“Are you sure?” Cecilia asked. “She didn’t trick you?”
“I’m sure. She flew back like something rammed right into her. Then the bags ripped open by themselves, and the dirt just flew everywhere. That’s the second time it’s tried to hurt her. This can’t be a coincidence.”
“That girl was one of the pair who stole the spirit board,” Dominic said. “Maybe she has something to do with the spirit.”
“What, it’s a relative who happened to be waiting to hurt her?” Byron asked, sounding unconvinced. “Who happened to be hovering around nearby, ready to be released?”
“We don’t know anything about this girl,” Cecilia said. “We don’t know the kinds of people she’s descended from.”
“She’s adopted,” I said. “She doesn’t even know who her ancestors are.”
“Then it must be a coincidence,” Dominic said. “Bad timing and proximity. If there really is a malevolent spirit roaming freely, then we need to get rid of it before the entire pack gets spooked. People are already talking about leaving.” He shot Byron a meaningful look. “Like Eric.”
Except Eric had never spoken about leaving to me, and I’d seen him a lot before he left. What had changedhismind?
“Nathan’s on his way to pick up Amelia,” Byron said. “When she gets here, she’ll help us figure this out.”
“The pack doesn’t trust the witch,” Dom said in a hushed voice.
“Then the pack doesn’t know what’s good for it,” Byron said. He didn’t raise his voice, but the hair on the back of my neck stood to attention as though he had roared.
“We have to do something.” Cecilia pulled at her sleeves, panic flaring in her eyes. “Half of us can’t sleep because of doors banging and random things shattering.”
“Nothing has happened in my home,” Jorge said reassuringly steadily, refusing to panic.
Cecilia glared at him. “Yeah, well, this thing has been attackingus, and now it’s going after humans who visit us. We can’t let this happen. The police have already been to see us twice this week. If that girl mentions this—”
“She won’t,” I said. “She’s not gossipy like that.”
“You don’t even know her,” Cecilia said, not unkindly. “We have to stick together now, Dorian. It’s the only way to protect ourselves. Close ourselves in, deal with this mess, and hope that nobody else interferes.”
“She’s right,” Dominic said. “We need to lock this down. No more outsiders. It’s not safe for them. So that landscaper needs to go, and that girl can’t be welcomed here.”
“I hired the man for a long-term project.” Byron frowned, rubbing his temples. “I can’t just fire him.”
“Then put him off for a while. Tell him we have guests, and one’s recuperating from an illness, so you’d like to give them some peace and quiet. It’s not like he can plant anything this late in the year.Lie,” Dominic urged. “It’s what we have to do for survival.”
Byron gazed at him for a long time before nodding. “I can do that.” He glanced at me. “Make sure that girl is all right, Dorian. I’m not comfortable with innocents being harmed, and she’s been attacked twice already. Make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“He needs to keep away from her,” Dominic began.
Byron’s gaze chilled. “He needs to obey his alpha.”
My knees quivered at the warning in his tone but Dom bowed his head, diffusing the tension.
I ducked away from the conversation after making my promises to Byron. I liked Byron, respected him, even feared him a little, but I wasn’t as comfortable around him as I was with Nathan. I never had been, but at least he wasn’t trying to widen the gap between us and those who had always lived in the town. I didn’t want Margo, who had been nice to me, to fall into the same pointless divide. Even if a part of me knew she could be connected to everything that was going wrong.
* * *
I sensedthe wariness of some of the pack as we awaited Amelia’s arrival. It didn’t matter that she had spent a lot of time gathering wolves under the alpha’s protection. To many of them, Amelia was dangerous. Not just a powerful werewolf or witch, but an omega, the only one in existence for a long time. She kept the balance, but some feared she kept the balance in her own blood’s favour.
Nathan and Perdita loved her. That was enough for me. I didn’t know her as well because she had been away for most of the last three years, and she hadn’t been the one who found me. On that first day, it had been Nathan who picked me up into his arms and told me I was going to be okay. It was Nathan who I would always be grateful towards. And I still feared Amelia was mad at me for overhearing her confess her love to a wolf who told her a relationship between them could never happen.
We had a pack meeting outside when she arrived. Byron and Amelia sat on a bench while people gathered before them. Nathan and Ryan stood on either side of them while every wolfhound we owned lay pressed as close to Amelia’s feet as possible.
I lingered to the side of the crowd, watching Amelia hide her surprise at the apprehension echoing back at her from the pack who stood around, too on edge to even sit on the grass as they normally would.
The omega was striking, otherworldly, even. Her deep tan somehow made Nathan look paler. Her brown wavy hair was longer than on her last visit, shaved on one side, and loosely plaited to the right. She wore modest, loose clothing that covered her skin, and so much jewellery that she tinkled when she walked—like a cat wearing a bell, warning us all she was nearby. Petite and lean, Nathan’s younger sister had ancient eyes, and when she angered, the wolf didn’t look back at you. Something far worse did.