Chapter 29

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

The alpha of the Mohan pack stood in the living room, analyzing me with a pair of luminescent green eyes while power throbbed around him. It wasn't as intense as Barric's, but Camus still had my knees shaking and pulse rising.

His power tested me, poking and prodding to see if I'd submit as he had the first time we met. Maybe he did this as a reflex or instinct. Or maybe he was hoping he'd be able to control me.

After several tense moments, the invisible alpha power faded, and Camus smiled. "I'm glad you're back, Tate."

I released a shaky breath and resisted the urge to wipe a dribble of sweat from my nape. "I'm not that easy to get rid of."

Camus chuckled. "No, you're not, much to my daughter's dismay."

I couldn't hide the grimace at the mention of Marissa.

The late afternoon light pouring from the windows highlighted the silver threads in his ebony hair. "When I heard you were taken to Heldrok, I thought I'd never see you again. "

"Have a seat, alpha," Julia motioned to the chair she'd been in a moment ago. "I'll get you a drink."

He gave a polite smile. "Thanks, Julia. Anything you have will be fine. No need to fuss about it."

"Good because you're getting iced tea like everyone else." She winked.

Cirilla wiggled her fingers at the healer. "I'll take one too, Jules."

Julia shook her head and tugged the eccentric wolf out of the living room. "Then you can get it yourself."

"You don't have to be so antagonistic," Cirilla said, her voice floating out like song melodies as her silver hair swished across her back. "I won't step on your healer toes just because I have fae blood."

"Those two fight like an old married couple." Camus sat in the chair Julia vacated and returned his attention to me. "Ephraim told me you were here, so I wanted to stop by for a quick visit. I thought you'd like to know there have been no demon attacks, and no other shifters have gone missing in the Mohan pack."

"That's great." At least there was one shining light in all this darkness. Fane's family and the rest of the pack had dodged more harm since we left. That probably meant we—or just me—should stay away.

"Indeed." Camus rolled up the sleeves of his green button-down shirt, revealing corded forearms with a plethora of faint scars like Barric Hartwell had. "I can't thank you enough for what you did that night those sub-demons attacked. We would have lost much more if you weren't there."

I shrugged. "I just wanted to help."

Lines creased his brow as he stared off into space, pensive. When his gaze finally cleared and landed on me, he sighed. "I want to apologize for that business with Dorian. I should have believed you."

"I'm not part of your pack. Of course you would take his side over mine. I'm just glad you didn't have your council members punish me." I gave an awkward laugh.

Camus winced. "That meeting didn't exactly go as planned. And Fane never would have allowed anyone to touch you."

The mention of Fane had my stomach twisting in knots, and Camus could probably see the pain written all over my face.

"Someone has stepped in for beta temporarily until I can find a replacement, but it's difficult to trust my judgment after the mistake Dorian turned out to be." He rubbed the light stubble coating his jaw. "Any recommendations?"

"Nora." She would be a hundred times better than Dorian.

He gave a dramatic groan and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She turned me down."

"Really?" I hadn't expected him to actually consider her.

"Ephraim too."

Julia returned with a glass of tea and Cirilla on her heels. "Here you are, alpha."

"Thank you." He took the glass. "Barric has been informed that you're here, Tate. He may stop by soon for a visit to check in on you. He was worried."

Just great. The head alpha of Georgia thought I was dangerous before. If he knew the real evil I was capable of, he'd lock me up and toss the key.

Cirilla flounced onto the couch next to me. "I'm glad you' re out of that horrific place. I couldn't imagine what that was like."

No, she couldn't.

"Is this all I need, Julia?" I lifted the vial as unease pumped through my veins. Memories of Heldrok bubbled forward, and guilt for the people I left behind scratched at my soul. Maddie was gone, but Knox was still there. Why did I get to leave and not him?

The healer nodded. "I'll run some tests and let you know."

I stood and turned to exit the room, but Julia's voice stopped me.

"You need to be around shifters on the night of the next full moon."

Camus picked up his glass of tea. "That's a good idea. You're not part of the pack, but you are connected to it through the Anders. Wolves are always better together than apart."

I shoved the vial in my jeans pocket and folded my arms. "I can't even shift. Why would I need to go?"

