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I shivered. Maybe I was losing my mind, like she had.
I blinked again, and my hands were in the dirt, digging under the fence, the knife half buried in a low-growing bush. What was I doing? I stopped digging, trying to center myself. Trying to think.
What was my plan? Del had always told me to make a plan.
Del. The name in my mind broke me open, and I clutched at my arms, scratching the skin there, like I could somehow remove the pain of his death by tearing it out of me.
“Flor?” The voice caught my fractured attention, and I peered through the fence. Icy blue eyes met mine, short dark hair wet with sweat, his scent sweet. “By the moon, Flor, what happened to you? Your hair… your arms. You’re bleeding.”
Luke. What was he doing here?
“You need to get out of here.” He leaned down to speak through the open wires by my face, barely breathing the words. “The Alpha accused you of killing Del.”
“That toadfucker,” I panted, trying not to lose any more time. I had to get a grip. “I would never.”
“I know.” Luke’s voice broke. “Van threw his body in a ditch outside the main gates, to cover up the evidence. It’s gone.”
“What h-happened to…” To it. The body, not Del. Del was dead.
“The rogues took him.”
“Still… alive?” I managed to gasp.
“No. I saw Van kill Del while the Alpha watched. But he told all the packs it was you.”
I tried to focus. “Did he say it outright? Say I did it?”
He hesitated. “He made it sound like they had a damned witness. But no. He just pointed all the fingers your way. Van sent the other Heirs out to the hunting grounds to find a murderer. He gave them your description. I was assigned to watch the fence in case you tried to get back in, or out.”
“The Alpha Heirs?” Those assholes had found me. Why hadn’t they brought me in?
“I can’t stay longer; someone will notice I’ve stopped patrolling. There are so many wolves here, hundreds of visitors. The inner compound, the outer rings, every house is filled, every room. There’s nowhere to run.”
“I met them,” I said, my mind spinning like a circus ride. “I met those guys.”
“Those guys? Wait, you mean the Heirs?”
“Yeah,” I murmured, sitting back. “One of them was spyin’ on me when I was taking a bath in the creek. Northern, yeah, that was him.”
“I’ll fucking end him.”
For some reason, Luke’s declaration brought me back to now. His eyes flashed silver-blue, and fangs were poking out of his half-open mouth. What the…? He was wolfing out, his shirt ripping at the seams, fur spreading down from his hairline across his neck, his ears growing pointed.
“Luke? Your face. Stop, you’re shifting.”
It was one of our Alpha’s biggest rules, to stay human in the compound. He’d never really explained why, just made some stuff up about “keeping iron control of your inner wolves.” But I figured it had something to do with keeping the competition weak. Shifting made wolves stronger, and the Alpha was the only one who was allowed to shift at will, anywhere, anytime.
Luke needed a little more iron control, though. He was enraged.
“Luke, it was no big deal. Glen apologized,” I said, staring as he stopped his change. “That looks like it hurts.”
“Yes, it hurts.” Luke panted. “And you’re wrong about that fucker Glen. He will need to do more than apologize.”
I let out a huff. “He did, actually. He says he and his pack owe me a debt. Something about him dishonoring them. So…” I took a shuddering breath. “Maybe I can get him to help me.”
“What do you mean?”
“He could take me into his pack.”
