n Alpha. And the pack’s desire for one. He grew up here.”
Everyone turned to stare at me.
“Mystical moon magic,” Jessie whispered.
I tried not to squirm under the attention. “It’s not—”
“It makes sense,” Gordo said thoughtfully.
“Mystical moon magic makes sense?” I asked incredulously.
Gordo rolled his eyes. “No. Idiot. It’s not mystical mo—I’m not even going to say that. Look. There was always something about you. Even before all of this. The fact that I was able to tie myself to you as easily as I did should have been my first clue, but I think I was just so relieved to have that again, I didn’t think of anything else. I could feel you because of that connection. The wolves could feel you because of their pack bond. But the humans? I didn’t think that was possible. Not to the extent it seems to be. How far does the bond go?”
“He has to push for it,” Jessie said. “It’s not like it is with the wolves. We know he’s there when he’s reaching for it.”
“Can you push back?”
The humans looked at each other. Then Jessie said, “Sometimes?”
Gordo frowned but didn’t say anything.
“Have you heard of anything like this before?” Carter asked his mother.
She shrugged. “Rumors, mostly. Unsubstantiated stories. But never proven. Not like him.”
“And who else knows besides the people in this room?” Gordo asked.
Everyone paused.
“Alpha Hughes,” Robbie said finally.
“And the gruff man,” I added.
“The who—”
“Philip Pappas,” Robbie said. “He serves under Alpha Hughes as her second. He came here when you were gone to… assess, I guess. I don’t think they told others, or at least not many. I don’t think they know what to make of him.”
“They wanted me to register,” I said. “If Joe didn’t come back.”
Joe grabbed my hand and squeezed. He didn’t let go. Robbie looked at us briefly, then away.
“You can’t make other wolves,” Gordo pointed out.
“But I can make a pack,” I said. “And I’ve shown you don’t need it to be just wolves. I think it worries them.”
Gordo shook his head. “You just had to be a special snowflake,” he muttered, but there was a small smile on his face.
“That’s it?” Kelly asked. “No one else knows about—”
“David King,” I admitted.
“Who?” Chris asked.
And shit. I’d forgotten I hadn’t told them about him.
“King,” Elizabeth said slowly. “As in the hunter clan King?”
“He came here,” I said. “Months ago. That night I sent out the alert.”