“It could have been. Margo was out with Amelia and able to warn us in time.”
Victor ran his hand over his shaved head, looking uncomfortable.
I wasn’t sure if that was because I’d mentioned Margo or Amelia. Margo, even though she had been helpful to the pack, was still a stranger with a mysterious heritage. The pack had always been suspicious of Amelia; some of them still blamed her for the murders earlier in the year. They secretly whispered that she had allowed the spirit of her grandfather to possess the killer. It was easier to blame the witch than accept the fact they’d been fooled by a wolf. I hoped Nathan never heard those particular whispers.
I’d seen Dominic’s face when everything came to light. I knew for sure that wolf had acted on his own plans. He’d been a sick coward who murdered his friends to disrupt the pack for long enough to take it over. His plan hadn’t worked as he intended, but the pack was still disconnected. Dominic had gotten his punishment, and the pack had decided his fate together. That should have been the end of it. And yet…
“It’s your birthday soon,” Victor said, surprising me with the change of subject.
“So?”
“Eighteenth.” He looked at his feet. “You’ll be staying then?”
I wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh, I suppose so.”
The group caught up to Victor then shuffled past us to get inside the gate.
“I better go in,” Victor said with a shrug. “See you around.” But he hesitated for a few more seconds before following the others inside.
I wasn’t sure what was worse, the constant abuse I used to get, or the new wariness in people’s eyes when they looked at me. Nobody seemed to know how to move on from what happened, how to treat each other. The pack needed something to tighten our bonds again, to forget the horror of the past. I had no idea what would work.
The sky darkened completely before Nathan returned home, exhausted. My guardian’s position as a firefighter was voluntary but no easy task.
He joined me, smelling like sweat and smoke. “Pup behaving?”
“Yep. Restless, but he’s a good one, I think.”
“Good. He’s a handsome boy.” Nathan enthusiastically petted the pup. “You have a knack. They’re always comfortable around you.”
Maybe because I was more boy than wolf. “Any word on Adam’s family?”
“Not really. Your school friend has a concussion and a couple of bruises but is otherwise okay. No word on his father just yet, but his mother broke a leg and cracked a couple of ribs. That crash was horrific though. They were lucky Margo was around, but they could just as easily have died on impact.”
I blew out a heavy sigh.
“What’s up?”
“Margo looked exhausted when I left her home.” I looked away. “This thing she does is draining her.”
“Have you spoken to Amelia about it?”
“Yeah, right.”
“She doesn’t bite.” He smiled. “She’s just my little sister.”
“Well, I did try, but your little sister doesn’t like when anyone questions her.”
He raised his brows. “Did she say something to you?”
I shrugged. “She’s pretty dismissive when I bring up easing off Margo for a bit.”
“What does Margo think?”
“That she has a responsibility,” I said wryly. “That she’s able to do all this for a reason. Today, I got this weird feeling. I dunno. I’m worried about her.”
“I get it. Honestly, I got a fright when I saw her earlier. I’ll talk to my sister, make sure she understands that Margo needs time to recover.”
“Thanks.”