Aidan has been warned about the dangers of being with a human. His people live on the edges of society, in the shadows and alleys. And one day, if he's willing to submit to the birthright ceremony, he'll lead the next generation to continued wealth...
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I wasn't entirely honest with Emmerson. Yeah, there's a lot to worry about, but I do have a principal concern. One thing that's trumping others at the moment. Other than the assassin wolves stalking her—sent by who the hell knows.
The witch who's been fucking with Emmerson's head has also been screwing with me and Kaden. Whoever it is created the Big Foot prints and then orchestrated enough of a fervor between the park rangers that it lured Kaden and I away from Emmerson the other night. Any potential danger to her has to be investigated, but I wasn't smart about it. Neither of us was.
It wasn't until Kaden and I found one of the prints and examined it that we realized we'd been duped. A clear message scrawled in the middle of the print: You can't protect her.
The message was fresh, so I sent Kaden immediately back to Emmerson, but I circled the area, trying to sniff out the culprit. A witch. Not powerful, but strong enough to be a concern.
Whoever it was wanted me to know they could get Emmerson alone, that I was sloppy in my protection.
But then sending Kaden off to Emmerson left me unprotected, and I hate that I need reinforcements, but I've grown too weak to face multiple threats on my own. One on one, I'm sure I've still got enough juice in me. More than that? I might be in trouble.
My parents' paranoia is finally starting to feel justified. I really wish it wasn't.
Kaden thinks we should loop in our sisters or other pack members like Donovan and Rig, but I don't think I can trust any of them. Maybe with my life, but not with hers, and it's not a risk I'm willing to take. I'd rather go down fighting, knowing I have someone at my back who'd go to hell with me than take a chance that I'd have someone who'd tuck their tail and run.
My brother might value his life, but I also know he doesn't back down from a fight. Agreeing to be my second won't allow him to.
Each night Emmerson works at the state park, I trade off for a few hours with Kaden while I go home so I can make the appropriate noises about my union with Clara. I pretend to care about all the intricacies of the ceremony—the décor, the food, the outfits—and the whole time my brain is finely tuned to even a whisper from Emmerson.
My desire to let her in must be the key to our internalized communication. Nothing else makes sense. Trident put a lock on my thoughts, and he warned me that it would keep out Clara and Emmerson, even if I wanted to let them in. It doesn't feel like his spell is weakening or wearing off. Kaden still can't hear me thinking.
Even though Emmerson's not human, I can't see her being a wolf either. Lone wolves struggle to survive without a pack. Or at least, that's what all our literature says. It's possible that's fiction, meant to dissuade anyone from leaving the pack and therefore weakening it. At the very least, lone wolves would be vulnerable. They'd have no pack strength to draw from.
"Three weeks left," my father says, breezing into the war room that's doubled as the planning room for the ceremony. "Clara will be here a week prior to ensure nothing goes wrong this time."
If I was determined to thwart this, the timeline wouldn't matter. I almost wish he could still hear my thoughts to know what I'm thinking. "I don't know why we couldn't have just kept everything the same as last time."
"Bad energy, according to your mother." He picks up one of the chalices on the table and turns it around, examining it. "We had another clan from the west send a scout. Hopefully, we sent it back with the right message."
"Which was?"
"That our vulnerability is coming to an end."
"Doesn't that just give them motivation to attack us while they can?"
"Doubtful," he says with a shrug. "If you're agreeable to the ceremony, we could move it up on short notice. Not worth a bloodbath to most leaders."
I notice that he doesn't indicate that's the case for all of them.
"Have you had any more witchy encounters lately?" He sets down the chalice and turns the full weight of his attention on me. Until the ceremony, he'll continue to tower over me. Afterwards, he'll shrink, and I'll grow. Painful, for both of us, apparently. So, that sounds fun.
"Why?" Wariness slithers along my spine. My father isn't usually one for idle conversation, and he's dropped two nuggets of information into my lap. One if the scout, and the second is that a witch has been hanging around the property, too. Of course, we're not far from the state park.
"Calling cards. Low level annoyances. Like we're being taunted by someone who doesn't understand who holds the power."
That sounds like exactly what happened to Kaden and me in the woods, but I'm not about to admit that since everything is tied to Emmerson.
"The ceremony brought out the crazies last time too," I say with my most dismissive, uninterested voice.
"Kaden was fucking around with a witch about a year ago. Did you know that?"
I did not. That's around the time I discovered Emmerson, and my whole life turned upside down. My ability to multi-task was zero.
A sly smile creeps across my father's face. "He's kept some secrets from you, has he? The strange part is that someone seems to have locked those memories away. Kaden doesn't remember her anymore. I did some digging on a whim. To hide that on one of us takes some skill."
That's a worrying contradiction. The footprints, the low-level disturbances my father is reporting, and even the fiddling in Emmerson's head all reeked of an amateur. But someone who could get into my brother's head, conceal their identity? Considering I'm using Kaden as my first in command, it's deeply concerning.
"Kaden always was an easy mark. Free pussy is his catnip," I say.
My father gives me a long stare, and I wonder if he's seeing Trident's banner steaming in my brain.
"If it's not a strong spell," I say, by way of compromise, "any witch could undo it."
"You are correct, which is why you should find one. Know any?" He raises his eyebrows, the accusation clear.
"Not at the moment." As a test, I try to send out another mental SOS. Trident, are you around?
Trident? Emmerson's voice floods my brain. Who's that?
"As the future head of this clan, it would be in your best interest to know why those memories were hidden from Kaden. We wouldn't want any unpleasant surprises at the ceremony."
I almost say, What are the chances it's linked?, but then I realize I'd be dumb to say that out loud. My mother doesn't believe in coincidences, and she's mostly talked my father around to her way of thinking. He'd mock me forever if the two did end up connected.
