“Exactly.”
I shook my head. “This is so screwed up.”
“Spencer, why don’t you want the powers?” Liam asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I stared at him. “I can’t be a Great Alpha. First of all, that’s a lot of responsibility. And second, I don’t want to be like Hella. Look what those powers did to her. She became a horrible woman, and everybody hated her.”
“You wouldn’t be like her,” said Finn. “You can use those powers to do good.”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you ever heard of someone who did good things using black magic?”
“You’re not like others,” Mom said confidently. “You’ll be able to control it; I know you will.”
“And about doing good,” Alister pushed his hands into his pockets, “here’s one thing I’m sure you could start with. You could give us our freedom. Your Finn wouldn’t be an outcast anymore; we wouldn’t need to hide anymore. You could change everything for our kind out there and,” he glanced at Mom, “also for their parents.”
I could save Mom? Oh my God. I didn’t think about it.
Was I being selfish?I sure was, and that’s why I didn’t see the positive side of this offering from hell. But what if it was true? What if that freak Hella was really born in hell?Does that mean that I'll be making a deal with the devil if I claim the powers?
Seriously? Hell and devil?Don’t be an idiot, Spencer. It’s just magic.
“I need time to think this through,” I sighed. “And it’s not that I can just run and grab those powers. We still don’t know where the Temple is located or how to get our hands on that bloody scroll.”
I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
I imagined other people, like my friend Alex, who were just tanning on the beach and making college plans, preparing to move to a dorm. And here I was, fighting for my life and risking becoming the devil’s dance partner.
Plus to all of the above, I was someone’s mate and he could be knocking on the door at any moment to get what’s his.
What’s his? What am I, take-out? A pair of shoes?
My wolf released a quiet growl. Oh, God, I forgot all about her.
I wasn’t handling this situation too well. I needed some alone time with Finn so he could help me dig through this mess.
******
SPENCER
It was hot. The trees stood motionless, and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. We sat at the edge of the clearing in the shade of the big old oak, leaning against its trunk.
“Finn, I’m freaking out,” I muttered. “Alister and all of you are right; I have to do this. But what if I can’t handle all that power? And it’s not just that. I can’t be an alpha or a high priestess. I know nothing about packs or covens.”
“You’ll figure it out, Spencer. You’re not alone; we’ll help you.” He pulled me to his side and kissed me on the temple.
I turned my palm up, aiming it at the branches above us, and whispered producat in ventum. The branches swayed, and the leaves rustled as a wind blew out of nowhere.
“Impressive,” Finn smiled.
“Just making sure I still have my magic.” I sighed. “Finn?”
“Hm?”
“You’re not worried about this mate thing, are you?”
“Should I be?” He asked quietly.
“Oh, hell no. Of course not.” I rested my head on his shoulder and slowly moved my hand up his chest, feeling the muscles under the soft fabric of his shirt. Now, as a wolf, every touch felt different. More intimate, igniting even stronger desire.
I dropped my hand down.
“Spencer, what was your wolf’s reaction when she saw him?”
“I don’t know. I was in such a rage. I don’t remember much before the moment I recognized you. And the moment I heard your voice, she went quiet.”
“The thing is that you were trying to get to him. You were even about to attack me to pass through.”
“No way, Finn. Do you hear me? There is no way I would—”
“I believe you. But he doesn’t know that. When he saw your wolf running toward him, I’m sure he thought that she recognized him as his mate.”
“Really? Then . . . what if Alister is right? What if he is on his way here with a bunch of other wolves right now?”
“To do so, he would first have to get back to his pack. We don’t know whose pack he’s from, but we know there isn’t one nearby.”
“And when he gets to his pack? Would he really come back with a dozen wolves? Why would those other wolves agree to come and get into a fight for him?”
“They will if the alpha gives the order. And any alpha would like to grow the number of wolves in his pack. But I don’t want you to worry about that. We have some time to come up with a plan.”
I remembered my birthday when I saw Eric through the restaurant window.
“I still don’t understand how he found me in Asheville.” I straightened up. “Him being there at the same time at the same restaurant wasn’t an accident. The second he got out of his car he started scanning the area. He knew I was there, and he was looking for me.”
“I was wondering that too. If he didn’t follow you from the gas station—and I’m sure he didn’t, otherwise he would come straight here and not wait two days for us to go to the restaurant—then how did he track you down?”
