I was in awe of him.
for you/fill my lungs
“There’s more of them,” Aileen said. She sounded exhausted through the phone. “More wolves.”
Ox closed his eyes. “Tell me.”
“Santos is still there. But more wolves have joined him. Livingstone came to the border of the wards again. He was human. He didn’t speak. He just stood there. Watching us. But the wolves threw themselves at the barrier again and again and again. Their skin split. Their bones broke, and still they went on. For hours. When they stopped, they all stopped as one. They went back to him. They surrounded him. Bared their throats. He never looked at them. He only had eyes for us.”
“Omegas?” Joe asked, voice hard. He was sitting in his father’s chair in the office.
She hesitated. “Not all. Half, maybe. Ten in total. But….”
“But?” Ox asked.
“One of them. I saw him a few days ago. He was an Omega then. He isn’t anymore. He’s a Beta now. His eyes are orange.”
“Shit,” Gordo muttered. “You’ve got a problem.”
She laughed, but it was without humor. “We’ve got a problem, but yes, I see your point. It’s one of us. It has to be. A witch. Someone is opening the barriers. Letting them in.”
Ox opened his eyes. They swirled red and violet. “Who?”
“I don’t know,” she said. I could hear the frustration in her voice. “I’ve gone over the wards again and again. Whoever it is knows how to cover their tracks. I’ve got a few people in mind, but I don’t want to make unfounded accusations. We’re stretched thin enough as it is. I’d ask that you send wolves to relieve us, but we don’t know if he’d be able to exert any hold over them. Especially those that aren’t….” She trailed off.
“Those that aren’t happy with me as the Alpha,” Joe finished for her.
She sighed. “I mean no disrespect, Alpha Bennett, but I’m told there is unrest in some of the wolves in Caswell. You’ve been gone for weeks. I know you put wolves in charge in your stead that you trust, but it’s not the same as having their Alpha.”
Joe sat back in his chair. “One of the witches is opening the barrier to let wolves in.”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t they just let Livingstone and the others out?”
She was quiet. Then, “Twofold, I think. Livingstone is strong, but we have nearly forty witches here. And every now and then, more join our ranks. Carter, I’m told you know one of them. Joe, Kelly, Gordo, you too. She’s from Kentucky.”
I was surprised. The witch in the post office in Bedford had been blunt in the fact that she wanted nothing to do with wolves, not after all she’d been through. “Really?”
“She said she was tired of hiding. That if this spilled over, if we fell, there was nowhere anyone could run that they wouldn’t be affected. I knew her mother. She’s good people. And I think Livingstone knows that. He sees how united we are. We might not be able to take him down, but the wolves that have joined him? They’re vulnerable. Which brings me to my second point.” Her voice was flat. “He’s building an army. The more wolves that join him, the stronger he gets. An Alpha is nothing without a pack. We know he was… feeding off Gavin. There was a blood bond between them. When Gavin left, it weakened him. And he’s pulling these other wolves to him to make up for it. Packs with blood between them are strong. He doesn’t have that, not anymore.”
“But he’s making up for it in numbers,” Ox said grimly.
“Yes. And I hate to be the one to say this, but Gavin is… if Gavin came back, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. Livingstone would have what he wants.”
I looked out the window. I could see Gavin laughing with Chris and Tanner and Rico as they worked on one of the trucks. Chris shoved Gavin in the shoulder, and he snapped his teeth playfully in response. I could hear Bambi and Jessie on the porch and Joshua’s little sounds as he nursed.
I said, “That’s not gonna happen.”
“But—”
I glared at the phone. “You would… what? Have him sacrifice himself? Give himself to his father? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Mom put her hand over mine. “I don’t think that’s what she’s saying.”
I pulled away from her. “That’s exactly what she’s saying. And I’m telling you right now there’s no way in hell I’m going to agree to that.”
“It’s not up to you, though, is it?” Aileen said. “It would be his choice.”