyone that my illusion spell probably wouldn't be strong enough.

"We need to figure out a plan B," Langston said.

Harley moved around the edge of the garage and squatted down beside me, rubbing my back. "How are you doing?" she whispered.

"Not great," I admitted, nodding toward the boy. "He looks so miserable. This is all so fucked up."

"I never, in a million years, would have thought stuff like this was going on."

Rather than respond, I leaned even closer to Carter. A strange sensation tickled at the back of my neck. The wolf thrashed his head back and forth, trying to get the belt off, but it was secured well enough that it wasn't budging. He was also growing exhausted from the attack and his attempts to escape. The anger and desire to hurt radiated off him in waves, and my magic reacted to the emotions coming off him.

There was something else there as well. I frowned, narrowing my eyes. It took a few moments, but I finally figured out what I was sensing. Sadness.

A feral wolf would have very basic instincts and emotions. Anger, hunger, fear, and pain. But sadness was more like a human trait. If there was no humanity left within him, how could he feel sad?

"Jace?" I said, raising my voice to be heard over the conversation. "Can you come here?"

The others quieted as Jace walked over. "What's wrong?"

"I can feel his emotions," I said, unsure how else to describe it.

"What do you mean?"

"I can sense what he's feeling," I said, gesturing to the cage. "He's sad."

The other shifters in the room looked surprised by this pronouncement. "Wait," Abigail said. "You can feel a shifter's emotions? Like… like an alpha can?"

Jace knelt down, leaning close and gazing through the bars at Carter. After a moment, he sat back, surprise etched on his face. "She's right. I can sense it, too." He turned and looked at me, a weird grin on his lips. "Maybe you were an alpha in a past life," he said, giving me a playful nudge. "Only alphas can sense shifter emotions. Usually, that is."

An idea occurred to me then. I stood and walked over to Waylan, snatching his phone from him.

"Stephanie? This is Kirsten. What do you know about Carter? Tell me everything."

"Uh, well, I don't know a lot. Eren took him before I came to town. He just turned ten. His father is dead, and like I said earlier, his mother is being held captive. Um, someone said he really liked soccer. That's all I really know."

I handed the phone back to Waylan and went back to the cage. The wolf eyed me warily as I leaned as close as I felt comfortable getting.

"Carter?" I said, keeping my voice soft and low. "My name is Kirsten. Your name is Carter. Can you remember that? Your mother is very worried about you. Can you remember her face?"

The wolf's eyes narrowed, and he thrashed his head once, banging his snout painfully against the wire of the cage.

"Your mother loves you very much," I said, reaching my hand forward. Jace stiffened beside me, but I ignored him and placed my palm against the wire. "Do you remember playing soccer? I bet you were really good, weren't you, Carter? Your mom would watch you. She'd cheer when you scored a goal."

A strange look came over the wolf's eyes. Pain—a heart-wrenching pain that had nothing to do with physical injury. My gut told me to keep going.

"She misses you. Your teammates miss you. Come back to them, Carter. I know you can."

The wolf stopped thrashing and gazed into my eyes. What I saw there gave me hope.

"Your mother needs you. She doesn't have anyone else. Come back to her, Carter. Forget the bad things, and remember the good. I can see it. I… I trust you."

Before anyone could react, I reached forward and unlatched the cage, swinging the door wide.

"No!" Jace screamed.

Before he could leap forward and slam it closed, the wolf jumped out, pouncing upon me. But as he did, his form morphed, changing in mid-air, the belt around his mouth falling away as a young boy landed in my lap, shivering and crying.

"Mama," he wailed, burying his face in my chest and clinging to me. "I want my mama."

I wrapped my arms around him, my heart breaking as he shuddered. "It's okay, Carter. I've got you. We'll get you back to your mother, I promise."

The room was silent. Every eye was on me.

"Holy jumped-up hell," Noah said, leaning down to gaze at the boy. "You brought him back from being feral." He turned and gaped at Reese, the lone doctor in the room. "Is this even possible?"

Reese shrugged helplessly. "I have no clue. Obviously, it is." He waved at me. "The proof is right there."

Carter raised his head to look at me. His bright blue eyes were rimmed with red from crying. "I was so scared."

I brushed the back of my hand along his cheek, tears welling in my eyes. "It's all right. You're all better now. Welcome back."