34

Clearly, I’d misunderstood her. “Zero? Is that the number of people you won’t tell?” I couldn’t hide the sarcasm that laced each word.
“Believe it or not, I don’t want anyone else finding out about you either.” Rosemary tapped her fingers on her leg. “There’s enough going on with the wolf attacks and another civil war brewing. The last thing we need is the story of an extinct silver wolf coming back from the dead. So many will consider you a traitor; it would cause tension to escalate.”
“A traitor?” What kind of story was she trying to spin? “We left because people were using us to commit crimes!”
“We?” Her face fell. “How many of you are there?”
“None of your business.” If I gave her a number, she would be able to tell I was lying. But I didn’t want her to think she could kill me now and eliminate the problem.
She rolled her eyes. “Look, I’ll come find you when I figure out all there is to know.”
Yeah, I bet she would. “Why don’t you try to kill me now?” Dad had told me stories about angels not being huge fans of silver wolves.
“I don’t want you dead.” She laughed. “You may be a pain in the ass, but I don’t need Griffin and Killian as the angels’ enemies. If anything, the races need to begin working together. Don’t do anything stupid until we speak again.”
She took off into the sky, leaving me with my thoughts, which wasn’t a good thing at this point.
A howl sounded from the woods only a few yards away, making my heart stop. I spun around and found eyes glowing at me through the tree branches.
Good. Let’s get this over with. I clenched my fists, ready to fight.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
M
y wolf surged forward, restless and ready to fight. Between the imminent threat and not training every day, my human and animal sides were easily excitable, and not in a good way.
I stepped toward the woods, but the wolf disappeared from sight. The padding of paws grew faint as it slipped away.
Dammit. That wolf could’ve overheard my entire conversation with Rosemary. And I’d been none the wiser to his presence because I was too overcome by my emotions. Dad had warned me that was what happened when you didn’t think with a level head. Being rogue was clearly affecting my ability to be rational.
The urge to shift almost overwhelmed me, but I pushed my wolf back and took a moment to think. I couldn’t allow my animal to take control away from my human side. If I let it happen, the rogue part I was already struggling with would get even worse.
For all I knew, the wolf shifter could’ve been the one who drew the painting and had been watching my next moves to confirm it was me.
Well, if that was his end goal, I sure made it easy for him.
I should’ve ignored Rosemary and waited for Killian in front of the building, but something inside me had snapped. Now I wished I could take it back. If that wolf was someone scouting me out for the men who’d attacked my pack, I’d placed a flashing neon light above my head that basically said, “I’m here.”
Dad had to be shaking his head at me in heaven. I kept messing up. Everything he’d taught me I’d wildly abandoned.
Maybe me not being alpha of my pack was a good thing. I wasn’t wise enough to lead.
Refusing to make another damn mistake, I inhaled, filling my lungs, and cautiously approached the woods. I wouldn’t go far, just try to catch the wolf’s scent better. At least, that way, I would recognize him when I ran into him again.
As I approached the tree line, I stopped and listened for anything that would indicate there were more shifters close by or anyone who could possibly jump me. My too-stupid-to-live moments were done from this point forward.
Nothing sounded or smelled out of the ordinary, so I pushed forward in the direction where the eyes had been. The closer I got, the stronger his scent became, but the smell was strange. The musk that confirmed it was a wolf shifter was there, but that was about it. There wasn’t anything unique about it, which meant he’d used something to mask part of his scent.
Which told me everything I needed to know.
He could be part of the pack that slaughtered my family and friends.
I had to get out of here before he circled back and brought reinforcements.
Pivoting on my heel, I made my way back toward the main building, passing four vampire girls who were hanging out in the sun. The fact that they were sitting in direct sunlight meant they still had their humanity. That reassured me that they didn’t kill for pleasure and were able to control their instincts. That was a requirement in order to attend school here, most likely due to the human visitors who came to hike the amazing woods.
One of them wrinkled her nose when she saw me, proving that, like angels, vampires didn’t like intermingling outside their species.
Or it could be me. I did try to give off a fuck-you vibe. The more that people talked to me, the more likely I could slip up and say something that could hint at any one of my secrets.
Pretending that I didn’t notice her sour expression, I pushed through the double doors and headed straight toward the hallway.
Luna’s all-too-familiar voice rang in my ear from the tables in front of the cafeteria. “Aw, did
Killian leave you?”
I’d gone a little over a week without seeing her, and still enough time hadn’t passed. I stopped short, making my point clear that I wouldn’t try to run from her. “Nope, he needed to run an errand, and then he’ll be right back.” I forced a sweet smile that felt foreign. The only reaction I wanted to give her was the middle finger.
“And he didn’t take you with him?” Luna sashayed over, her dark sage maxi skirt flowing out around her. She tilted her head, causing her hair to fall in front of her shoulders, brushing against her cream top. “Sounds like trouble in paradise.” She turned to face a girl a couple of inches shorter than me who was following right behind her. “Jessica, you may get Killian sooner rather than later after all.”
The girl’s forest-green eyes focused on me, and she gave me an uncomfortable smile as she twisted chestnut hair with natural light caramel tips around one finger. Her modest pale pink wrap top complemented her medium olive complexion. “I’m sure he needed something, and things are okay between them.”
Wow. I hadn’t expected that.
I’d expected this girl to be as hateful or even more so than Luna, but positive energy emanated from her.
“Oh, you don’t need to be nice to her.” Luna waved me off. “She doesn’t live in the city and never will if I have anything to say about it.”
I’d never disliked someone as much as Luna before in my life. Well, correction. I outright hated the people hunting me, but she was a very close second. “Killian doesn’t live in the city either.”
“His best friend-my future mate-” Luna said as she patted herself on the chest “-will get him into the city where he belongs. It’s only a matter of time.”
That was an odd thing to say, but whatever. I didn’t have time to deal with her mind games.
“Great, good luck with that.”
“I didn’t dismiss you.” She walked over to me and lifted her chin. “I’m not done talking to you.”