I couldn’t go to Alvin and issue a challenge without stepping up to fill the empty role of Alpha. Maybe my dragon wanted this territory, but I wasn’t Alpha material. I couldn’t lead this broken pack, no matter what anyone thought.
“The answer is easy,” Bri said as she positioned herself between me and Connor. “We won’t let Ness go to the pack meeting. We’ll keep her here.”
Connor laughed. I groaned.
“What? This isn’t a laughing matter.” Bri glowered at both of us like we were making fun of her.
“Do you want to tell her? Or should I?” Connor chuckled sadly.
I met Bri’s frustrated glare. “Ness will not do a damn thing anyone tells her, especially if she thinks for a moment that her pack will be in trouble. She would throw away her entire life for them, despite everything they’ve done to hurt her.”
Bri’s shoulders lowered, her lips parting as something flickered in her eyes. I watched a soft smile lift the corner of her mouth. It was a sad yet knowing one that left me breathless because I could tell what was coming next.
“Don’t say it,” I warned.
“What shouldn’t I say?” There it was, that teasing note that I knew she would whip out.
We weren’t the people we used to be, yet somehow Bri knew me still. She could take one look at me and see who I’d become. There was a pang in my heart for everything that she couldn’t be. We’d tried to love one another, but that had fallen apart.
If Fate had assigned me a mate, I already knew that it wasn’t Bri.
“Ness will be at that pack meeting,” Connor said, breaking the moment between Bri and me. “If you accompany her, then Alvin won’t hurt her.”
I shook my head. “That didn’t work. Remember when Alvin had you? He punished you for helping Ness, then all hell broke loose. If I show up, it could cause more problems.”
Connor’s expression seemed to say,so what?The trouble would be worth it if we could help Ness. I wasn’t entirely sure that I could keep her safe anymore, though. I couldn’t lay a hand on Harvey right now. Ness’s arcana kept me from helping her the other night, and that still bothered me.
My other concern was Beryl. I flexed my hands, hating the useless feeling trying to overwhelm me. Beryl could take me again. While I could run back to Ness, if Beryl decided to take me at just the right moment…
I didn’t want to think about it. My beast thrashed, ready to break out of my body and take care of the problem right here and now. I wrestled it back because I couldn’t afford to pay for damages to the rental apartment. The beast didn’t understand human money and obligations. All it could think of was Ness.
Ness needed me.
A phone buzzed. Connor pulled it from his pocket and stared down at the screen, his expression grim as he read the message. Alvin must have called his pack meeting, then. It’d barely been a handful of days since the pack hunt where Alvin had tried to kill Ness. What could he want now?
“The box,” I breathed.
Alvin must have realized that I’d taken the box. If I sent Bri to help Ness tonight, Alvin would recognize her scent. Bri had found me at Alvin’s house that night. While I’d asked Beryl for the ability to hide my scent, Bri didn’t have that kind of magic at her disposal. Her scent would have been faint, but a wolf would have picked it up.
I cursed under my breath and ran a hand through my hair. What could I do?
The helpless feeling grabbed ahold of me. It cinched tight around my throat, like the medallion’s cord. It tugged and tugged until I couldn’t breathe.
“We have to go get her,” Connor said.
He was right. I had to pull myself together. If we could talk to Ness before she went to the pack meeting, then we could figure something out. I would keep her here if I had to. The beast agreed.
Later, I would ask the beast why it felt so strongly. Right now, I didn’t have time to unpack what that could mean.