“What are you saying?”
“A conflicted Alpha can get sloppy, and that can impact the entire pack.”
I crossed my arms. “So what? Are you suggesting I go down there and give him a big old hug and tell him I forgive him for breaking my heart?”
“Did he?”
“Break my heart? Yeah, he did.”
Although the tinny scent of death stained the air, most of the bloody patches on the lawn were hidden behind clusters of shifters-some in mourning, some in celebration. Someone had covered Julian with a white sheet from which only his feet and head protruded. Blood bloomed on the white, so much of it that I didn’t think any amount of meat tenderizer would be able to get it out.
“You cared that much about him?”
“I did.”
“He still cares about you.”
“He’ll get over it.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“Did you get over Taryn?”
He watched Sarah as she rose and craned her neck to stare into the sun. Maybe she was hoping its blazing heat would dry her tears.
“I don’t miss her anymore,” he said.
She squinted toward the inn. When she caught sight of us, she headed for the porch steps, treading fast, as though in a hurry to get away from her new pack, ironed hair glinting like a swath of gold. When she reached the deck, she lurched toward me. I just had time to open my arms before she sprang into them.
“We told him not to challenge her.” Her tears soaked the collar of my tank. “We begged him not to do it.”
I rubbed the top of her spine.
“He’s gone. And now we’re… we’re… Creeks.” Her voice cracked on that last word. “It’s her voice I’ll hear in my mind. She’ll be the one to tell us what to do.” She pulled away from me, fixing me with her shiny brown eyes. “I. Hate. Her,” she bit out, trembling all over. “I hate all of them.” She glared at a small group of Creeks passing below us.
There were five of them, not much older than us. Where two of the boys and one of the girls stared at us with restraint, the other two-a boy and girl, who looked so much alike I assumed they were siblings-watched us with unabashed interest.
“They can’t all be bad,” I whispered to her, trying to soothe her.
“I still hate them,” she muttered.
“I know.” I smoothed her hair back.
She pressed away from me and shot her red-tinged gaze toward Lucas. “Liam has to challenge her. He has to take the packs back. You guys have to tell him to challenge her.”
The blood drained from Lucas’s face, turning his complexion as white as the scar that slashed his black eyebrow. “No way. If she doesn’t challenge him, then we’re advising him to stay out of it.”
“I’m sure she cheated, Lucas. I don’t know how she did it, but I’m sure of it. Julian wasn’t throwing up fur balls out there. I bet she poisoned him.”
“If she had”-I wrinkled my nose for what I was about to say-“she couldn’t have eaten his heart without it poisoning her.”
“Ness is right, Sarah.”
Sarah scrubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “But she did something. She must’ve. Maybe she managed to slip him Sillin. It would’ve weakened him.”
My brow puckered. “How would she have done that?”
“I don’t know, but-”
Lucas interrupted Sarah. “Wouldn’t Sillin have made him shift back into his human form?”
Would it? “It keeps us from shifting when we’re in skin,” I said, remembering what it had done to me, “but I’m not sure what it does when we’re in fur.”
“It’ll show up on his tox screen,” Lucas said.
The same way it had shown up on Heath’s…
“If we’re even allowed to run one,” Sarah muttered.
“If she doesn’t allow you to run one, it’ll be as much of an answer. It’ll prove she has something to hide.”
Cassandra had finally shifted back. Her body was bruised and bloodied, yet pride squared her shoulders and her jaw. A man was wrapping a bandage around her thigh that was still weeping blood.
“What if it’s in her blood?” I whispered.
“What if what’s in her blood?”
“The Sillin. What if it’s in her blood?” I kept my voice so low that both Lucas and Sarah strained toward me. “Her wound should’ve sealed up by now.”
“But she managed to shift into a wolf,” Sarah said.
“She must’ve swallowed it while in wolf form,” I said, scanning the makeshift dueling ring for what-white pills, a crushed foil packet?
“Mom would’ve seen her eat something and signaled it.”
“Maybe your mom missed it?” I suggested.
Sarah inhaled a swift breath. “You know what this means, though? That she’s weaker now. That if Liam challenged her, he might very well win.”
“Unless she poisons him, too,” I murmured.
Color had returned to Lucas’s face. “If the Sillin’s in her system, there’s no way she can shift back into fur. Not for a couple hours. Possibly days, depending on the dose.”
“Could they duel in skin?” I asked.
“Would be atypical, but why the hell not?” Lucas sounded pumped.
I didn’t like his enthusiasm. Feared it. Feared it might incite Liam to act recklessly. Before I could quiet him, Lucas shouted, “Great Alpha Morgan, shift back!”