“Brother.” Mason met me outside just as the cars drove away.
“Yes?” I said and turned around.
“What do we do about Sebastian?” he asked.
I smiled a big smile that filled me with genuine joy. However, for my brother, it meant agony. He groaned and shook his head slowly back and forth.
“Don’t do this to me. I’m begging you! I’d rather work at the preschool changing diapers on the pups for a year!” He cupped his hands in front of his chest and pleaded.
“You’ve got this. There’s no one I’d trust more with this than you, brother,” I said and clapped my hand on the side of his face encouragingly.
“Why the hell can’t you go? Or send some warriors,” he whined as we returned to the house.
“I’m going on my own mission,” I said.
“To where? Can I come with?”
My shoulders shook as I laughed. I turned and looked at my brother as we entered the house.
“I’m going to find the Seer.”
“In the Nightingale Forest, where you think she may live?” he asked with a baffled expression.
“That’s right,” I said and winked.
“I’ll go with you. If you’re going to be that close to the Emberclaw pack, you’ll need backup!”
“I have backup,” I said.
Mason stopped and stared at me.
“Who could be better than your own brother with the same alpha blood that you have?” he asked.
Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, and Justin dropped the bags on the floor. He looked up and smiled, dressed for a long walk in the woods.
Mason looked at him and then turned to me with wide eyes, betrayal written on his face.
“Seriously? You’re taking the newbie instead of me?” Justin winced as my brother’s tone turned edgy.
“I’m taking an Emberclaw,” I said, hoping he’d understand the implication.
“So you two are going into the forest to look for the badass woman who can see the future, but you’re sending me to go to that sky-high hippie jackass to look and look for an even dumber guy than the alpha he’s staying with?” Mason whined.
I looked at Justin and then back at my brother. “Yeah, pretty much,” I said and smiled.
“Load the bags in the car.” Justin nodded and took the bags outside.
Cara came down the stairs with Graham. Mason and I looked away in disgust as they started licking each other’s faces beside the railing.
“That is not what a father wants to see his daughter doing.” He pushed Graham away.
“Sorry, Dad.”
“Thank god,” Mason breathed.
I, too, scratched the back of my head as I turned back around.
“Why are you guys all packed?” Mason asked.
“I’m going with Kade and the super-wolf to hunt down the Seer.”
I glanced at my brother because I knew full well that betrayed face would be back.
He drew a deep breath and rolled back his shoulders.
“I’m getting very upset right now,” he said, adequately expressing his emotions as our mother taught him.
“Don’t worry, bro. You get me,” Graham said and slapped his shoulder.
Mason showed a tense smile. “Great,” he said with distaste.
I choked on the laughter that bubbled up.
“Be careful, children, and Mason, remember that Alpha Rilery might be a dumbass, but he has more substances in him than a pharmacy does, so never trust a single move he makes or word he says,” our father warned.
Everyone went out and hopped in the cars. Cara and Graham were saying goodbye by the car. Mason closed the trunk before coming to say goodbye.
“Be careful in there, and you—” he said and looked at Justin. “Make sure you all come back in one piece. You know better than anyone that the forest isn’t a joke.”
Justin bowed his head and grinned.
“I will,” he said.
Mason wrapped his arms around me, and I clapped my hand on his back three times. We all knew that the dangers we were facing were unlike anything else we were used to. I got a sense that everyone was fearful of the outcome, but there was nothing we wouldn’t do to ensure we’d win.
Justin, Cara and I got in the car and drove away. My parents stood on the stairs and waved us off. I saw my mother’s worried face.
We drove away from the pack and headed toward the forest. All the while, I felt Justin’s blood pressure rising the closer we got.
“It feels kind of dumb to have left Jackson in the house with everyone,” Cara said from the backseat.
“Danielle is there, and the guards won’t leave him alone even for a second. They’re all safe,” I said.
“I wish I could be as confident of that as you are,” she said and leaned back.
“Jackson came for a reason. He said it was to bring me back, but I don’t buy it. There’s another reason he’s there, and he won’t leave until he’s successfully fulfilled his orders, whatever they may be,” Justin said and clenched his jaw.
There was clearly bad blood between them. I wondered what the pack dynamic was under their king’s reign.
“How can we find out?” Cara asked.
“First, we find the Seer,” I said and looked at her through the rearview mirror.
She nodded, and I saw as the armor went up around her. Cara was ready for a fight, and that was the girl I needed right now. Anything else could wait until we were back.
We made it to the forest line, and I parked the car. Whatever happened now was up to fate. Hopefully, a little luck would be on our side.
“Stay clear of the western perimeter. It’s too close to the pack,” Justin said.
We took out the bags and placed them behind trees, one on the edge and the other two as we walked further in.
“Something’s off,” I said and sniffed around. The deeper we got into the woods, the clearer I picked up a scent that hadn’t been there before.
“I smell it too,” Justin said and looked at me with his brows hunched and his wolf stepping up.
Cara hadn’t been here before, so for her, there was no visible difference. However, we all picked up the same scent.
“Let’s go.”
We followed it deeper into the woods and squeezed between the trees. For a second, it vanished, so we tried going in a different direction until we picked it up again.
“Alpha,” Justin said and sighed. His eyes sunk, and he clicked his tongue.
“Yes?” I asked.
Cara and I looked equally confused. However, I felt it then—the scent was getting stronger, but it was not how I wanted it.
“It’s coming from the west,” I groaned.
“It makes sense. If she is who your king has been hiding, it makes sense that he would want her close,” Cara said.
“What do you want to do?” Justin asked me.
What I wanted and what we had to do were two very different things.
“Let’s go,” I said and started walking out west.
We had to be quiet, careful, and as invisible as possible. Having Justin was what gave us an advantage. He knew how their warriors operated and when they stepped over the border. It wasn’t often they went this far away from the pack.
“It’s getting stronger,” Cara said and wrinkled her nose.
“And sharper,” Justin said, sounding confused.
We walked past more trees and bushes. Everything everywhere looked exactly the same. Other times when I was here, fireflies were leading my way. I couldn’t get lost, but we were so deep into the forest by now that I wondered how we’d get out.
Something was lighting up behind a big rose bush. We took careful steps to see what it was.
When I saw it, I couldn’t focus my eyes. Something had to be wrong.
“This is it,” I said with certainty.
“How can you know?” Cara asked.
“I’ve been here before,” I said and walked around the bush.
The cottage was small. The light wasn’t like when she brought me here, but I knew this was it.
“Alpha Kade.”
I turned around. Over by the trees where the small clearing ended, she stood holding flowers.
“Why are you alive?” she said, her face contorting in confusion.