Cirilla answered before Camus or Julia could. "Because the moon and energies released that night will help to cleanse the darkness from your soul."

I couldn't stop the snort from slipping out. Nothing would be able to wash this sinister cloud from me.

Julia glared at the old wolf before turning back to me. "Seriously, Tate. The pack is having a bonfire that night, and it would benefit you greatly to be there, surrounded by shifters."

"I'm not into watching a bunch of people strip before they transform to frolic in the woods."

"It's not like that," Camus said.

Cirilla scoffed. "Sometimes it is."

The healer waved her hand in the air. "It won't be this month. Shifting is optional. And there will be food, drinks, and music to celebrate the lunar phase." Julia laced her fingers together. "Being with your own kind—half your kind—will help. I promise."

"I'll think about it."

"You really should be there." Cirilla rested her hand on my arm and leaned forward. "Just as you did, your mate will return. He can't stay away from you for long."

I frowned at Preston as he pressed play on the horror movie about a vengeful ghost haunting a family in their new home. "When I agreed to watch a movie, I didn't think you'd pick this crap."

"Crap?" Preston plopped down on my right with a bowl of popcorn, flicking his honey-blond locks out of his face. "This is a stellar pick in the haunted house sub-genre of horror. It has everything. The bright, sunny beginning as the family moves into their perfect dream home. Little things start happening, and everyone thinks they're crazy."

"Until something totally unbelievable happens, and there's no denying the supernatural is at work." Dylan joined us on the couch, leaning against my left side. "Then all hell breaks loose." He gave the cutest maniacal grin.

The movie started with the loving family happily moving boxes into their haunted mansion. I pointed to the screen. "How can they not think this place is haunted? Look at it. It's Victorian with stained glass windows. It screams ghost house."

Dylan chuckled. "Duh. They're all idiots. But it's fun to laugh while they run around like chickens with their heads cut off." He grabbed an empty bowl, leaned over me, and scooped some popcorn into it. "You'd never catch any nightworlder, especially a wolf, moving into a haunted house unless it was on purpose."

"That's the thing with a lot of humans." Preston shook a few popcorn kernels in his hand like dice. "They ignore the most obvious signs of the supernatural. The mom saw a freaking shadow in the window when they were touring the house and again in the mirror. Hello! That was not a trick of the light. That was a ghost."

"Exactly!" Dylan grabbed a shaker from the coffee table and dumped seasoning on his popcorn. "If I see any moving shadows that aren't mine, I'm outta there. And crap in the mirror? Gone." He placed the bowl in my lap.

My brows dipped. "What's this?"

"I made a special topping for your popcorn." He wiggled the shaker and grinned. "Extra spice."

Intrigued, I tossed a few kernels into my mouth, heat crackling over my tongue. "Oh, that's good."

The shifter's eyes lit up. "I knew you'd like it."

Preston grumbled under his breath. "My little brother is such a suck-up."

Dylan flipped him off. "Don't be jealous because I can catch female attention with more than good looks. You could learn from me, Preston. Your looks won't last forever."

"You little shit." He tried to punch his brother's shoulder, but I blocked him.

"You're the best, Dylan." I stuck my tongue out at Preston. "He's right. You should learn a skill or two."

Preston motioned stabbing himself in the chest. "Dagger to the heart, Tate. I'm wounded you think so little of me. "

I laughed. "I doubt you're that wounded. Your ego is pretty damn big."

He shrugged as a lazy grin pulled at his lips. "True. And with reason."

The two wolves bickered for a few minutes until the movie's mounting tension drew us in. I finished the popcorn and set the bowl on the table as Preston grabbed a giant blanket to drape over us.

Halfway through the film, not even the raging ghosts on the screen could keep me from dozing off. It only seemed like an instant, but when I woke up, the television was black and the clock on the wall read a little after midnight. Dylan and Preston breathed evenly on either side of me, asleep.

Movement registered, and the tattoo on my neck tingled, sending my pulse racing.

Shit.

Fane emerged through the shadows like a beast from the bowels of a dank, dangerous pit. His eyes glowed while the pupils were in long, thin slits, and those lethal teeth shined behind his lips as they curled back.

"What are you doing here?" His voice, so low it rattled my bones, dropped out like a blade slicing the air.