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“You’re right,” I said. “I don’t worry about those things. But I do worry that I’m taking too great a risk by putting everything else off to help Spencer.”
“You’re not ready,” he said. “I mean no disrespect, but you could use the time to learn how to be more wolfy.”
I quirked a brow. “Wolfy?”
He grinned. “You heard me. You aren’t ready to tackle the challenges in Wolf Creek.”
“Yet I’m ready to help a royal take down another?” It didn’t seem like it was any less risky than standing up to my former pack. I wasn’t sure I was ready for either thing.
“You’ll have our help with that endeavor. When you fight an alpha, you must do it alone,” he reminded me.
My stomach twisted into knots. “Don’t remind me.”
The sun had set and it was getting colder by the minute. I shivered, then glanced over at the warm glow coming from the windows at Star’s house. “We should go in, it’s getting late.”
The two of us walked toward the house together, my feet sinking into the soft, mossy earth with each step. If I was going to take on the shifter king, I was going to need a decent pair of shoes. And some clothes. I wondered if Star had anything in my size.
We were greeted by Kyle, Sheila, and Alec when we stepped through the front door. The good news was Alec’s color was back to normal and most of his visible injuries were improved. He was healing. I wanted nothing more than to run to him, to make sure he was safe. But his grim expression kept me from acting on my desires. Something was going on.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“We have a huge problem,” Sheila said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Your father left a little detail out when he got you two to agree to help,” Sheila said.
“More like a big fucking detail,” Alec said with a growl.
“What detail?” I asked.
“The royal family uses blood magic to protect all their holdings,” Sheila said.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Similar to what we had at Wolf Creek,” Kyle said. “Everything is locked down unless you’ve got royal blood.”
“But how do people who work there get in and out?” I asked.
“More blood magic.” Sheila shuddered.
“Pendants containing a drop of royal blood,” Spencer said as he walked into the room.
I looked past my friends to see a very different looking Spencer. He’d cleaned up. He was in fresh clothes and his face was clean shaven. His dark hair, which had been matted and unkempt was now a gorgeous pile of glossy curls. I could see why my mom had been attracted to him.
I looked over at Malcom. He had a lot of the same features. Both males had strong jaws, hazel eyes, and dark hair. I never put much thought into Malcom’s appearance before, but now that I was looking at him, I realized there was a wave to his short hair. If he grew it out, it would probably curl the same as his father’s.
“I told you, the blood magic won’t be a problem,” Spencer said. “Lola and Malcom are my offspring. They’ll be fine.”
I turned back to him, then looked over at Alec and Sheila. They both looked furious. “Explain it to me. What makes this any different than Wolf Creek? Sure, it’s creepy as fuck, but can’t we just give you all some of our blood?”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Alec said. “You need magic to create a blood pendant and then it ties the person to the location. They could summon us all there, control us, make us do anything as long as we have that blood.”
My jaw tensed. That wasn’t what I was expecting. I was starting to understand why blood magic wasn’t allowed. Taking away free will should never happen. “Can’t you just go in and then remove the pendant?”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Sheila said. “It’s a permanent thing. It gets bonded into us. If we pull it off while inside the spelled area, there’s likely a curse or punishment waiting for us.”
“Death,” Spencer said, matter-of-factly. “If anyone with the blood pendant removes it on site, they’ll die.”
