“We’ll follow you back,” I told Perry. “You need to eat, and eat a lot.” I hesitated. “You need to say nothing of this to anyone.”
Perry swallowed. “Of course, Alpha.” He went to move away and looked over his shoulder. “You’ll be behind me?”
Axel grunted as he stepped up beside him. “C’mon, I’m right beside you, brother.”
Brand and I exchanged a look as we followed them.
I could feel Brand looking across at me. “Alpha?”
“He named someone,” I said quietly.
I saw Brand bite back his retort that this is what he was asking. “Who?”
I looked at him. My gaze flicked to Axel walking in front of me. Two of my most trusted wolves. I swallowed hard.
He named Lewis.I told them both. The blow didn’t impact them the same way as it did me. They didn’t know him like I did. They didn’t know that he was one of the ones who made sure I was fed when I first got here. They didn’t know he was the one who sat by his alpha’s bedside and wept when he was gone.
The silence as we walked to the pack hall was heavier than death.
Lewis—beta to Malric. Advisor to the pack. To Rowen. A voice she trusted as much as her father’s.
Brand’s jaw was clenched. “You’re sure, Perry?”
Perry nodded, realizing I had told them. “I can show you,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “It was fast, but…” He stopped walking, closed his eyes, and opened his mind to me. No hesitation. Not from him. I, however, took a moment longer. I’d never done this, but I knew how to. Lars had been thorough in his teachings.
I closed my eyes as I stepped into Perry’s memory of his attack. It was fast. Brutal. The attack came from nowhere. The blow, deadly. I winced as I felt the claws tear open skin, and then Lewis shifted, horror in his eyes as he stood over the broken body.
“I’m sorry.” Lewis shifted into his wolf and ran.
“He thinks I’m dead?” Perry realized as I broke the connection.
“Yes, and I think we can say he thought you were someone else,” I muttered. “Who though?”
Axel swore low. “Me?” He exchanged a look with Brand. “I’ve been doing perimeter checks every evening.” He looked disgusted with himself. “Same route, every night.Fuck. It’s a fucking pattern.” He snorted with contempt. “I’ve become predictable.”
Perry stood, silently but watchful. His skin was clammy and pale. He needed to eat.
“Everywhere I turn, more rot is uncovered in this fucking place,” I muttered. “They’re moving into the daylight.”
“What do we do?” Brand asked quietly. “Confront him?” I heard him clear his throat as I turned to look toward the Hollow—toward the heart of it all. “I know you are against it, Wolfe, but…I think it’s time.”
I huffed. “On them all?” I asked quietly.
“Yes.” That was Axel.
“Ours too?” I asked, voice dangerously low.
“They’re all ours,” Perry added firmly. “Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to make us see?”
My gaze was on the grass at my feet. Green. Full. Lush. It would grow no matter how much blood was spilled. It would continue no matter if I invaded each one of my packs’ minds and forced them to tell me their truths. Grass would never know. Grass would never care.
I would know.
I would care.
I would never forget.
“Have you ever had an alpha in your mind against your will?” I asked them, my voice low and rough. “Have you ever been immobilized as someone raked through your memories, your being, forcing you to remember everything?” Silence greeted me. “I have.” I recalled the feeling of terror. “It’s a monstrous act.”
