Page 12 of The Witch’s Daughter

“She did.” Calla watched me from the corner of her eye. “Must be nice to not need an Alpha’s permission to do anything anymore.”

I knew she was only teasing, so I ignored the anger her comment invoked. In truth, no one had really known what went on behind Cadejo’s borders until I’d exposed the truth. Even then, it was a watered-down version.

“It is,” I said simply.

Silence followed, but I didn’t let it ruin my mood. The sun came back out. It was a pleasant day. And I had the company of an old friend on this path.

“I think he probably went to the graveyard,” Calla said as we passed by the turnoff for town and caught Gentry’s scent heading in the other direction.

I rubbed the ever-present ache in my chest, knowing where it led. But sometimes knowing the truth still wasn’t enough to do anything to fix the pain.

Calla seemed to notice the movement. “So… Do you think Trish got a summons too?”

I stared straight ahead as my wolf growled at me for not knowing that answer. Once upon a time, I would’ve. I made it a point to know everything that pertained to her, but being Alpha for a pack didn’t allow for a lot of downtime, and it’d been months since I’d last seen her face.

Dreams didn’t count.

We should’ve brought her a gift, my wolf grumbled.

That didn’t go over well last time.

Or the time before that.

“That’s okay,” Calla filled in the silence that lingered after her question. “You know Trish, she likes to keep things mysterious.”

I smiled at her words.

That was one way to put it.

The landscape grew familiar as we walked. Near here, Lisa’s old cabin was tucked away in the woods where I’d spent a good part of my youth.

I still had bits and pieces of fond memories. A smack on the back of the head. An affectionate tug of the ear. The slingshot. Lisa’s silver-blue eyes. All her haunting warnings of the future. Some that had come to pass. Some I hoped never would.

Her final wishes…

I stopped walking, looking back over my shoulder. It took Calla a few steps before she sighed.

“Are we joining him?” she asked.

“Are you sure there isn’t something wrong with your sight, Seer?” I joked despite the lump forming in my throat. “We should probably pay our respects too. You know, just to make sure Gentry didn’t get lost somewhere among the graves.”

“Fine.” Calla held her chin aloft, not showing any of the emotion I knew she was hiding. “But if we’re late to this meeting, you get to be the one to deal with Alpha Kera.”

5

Trish

“If you’re not nervous and you’re not trying to win any favors, can you at least tell us what the cupcakes are for?” Poor Meg. The not knowing was really killing her alpha wolf tendencies.

“She’s going to die if you don’t tell her,” Alec laughed.

“I am not.” Meg yanked open the door to City Hall. “I just want to know what was so important that she almost burned down our parent’s cabin this morning… again.”

“Fine,” I snapped. They’d done it.

They’d finally broken me.

It only took one morning. If my wolf had control of her eyes, she would’ve rolled them.