As the sky darkens into true night, my shivers increase. Looking at the fire only seems to be making me feel colder, so I avoid doing it.
It gets so cold that even the wolf is moving further away from me and closer to the fire because he must feel the chill as well.
But I’m keeping alert for Kier, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who can feel a rising tension in the air. Several times over the last hour, I’ve caught Peter’s eyes sliding into the forest, probing the darkness as if he senses a threat lurking just out of sight.
“Why are you after Kier?” I ask Peter.
At my sudden question, he jumps a little. When he jerks his head toward me, I’m expecting him to snap at me for so clearly startling him.
But he surprises me by forcing a smile on his face. A smile I doubt is any more real than his pretense that I didn’t scare him. “And who said we were after Kier?”
I hug my knees harder, even knowing it won’t help me feel any warmer. “You thought I was his girlfriend, so that’s why you tried to grab me before. Do you want something from him? Is that it?”
“Jenna, was it?” Peter asks.
I nod. “Yes.”
“I don’t know if anyone told you, but you’re not supposed to ask questions. You’ve got the lowered head thing right. Everything else, the attempt to run, the questions, the lack of terror, is wrong. Remember your place.”
His words shock me into silence.
Remember my place.
Is that the sort of life I would’ve had if I’d been in any other pack? Is that why Marshall, Dayne, and some of my other packmates helped me move away from the pack house when Owen became increasingly unpredictable?
“The Blackshaws aren’t like that. Pack hierarchy is important, but pack is family and family is more important.”
Peter barks out a laugh. “Is that what you think, sweetheart? Family?” He snorts. “Pack is about rules. It’s a rigid structure. Anyone tells you otherwise, they’re doing you a disservice. A disservice that’ll get you killed.”
“No.”
The low growl coming from the tree beside me is enough to make my heart pound in alarm because there was no warning, no sound, just a voice coming from right next me. Still, it’s a relief to see that I’m not the only one badly shocked by Kier’s sudden appearance.
Peter and Ant are on their feet in a second. But the strange thing is, they don’t move closer, which I find interesting.
“No, Peter. It’s you that’s got things twisted around.” Without taking his eyes off Peter, Kier lowers his hand to me. I reach out and take it, letting him pull me up.
As Kier steps into the clearing, he nudges me back into the forest.
I open my mouth to tell him I’m not about to leave him. Even though there’s no future where I can fight and win against an alpha, the thought of leaving him to fight alone isn’t right. Before I can speak, familiar warm hands clasp me around my hips and urge me back into the forest as Kier drops my hand.
Marshall.
“I think it’s time I got things untwisted for you,” Kier says.
As Marshall tugs me back with him, I don’t take my eyes off Kier, who calmly slips out of his navy flannel shirt and tosses it to the ground. Just before Marshall pulls me away, I’m in time to see Ant launch himself at Kier.
Kier’s hand is waiting. The hold he has on the wolf looks enough to choke the life from him or break his neck. Except, he does neither. Kier tosses Ant aside as if he’s nothing, just an annoyance. The dull thud of his body hitting a tree several feet away makes me flinch.
And that’s all I see. Marshall’s grip on my hand doesn’t give me an option to do anything other than follow him away from Kier and his looming fight.