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“How did you manage that?” I tried to sound curious and impressed with his resourcefulness.

Flattery wasn’t bait enough, apparently. He said, “I went to her for help, and she repaid me in betrayal. Since then, I knew she was too dangerous to ignore. I couldn’t… take her down, so I protected the pack.”

“By taking the source of her magic.”

He nodded, more to himself than me. “Most of her magic. I was protecting the pack,” he repeated firmly.

Jesse would shut down entirely if I pushed. I didn’t pry further.

We were about to give up our search when a familiar odor assaulted our senses.

Ammonia.

We followed the smell to a seedy motel on the road outside of town. The place was in total disrepair. Its architecture was crumbling, the walls all moldy. It looked abandoned.

The closer we crept to the building, the stronger the stench was, mixed with other synthetic odors of trash plastic and electricity. The motel was a three-sided structure wrapped around the center parking lot.

One of the rooms on the first floor of the middle section had a door, slightly ajar, the shine of a faint light within. This could be something. It reeked of the bizarre emanations. I had to check it out.

Meanwhile, Jesse swept the rest of the building, taking a cursory look through broken windows to determine if anyone else was there. He found no one, but the back of my neck prickled with the sensation of being watched.

Jesse paced the length of the parking lot with agitated steps. “Something’s not right.”

I stepped through the cracked door into the room with the flickering light, my eyes straining through the darkness to glimpse the shape of the musty bed and… a table with a number of metallic instruments reflecting the light of an LED flashlight discarded nearby. Twinges of iron and salt peaked through the overwhelming ammonia. My head rolled with a sickening spin. I stumbled back, clutching my abdomen with a wave of nausea. My foot bumped into something soft that was stuck in my path.

Its movement against my foot rustled a new note of familiarity in the air. When I picked it up, I recognized it immediately. Dad’s flannel shirt, the last thing I saw him in.

“You’re too late now.”

Cersey’s voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. Where was she? I spun around, unable to see her in the darkness. My heart thumped against my chest, and I ran outside to find her standing in the middle of the parking lot with Jesse staring her down.

Gone was the kittenish, flippant Cersey from before. She was no longer amused. Her face was now smooth, impassive. And her drapey robes were replaced by an edgy sheath of leather pants and a crisp leather jacket.

“What have you done?” Jesse snarled.

“Me? The fault here is all yours. You had a chance to save him and you threw it away.”

My pulse accelerated. “Where is he? What’s happened to him?” Dad’s flannel felt damp in my hands, and I tried not to think about how much blood it had soaked up.

Cersey turned to me, offering a small, condescending frown. “Pity you did not take my advice, little alpha. Did you know there are humans who know a thing or two about your werewolf packs? You frighten them. And why not? You are stronger, faster.” She paused her riddle, then finished the thought. “Maybe notsmarter.”

“Say what you mean and be done with it!” Jesse yelled.

“You may have curbed my magic, wolf. For now. But do not think for a moment that I am powerless. Magic comes in many forms.” Cersey lowered her voice and I had to strain to hear her. “Hints of magic can turn a mind, you know.”

More riddles.

“I could enlist others to overcome my foes. Entice them to do my bidding. First, your alpha. Then, who knows what’s next?”

Jesse looked baffled, and I returned his glance with a grimace. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Cersey cocked her head. What did she hear?

Turning to me, she smirked. “Maybe your mate.”

As the witch stepped back, I saw Hannah and Diana running toward us. My eyes zeroed on Diana, her wild eyes taking in the scene. Cersey reached for her.

I moved without thinking, using some measure of my wolf abilities to block Cersey’s path and planting myself between them. “You will not touch her.”