Chapter 122

• “So, what now? Alora is in danger if Juan now knows she’s here. He may try to pull together enough wolves to attack the homestead!” Mateo breaks the silence, bringing all eyes to him as he nestles in the armchair. His words get me out of my thoughts, and I sit up on one elbow to look at him. My gut swirled a little, and anxiety set in that my being here might just endanger everyone I love. More so than already, and I can’t predict if that’s true.
• “No. My mom life-linked to her. If anything happens to Alora, then my mom dies too, and as she’s still bonded to my dad, it’ll be his end. He’s crazy but not stupid. He’d never jeopardize his own life. He won’t attack because we outnumber him in terms of warriors, and he already lost at the mountain. There’s no point in trying to get them back now. He knows we have the truth, and soon we’ll spread it among our pack to let it free. Containing it won’t be his goal anymore, as he can’t turn back time. The only threat now is Alora rising to fulfill the prophecy that he can’t do a damn thing about. We protect her. We keep her close within our circle, the same as the rest of us. We shield her and my mom. They’re the two most important people in this, and to me.” Colton turns and leans against the mantle and exhales heavily. Fatigue is showing on his face. His pallor is pale with dark smudges under his lower lids, his body sagging instead of the usually confident, strong, and tall posture. He catches my eye across the room over the heads of those on the couch and gives me that soft smile that makes my heart giddy and my insides erupt in fluttering butterflies. I look away quickly, my face flushing with the stupid reaction, and lie back down to avoid his eyes on me. I don’t want to constantly feel his pull, sending my body into crazy spins and tingles. I want to sleep and not feel and not be torn every second with this gnawing ache for him.
• “Right now, all we have is time to kill. It’ll be a couple of days before we know how much recovery Sierra will need. It may be weeks before either of you is unbound. For now, we need to spread this among the pack and let them decide whose side they are on. Hybrids have always been a secret, and now their leaders are mixes of the enemies they hold within them. The pack needs to know everything, and after, those who are still here, and choose to stay, can never hold it against any of us again—we are who we are.” Meadow gets up and stands beside Colton, turning to the rest of the pack and drawing my eye back across the room at them from my horizontal position. What she says makes perfect sense, yet it’s utterly terrifying.