Gas station. Oh my God.
I first met Eric at the gas station. I was leaving the diner when he approached me and handed me my phone saying that he found it on my seat.
“Finn, he had my phone. What if—we need to go back. We need to check my phone.”
* * *
“What’s up?” Liam asked when we returned to the house and rushed upstairs past him and James sitting on the couch.
“We don’t know yet,” said Finn.
We walked into my room, and I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and stared at it.
“What do you think he could’ve done?” I looked at Finn. “Let’s say he called himself from my phone to get my number. Then what?”
“Let me see.” Finn took the phone out of my hand. “Do you use the friend finder?”
“No. I never needed it.”
He clicked on the icon.
“Well, then whose number is this?”
“Crap. Crap, crap.”
“Actually that’s not a bad thing. If he doesn’t know that we know . . . Here we go.” He clicked on the number and we both stared at the map. The moment it showed the location, Finn headed to the hallway. “Come on.”
“Where are Alister and Clare?” Finn asked as we came downstairs.
Liam nodded toward the library. “Clare is going through the books on werewolves. And Alister is on google maps, trying to figure out how long it will take for that wolf to get here from each pack since we don’t know exactly—”
“We do,” said Finn.
“Yeah. We know,” I nodded.
“And?” Alister came out from the library.
“It’s Tennessee’s pack. And he’s still there.” Finn raised my phone. “He got his hands on Spencer’s phone when he first met her and added her to his friend finder.”
“The alpha of Tennessee’s pack is Aaron Baldwin,” said Alister, musing. “What did this guy look like?”
“Blond, about my height.” Finn frowned. “Why?”
“Hmm. Anything else?”
“He said his name is Eric,” I added.
“That’s what I thought.” Alister heaved a breath. “Maybe it’s good you didn’t kill him. He’s Aaron’s son.” He looked at Finn. “This makes things much more complicated. If this Eric was just another wolf, there was a chance he would come back with a few friends, and we could fight them off. But Aaron is a rough man and an even rougher alpha. If his son wants his mate, he will have her. Aaron will not rest until he gets what he wants. And after Liam described last night’s scene to me, it looked like the three of you stopped Spencer from getting to Eric. Imagine what they’re going to make of it.”
“They’ll think I’m keeping her here against her will.”
“And they’ll storm this place to save her.”
“Then I can just tell them the truth,” I shrugged. “I’ll tell them I want to stay here. With Finn.”
Alister smirked. “They don’t care about the truth, my dear Spencer. No one is going to ask you questions before they attack, and none of it would matter after they kill us all. Except you, of course.”
“We could put some protective spells around the house,” Mom suggested.
“The alpha will sense the magic, which will make it even worse. Spencer’s wolf has a very unusual color, and her first shift happened at some detached, lone property rather than in a pack. And if they realize there were witches involved . . . They will get very suspicious, to say the least.”
“Then it’s good we have a much easier way of getting rid of them,” said Liam. “We just need to get that phone as far from here as possible.”
“Yeah.” James jerked his shoulder. “We can plant it in some car . . . let’s say in New York and let them chase it.”
“No,” Finn shook his head. “A newborn wolf riding around New York might seem weird. And after the phone dies and she doesn’t charge it anymore, he’ll suspect that something is wrong. He’ll know we were trying to trick him, and he’ll come straight here. Also, we need the phone to keep an eye on him. I have a better idea.”
“Which is?” Alister tilted his head.
“We need to take the phone as close as possible to another pack. It wouldn’t be that strange if she shifted somewhere else and then returned to her pack. Let them go and look for her.”
“And when they tell Aaron that there is no blue wolf named Spencer in their pack, what then?” James asked.
“Alphas don’t trust each other; their packs constantly fight. Aaron might think they’re hiding her from him, and who knows, if we’re lucky, it could even create a conflict between the packs. Either way, it’ll buy us some time.”
“I agree,” Alister nodded approvingly. “We could choose the most remote pack, which would take a few hours longer to get to than any other. It’s in Chicago, and the alpha is Russell Young. Or we could take it to the largest pack, which could make Aaron think twice before making demands for proof that she’s not there. It’s in Florida in the forests of Tallahassee. The alpha of that pack is Marcus Grey.”
