I wasn’t going to allow anyone to die. That wasn’t an option on the table right now. This would end with everyone alive and safe.
There was time still.
“All right, everyone,” Ness’s father called out. “Those who are uninjured, you should go home. Those who need first aid, come inside, so we can sort that out and get you something to eat.”
Ness smiled at her father. She seemed to grow small as she leaned into my hand. With her voice barely a whisper between us, she said:
“I thought he died the other day. I’m…” She choked up. Wiping tears away, she said, “I’m so grateful he’s still alive.”
I knew she and her father had a tense relationship. A lot had happened since they’d discovered what she was. A witch had visited her pack years before her birth and left behind a prophecy that a Black Hound would be Alvin’s downfall. When Ness learned that she was, in fact, a Black Hound, then her life took a turn for the worse.
Her father had tried to protect her, but his failure had turned him bitter. Only recently had he cast off that bitterness to give his daughter the support she deserved. I hoped that I could give them a sense of safety again, so they could repair their broken relationship.
Ness should have the opportunity that I couldn’t have. My father would never forgive me. He would never lift a hand to protect me ever again. I’d made sure of that. I didn’t want Ness to suffer the same future.
Behind us, Jackson whimpered. Ness’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
“What are we going to do with him?” she asked.
I bent and lifted the wolf by the scruff of his neck again. He struggled against my hold only to fall to the ground and immediately lay down again. Ness’s command made him want to stay, even if I could see the glare of hatred that he cast in her direction.
“How much more can you take?” I asked Ness under my breath.
She sucked in a breath, as if considering her limits, while staring Jackson down. I opened my mouth, ready to tell her that she didn’t have to do anything if she thought it might be too much.
“I think I have a few more commands in me,” she said, finally.
I nodded, uncertain. We shouldn’t do this, but Alvin left us few options. We needed to figure out where he was so that we could put a stop to this once and for all. If we stopped him, then whatever gave him power over her would come to an end, too.
At least, that was what I hoped.