“I want all the children and teenagers to start public school,” I instructed Curtis.
“Okay,” he said. “We can’t just flood the public school in one go, though.”
I nodded my head in agreement.
“We’ll have to start some now and some will have to start later,” he advised.
“Sounds good.”
I felt good that I could start bringing change to my pack. It wasn’t fair to homeschool the children. They needed to be able to interact with humans.
“Any other changes you want to implement?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
One step at a time.
“We need a way to catch the traitor,” I informed Curtis. I’d already started formulating some ways on how we could catch the person that had betrayed me to Richard.
The sooner I found that person, the better. I was still torn about what to do with the traitor when we discovered their identity. If my father still ruled, it would be instant death.
I didn’t want to be seen as a weak leader but I would need to come up with a suitable punishment for the person who knew that Richard had been intent on killing me. To me, that person was just as responsible for Richard’s actions.
Curtis and I began to discuss my ideas. I also needed to think of a way to weed out other future traitors whose loyalty lay with Richard. The problems and weight of my duty wore down on my shoulders.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Keri
Blake was waiting for me when I got back to my room. I’d been busy for four hours with Curtis, so by the time I walked into my room, I was exhausted.
The doorway was dimly lit and I saw Blake lying in my bed. He was sleeping so I stripped my clothes down to my underwear and got into the bed with him. To most people the escalation of our relationship would have seemed rushed, but we weren’t human. We were werewolves meant to be together forever so it didn’t feel weird to see him already sleeping in my bed. He mumbled something softly under his breath as his arms encircled me and pulled me closer.
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of his closeness. It didn’t take me long to drift off to sleep.
My thoughts from my meeting with Curtis about the traitors followed me into my dreams. Faces of all my pack members flitted through my mind and I desperately tried to figure who was the person betraying me.
I was restless in my sleep as my fear of betrayal increased. The fact that if I didn’t figure it out soon then Richard might get another opportunity to try and kill me weighed heavily on my mind. It would be much more difficult to kill me now that I could shift but Richard would still be able to kill me and take over my pack.
A voice nearby soothed me with soft words.
“It’s okay,” I distantly heard a voice whisper into my ear as I felt strong arms hold me safely against a warm body. Somehow knowing I was safe, my dreams changed and I settled into a deeper sleep where betrayal didn’t linger on my mind.
When I woke up, I stretched and yawned. The warmth that had made me feel safe was gone and I discovered I was alone in the bed. I sat up and looked around the small room for any evidence that Blake was still here, but it was empty.
Thinking he might have only left to shower and change, I stood up. It was only when I was about to walk into my bathroom to shower that I heard his voice talking from outside the room.
“Really?” he asked.
It sounded like he was on the phone with someone.
He laughed. I loved the sound of it rumbling in his chest.
“I’m surprised she hasn’t tied you to the bed,” he replied.
I assumed he was probably talking to Cade and from what I’d heard it sounded like Scarlett had gone into heat. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I went to have a shower. The reminder of Cade and Scarlett brought up another issue I hadn’t really addressed until now.
Blake already had a pack that he’d temporarily combined with Cade’s pack. What did that mean for us? We couldn’t exactly both continue living in different territories. I’d need to sit down and talk to him about it. I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps he would take it for granted that I would give up my pack to join his. It wasn’t something I was prepared to do. I was determined to become the leader I’d been trained to be and I wasn’t going to give my pack over to someone else. It wasn’t going to happen.
