Chapter 229

Heather

I didn’t usually care for meat lover’s, but I couldn’t stifle a moan of happiness as I ate the first hot bite. “This is much better than I thought it’d be.”

No, it’s not. You’re just starving. He swallowed. “I’m feeling a lot better already. Thanks.”

“Least I could do.” I looked around at the mess we’d made—wrappers and crumbs littered the floor. “But you know, it’s a good thing we’re leaving in three-ish hours because we’re pretty much out of food and it’s not like we can walk to a store from here. We’d need a boat and a car.”

Brent laughed and the sound warmed my soul. For the first time since I’d woken up, I took a full breath. “Why did you let me take so much of your power?”

“It’s what you needed,” he said without hesitation.

He was right. If he hadn’t given so much, I probably wouldn’t have survived, but I still didn’t like it. I’d drained him so much and that made me wonder how the rest of the pack was fairing.

“I’m fine. The pack is fine. We know the drill. We’ll eat everything in sight and by morning, we’ll all be okay. But trust me, it’s better for them to get drained one time than for them to try fighting this demon by themselves. They won’t even think twice about it. By helping you now, the pack ensures that you’re around to protect them. That’s why we have packs. That’s why there are leaders. Like it or not, you’re an alpha. The Alpha.”

“I’m not The Alpha. I’m an alpha at best. I don’t have a pack to rule over.” And I was pretty sure I never wanted one.

“I know, but you’re too strong and—”

That was bull. “You’re stronger than me.”

“No. I’m really not.” For a second I thought he was being nice, but his tone wasn’t nice. It was dead serious. “I’m not being polite, chérie. I’m a better fighter than you, but I’ve had my whole life to train and you’ve only just turned. In a few years, you’ll be able to best me.” He squeezed my hand. “And one day you’ll have a pack. You won’t be able to help it. Alphas draw betas to them. It’s just in their nature.”

I could believe that was the case for other Alphas, but I wasn’t sure that applied to me. I knew I was a strong werewolf, but that didn’t mean that I had to be a pack Alpha. That was a lot of responsibility. Would I ever want to tie myself down like that?

For now, all I really wanted was to get away from the demon.

“You got away.”

“No, I didn’t. Not for long.” I shook my head slowly. “I think I just mostly pissed it off.” What are we going to do?

We’re going to take it one step at a time, like we always do.

That was a good plan, but the first step was figuring out who the demon was, what exactly its powers were, and how to break a demonic tie. I wasn’t sure what seal the demon had been talking about, but if the portal was to Hell and I was somehow the key, then there was much more on the line than just my soul.

The line rang and rang. If there was a more annoying sound, I hadn’t heard it. My knee bounced. It was fully dark, we were minutes away from St. Francis’s, and I still hadn’t been able to get ahold of Claudia.

“She’s fine, chérie.”

I wanted to snap at him. Brent didn’t know that Claudia was fine, but he was trying to stay positive, while I was imagining that the demon was torturing her.

I sighed as voicemail picked up for the millionth time today. “Hi! You’ve reached Claudia. I’m sorr—” I cut off the recording and threw my phone in the cup holder of Brent’s black SUV. We’d only been planning on being gone for a couple of weeks, so we’d left it at the airport. I wasn’t sure how much that had cost, but I was glad to be alone for the first time today.

“Maybe she doesn’t have it on her. She only recently got the cell, right?”

He had a point. “I guess that could be true.” But it didn’t make me any less anxious.

We’d had a long day of travel. I’d nodded off a few times during the car ride to the airport, but the sleep had been in little spurts and didn’t add up to anything nearly sufficient.

If I was being honest, I couldn’t blame the fact that I hadn’t slept on the travel. Every second that passed felt like a second closer to the demon coming for me again. I’d closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep, but it was too much like the black nothingness I’d wandered through yesterday.

I spent time googling how to break a demon’s tie, but there wasn’t a ton of information out there about them. Until I had a specific demon to research, I was SOL. Plus, I wasn’t sure I could trust anything I found on the internet. Too much was on the line to put all my hope in something I found from an unverified source.

I’d texted with Serena what was going on before we got on the plane. She said she was down to do some research in the Irish pack’s library, but she couldn’t leave. The pack there was still coming back from all their drama. Which was a bummer, but I got it. I’d managed to talk to my mom for a second to tell her we were coming home. She was worried, but said she’d be there to help if she could.

What I really needed first was to get ahold of Claudia.

She’d managed to help me snap the demon’s control once, and if I knew the specifics of the spell, then maybe I could do it myself to prevent him from doing it again. Maybe she’d know some way to break a demonic tie. At the very least, if she could just overnight some of those crystals she found in Peru that saved Raphael,

then maybe I could use them to fight the demon.

I grabbed the cell phone and dialed Claudia again.

“Chérie. She’ll call you when she can.”

My knee bounced faster as I held my breath, waiting—hoping—that this time would be the time Claudia answered. “This is bad. With what happened, she should’ve called us by now.” I chewed on a fingernail.

“Maybe she’s been traveling, too? For all we know, she could be on her way here.”

That would explain it, but we didn’t know that for sure. “Or maybe saving me hurt her.”

“We’d know if something was wrong.”

“Would we?” Because I wasn’t so sure that we’d know anything unless she died. There was a whole spectrum of not okay between being alive and being dead.

While I usually loved Brent’s cup-half-full attitude, I was feeling more like the fucking cup was empty.

I’d been calling Claudia all day—well, at least every time I had service—and I still couldn’t get ahold of her. Last night I’d been able to brush it off, but I couldn’t do that anymore.

My stomach was churning with the thought that she might need my help, especially after she’d saved my ass. Until I heard word from her or someone in Peru, I just had to wait. But waiting around was not my strong suit.

Brent flicked on the blinker. “We’re here.”

I looked up from my phone to see the break in the brick walls that separated St. Francis’s from the outside world. As we pulled up, the massive black wrought iron gates opened, letting us into the parking lot. It was odd not to see any reporters at the entrance, but it’d been six weeks since we’d been here. Hopefully, the constant stream of reporters had died down for good.

The ten Cazadores guarding the gates might have finally become a deterrent. Or maybe it was the demon attacks.

Either way, that was one thing I wasn’t sorry to see go.

Brent waved to them as he passed and then pulled into a spot right by the path to campus. As soon as he stopped, I swung open the door and breathed in. Pine. Cedar. Dirt. Home.

The last took me by surprise. I wasn’t sure when St. Francis’s had become my home. I’d lived in Los Angeles most of my life. We’d only moved here at the beginning of the school year, and it was almost Thanksgiving now. But oddly enough, St. Francis’s was the only place I’d ever felt free to be myself, even if this version of me turned furry every once in a while.

“I thought you’d never get here,” a familiar voice said, and I spun in time to see Xander coming around the bend in the path.

The sight of my friend made my anxiety ease a bit. I could focus on something a little more trivial—Xander and his need for a haircut. His dirty blonde hair looked like it might almost be long enough to pull back into a small ponytail and he had a full beard. He’d said he was tired in his email, but his easy grin was in place as he opened his arms, pulling me in for a hug.