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And…everyone is looking at me. Crap, they probably heard every last word I spoke too.

Before I can panic about it, Kane puts his hand on my lower back and steers me down the makeshift aisle in the middle of the room toward a chair set at the far end of it. Unlike the other foldable chairs, this one faces the audience.

My breath hitches.

“It’s okay,” Kane whispers to me. “Like you said to Nero, we’re friends here.”

I draw in a deep breath, ignoring my growing queasiness. When we’re nearly to my seat, an adolescent girl steps away from the nearby wall and approaches me.

My brows come together as I take in her familiar features before recognition sets in.

“Cara?” I say tentatively.

She nods, and suddenly we’re hugging, and I can feel her shaking in my arms as she sobs a little against me.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “Thank you.”

I hug her tighter and nod. I don’t really know what to say except, “I couldn’t leave you.” Not to those supernaturals.

Eventually, she pulls away to take me in.

“I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again,” I admit, my eyes roving over her face.

The last time I laid eyes on her, she’d been mostly unconscious. To see her now, healthy and whole, is…indescribable.

She reaches out and wipes away wetness from my cheek. That’s when I realize I’m crying. Her touch is a familiar sort of gesture, one you’d do with someone you’re close to. I feel the barest hint then of what it means to be pack. The affection, the care, the bonds between members, bonds that have nothing to do with spells but instead with love and loyalty.

“I had to meet you,” she says. “I didn’t…” Her throat works. “I didn’t remember much from that night. I thought I dreamed you up.” She gives my forearms a squeeze, then backs away. With a final smile, Cara retreats to the nearby wall.

Kane is still there, waiting a short distance away. When I catch his eye, he nods to the seat set out for me. I glance at it, then blow out a breath, my heart beginning to pick up again. It doesn’t help my nerves that everyone can hear it.

Reluctantly, I sit down and let my eyes wander across the full room. The air around the lycans shimmers a little like a heat wave, and I feel my own instincts screaming at me that I’m in a den of predators.

Kane sits down in an empty chair in the first row across from me, next to several older men and women.

One of those older individuals—a ruggedly handsome man with caramel-colored skin who looks to be somewhere in his late forties—now speaks.

“Selene Bowers, welcome to the Marin Pack.”

I nod, smiling tightly.

“I’m Vincent Vilanova, alpha and leader of the Marin Pack, and I have heard quite a lot about you since you rescued Cara a couple of weeks ago.”

I give another tight smile, trying to smother my instincts, which still fully believe I’m surrounded by wolves, not people.

“I assume Kane filled you in on why you’re here.”

My gaze darts to my former crush, and I nod again.

“Good, good,” Vincent says, glancing at the crowd. “I’ve spoken at length with my pack, but I will fill everyone in again so that we’re all on the same page,” he says, turning more fully to face the room. “Selene Bowers is a witch attending Henbane Coven. Kane Halloway attended Peel Academy with her a couple years ago, and the two were friends.”

Um, more like he starred in all my teenage fantasies while (I assumed) he had no idea I existed.

But whatever. We werefriends.

“A couple of weeks ago, Selene saved Cara Gutierrez from a binding ceremony that would’ve given another supernatural complete power over Cara’s free will. Such things are called forced bonds.”

My gaze slides to Cara just as the girl dips her head and stares at her feet.