She stared at me in confusion.
Seriously? Did she not get sarcasm? “Look, Astrid. Be a bitch to me if it makes you feel better, but I think we both know that if Leif is avoiding you, it’s not because of me. It’s because he wants to.”
She opened her mouth to retort but I held up my hand. “Now unless you’re going to tell me something useful, we’re done here.” I arched a brow, waiting.
Her gray eyes narrowed. “You can have him,” she said softly. “For now, but remember, he’s only on loan. He’ll never belong to you, not really.”
She walked off, leaving her final words buried in my chest like invisible needles. Ouch.
“Don’t,” Halle said. “Not worth it.”
“But true.”
“Not true. The future is unwritten, Cora. Remember that. You can write it however you please.”
As long as fate didn’t get in the way.
The hunt was something females from all three packs took part in. A task and a bonding experience.
“The feywarg are a nuisance,” Halle said. “Their numbers grow exponentially if we don’t hunt them. Culling them monthly protects the livestock and helps keep our ecosystem balanced. They don’t belong here. They shouldn’t be hunting here, but they come into our world regardless.”
We strolled toward the campfire. “Do you know why?”
“Fucked-up faerie syndrome is what they call it.” Halle’s voice dropped. “They say the place is dying. So many fae have migrated into our world for good and integrated into society. But there are some that can’t live outside of the fae realm.”
“I honestly don’t know much about the place.”
“It’s huge, like multi-dimensional. They say that it exists outside of time, that past, present, and future run side by side. Some people even believe that the fae realm is an anchor, a hub that binds all realities.”
Okay, that sounded big. “And you say it’s dying?”
“That’s the rumor.”
“Then won’t that affect every reality it’s connected to?”
Halle stopped short and stared at me, wide-eyed. “Fuck.”
I ignored the oh shit feeling, because this was not my problem. I had enough on my plate. The Magiguard knew about the fae realm’s demise. They’d be doing something about it if they felt it would affect us, but Halle looked spooked.
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure it’s fine. Just stories, right?”
“Yeah. Stories.” Her expression remained pensive.
We reached the campfire and I spotted Heather. She held out her arms to me and I joined her, getting a hug for my efforts.
“Hello, sweetheart, so glad you made it. Now listen, stay close to Halle, don’t stray far from the pack. Ladies!” She addressed the wolves around me. “The anchor is our responsibility tonight. Mate to our alphas, we are honored to have her run with us.”
Most of the women smiled warmly, but a few remained impassive and a couple rolled their eyes. But then these were the wolves standing by Astrid, friends of hers, or maybe potential breeders to my mates. Either way I didn’t care. I had no time for immature bitches.
“You’ll be safe with us,” Heather said. “Leif’s told me how hard you’ve been training to run with us.”
“I have. I want to be able to do this with you.”
“And I’m so happy you do. When we spot feywarg, we howl to let the pack know. We’ll be splitting into smaller packs. You’ll be with Halle, okay?”
I nodded. “No problem.”
Around me clothes were being shed, and naked flesh gleamed in the firelight.
“The fire keeps the feywarg at bay. They like to bite, and the bites are toxic; they’ll make you sick. If you find yourself overwhelmed, head back to camp.”
The air crackled with power as the wolves shifted, and in a matter of minutes, I was the only bipedal occupant in the camp. Heather was a huge dark wolf with sharp, intelligent eyes, small for a dire wolf, but she still came up to my thigh.
Another wolf nudged my hip and I looked down into hazel eyes so like Rune’s that for a moment I thought he was here. But this wolf’s coat had no amber highlights.
“Hey, Halle.”
She chuffed and swung her head in a come-on gesture. Around us the wolves were splitting into groups of five or six. Heather inclined her head, then set off. I followed Halle to a nearby pack of wolves I didn’t recognize. Probably Holm Pack. I hadn’t had an invite from them yet.
We set off across the field and into the woods. The wolves fanned out around me, and the only sound was the pant of their breath and the crunch of their paws on bracken as we wound through the trees. I had no clue what we were looking for. I should have asked about that. Never mind, I’d pick it up. My body tingled with power eager to be expelled, hands warm and ready to shoot lightning. It was so cold that my breath plumed in front of my face, but my blood was warm with anticipation.
God, I’d missed the action. How in the hell did the anchors sit around all day doing nothing? If not for training with Sloane and runs with the guys, I’d go insane. Which reminded me, I needed to bug Anna about the silent sisters and the glamour. Surely they should have it ready by now?
Something silver and about the size of a weasel shot across my path up ahead. I noted the black striations down its back.
Feywarg?
I looked to Halle to find her looking back at me, tongue hanging out of her mouth in a goofy way as if to say, now the fun begins, then she threw back her head and howled before picking up speed.
The chase was on.
I pushed myself, boots pounding earth, leaping over logs in pursuit of the—motherfucker!
Streaks of silver lit up the night. Fuck, they were beautiful. How could I hurt them? Two of them twisted and headed toward Halle, and I caught sight of their eerie silver eyes and wide mouths