Finn’s face darkened.
“Oh, I know that name.” He clenched his jaw. “His father, the previous alpha, Daryl Grey, was the one who killed my parents. My mom was from his pack.”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Mom biting her lip.
“Is there something wrong, Clare?” asked Alister, catching her nervous glance, which immediately darted away, then down at the floor. “No. But . . .” She looked up at him. “How are we going to do it? It would be dangerous. And Finn, don’t they know who you are? Maybe you should stay away from this one.”
The way she said it completely negated the troubled expression on her face. I could tell that she just lassoed the first thought in her head to distract us from the main reason for her sudden tenseness.
“I haven’t met any of them for more than a decade. I doubt they would recognize me even if we came face to face.”
“Don’t worry, Clare. We don’t need to get into the pack’s territories. Only to lurk around.”
“I’ll do it,” Liam said. “I’ll get as close as I can.”
“I’ll come with you,” said James.
“Yes, take James with you,” said Alister. “You’ll need someone to watch your back. What do you say, Finn? Which way should they go? I think the further the better.”
“I think so too. Marcus is even more sinister than the others, and if they get caught . . . better go to Chicago.”
My heart hammered.
What if they do get caught? If something happens to them, it’ll be my fault.
“And don’t forget to use a strong cologne to kill your wolf’s scent,” offered Alister.
“I have essential oil with the strong scent of lavender and pine in my stash you could use,” Mom interjected. “It will blend with the smell of nature when you get to the pack’s woods.”
“That would be perfect,” said Liam. “Thanks, Clare.”
“I’ll go get it.” Mom headed to the stairs.
“We should keep an eye on the phone and take off only when we see them coming here. It will ruin their previous plan when they figure out where we’re heading.” I heard Liam say as I got up and went upstairs after Mom. “Facing a few wolves is one thing, facing a whole pack is another. I’m sure they’ll have to stop to come up with a new plan.”
Mom stood in front of the window with her arms folded over her chest. She seemed to be deep in her thoughts and didn’t hear me approaching her.
“Mom?”
She jerked slightly. “Spencer? What is it, honey?” She dropped her hands and crossed to her closet.
“You tell me. Mom, what’s going on?” I asked, watching her pick up her bag from the closet floor and drop it on the bed.
“What do you mean?”
“When Alister mentioned that alpha, Marcus Grey, you looked kinda scared.”
She frowned at me. “They killed Finn’s parents. They hate our kind. Of course, I’m scared. We all are.”
“Okay, maybe I said it wrong. Not scared. More like nervous.”
“Now you’re making things up.”
She unzipped her bag and as she started rummaging in it, I grabbed her hand.
“Mom, it’s on the dresser.”
She glanced at the dresser where the box with her herbs and oils was.
“I was thinking.” She stopped pretending and her look became soft and worried. “Maybe we should run. All of us. Hide somewhere else. This place isn’t safe anymore.”
“We will if we have to.”
“Spencer, if they catch you—”
“They wouldn’t. Mom, we have it under control,” I said in a calming voice.
“Honey, you did something I thought was never possible. You survived the curse. But you’re still in danger. I can’t let them take you away from me, but I feel helpless against them.”
I knew what was happening to her. She was always strong and brave and had a plan, and she knew what to do to keep us alive. She programmed herself to keep it together until my eighteenth birthday, and she had a road map right until that point.
However now, she had stepped into uncharted territory, facing new obstacles she wasn’t prepared for and didn’t know how to fight.
“Mom, you don’t have to do this alone anymore. We can do this; you just need to hold on a little longer.”
“You don’t understand. There are things that you . . . that they . . .” She brushed back her hair with both hands, then heaved a breath. “You know what? You’re right. All I want is to protect you, and I’m just worried, that’s all.”
Yeah, and there’s still something you’re not telling me. How many secrets can one woman keep, seriously?
I had the feeling she did it again. She led the conversation away from the main reason for her concern.
But this wasn’t a good time to interrogate her. We still had things to do, and she was already overwhelmed. Maybe I would knock it out of her later, after we send the guys off.
Or maybe I should leave it alone. I’m sure it’s nothing more important than the present situation.
How bad could it be? The curse was history, and Alister told me everything I needed to know about the Great Alpha. Whatever she was keeping from me, she would tell me when she was ready.