Page 189 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

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As I’d hoped, the Granbys agreed. They were reluctant and still had doubts, but when they came back to the living room, they were determined to see it through.

“We want to save our son,” Adam said. “If you can help, then, yes, let’s do it.”

Though I’d expected this answer, it filled me with a sense of relief that followed me through the day and into the night. The next day, the day of the ritual, that relief slowly shifted into prickly nervousness.

I believed in the ritual’s effectiveness, but I had no doubt that I’d be seeing some disturbing stuff in Samuel's memories. When I’d looked into my mother’s memories, it had been to learn more about my parents.

Though her life ended tragically, seeing things through her eyes had given me closure and strength.

Because of that experience, I felt like I could be a better woman, a better mate, and a better mother.

But Samuel would be different. When Night and I had spoken to him months ago, he’d mentioned a shadow monster. There was no telling what he had actually seen, but it had been enough to cause deep hurt and fear that had lasted a decade.

Adam and Cathy told us it would be better to do it in the daytime because Samuel was at his most calm, so Tavi, Night, Violet, and I were behind the elders’ cabin with Elders Forsythe, Queene, and Westley.

They had already prepped the circle and lit the candles.

Everything was ready, except the Granbys were nowhere to be seen.

I ran my fingers through my hair and blew out a breath.

Tavi went around to the front of the house to watch out for them.

The elders didn’t seem bothered by the lateness.

Elder Sage was more of a stickler for timing than the others, but he and Elders Wood and Thread were on Wargs’ territory.

The atmosphere was pretty relaxed here at the back of the cabin, which only increased my own anxiety.

Night was looking up at the sky. It was clear now, but I had a strong feeling that the weather would shift soon. Were these sorts of feelings due to my pack mother blood? If so, did that mean I was starting to come into my own?

I sat on one of the stone benches and rubbed my stomach in gentle circles. Night came to sit next to me, and I leaned against him automatically, as if pulled in by the warmth radiating from him. Dom was keeping an eye on things while Night helped me with the ritual. I was grateful for his presence.

When he placed his hand on my stomach, the baby kicked, which made me smile despite my lingering uncertainty.

The little one must also have been grateful that he was near.

It made me wonder if my birth mother ever doubted what she was doing or second-guessed herself, or whether this uncertainty was unique to me because I hardly had any idea what I was doing.

“They’re coming,” Tavi called from the front of the house.

“Excellent!” Elder Westley clapped his hands. He was plumper than the other elders and had a more grandfatherly air about him. Actually, he reminded me of the Santa Claus stories I’d read when I was a kid. “Please, tell them to come around back.”

“Will do,” Tavi replied.

Night turned his head to kiss my forehead, then stood to receive them. I’d stand, too, but would wait until they were here. Considering my advanced pregnancy, I doubted anyone would mind.

We all heard it as they got closer—the heavy breathing and the whining of a young wolf.

Those sounds struck me in the heart, making my baby kick again.

When the Granbys rounded the corner, I saw Samuel was in his wolf form, and Adam was carrying him while Cathy tried to coo to him that everything would be okay.

He was keening and trying to get out of his father’s arms. At seventeen years old, Samuel was really making his father work to keep hold of him.

“We’re so sorry we’re late,” Cathy said in a rush. Her eyes were wide with her feelings of helplessness. “We explained to Samuel what was going to happen yesterday. He seemed so open to it, but, well…” She paused and looked at her son. “This was the only way we could get him to leave the house.”

“Samuel, c’mon, kid,” Adam grunted as he tried to get his son to stay still. His face was red from exertion.

“Do you need help?” Tavi asked just as Night moved forward to assist Adam.

Adam shook his head sharply. “He’ll calm down. He just needs, I don’t know, space, probably. And time. But we don’t have a ton of that, right?”

“We can wait as long as we need,” Elder Queene said, his long, dark hair lifting in the breeze. “And I believe the ritual will still work even if he doesn’t shift into his human form.”

“Oh.” The frustrated furrow in Adam’s brow smoothed a bit. “Okay. That’s good to know. Thank you, Elder Queene.”

Elder Queene inclined his head.

Samuel showed no sign of calming. He was no longer trying to leave, not with so many adults around him, but he continued to whine and paw at the ground.

He scampered from touch, even his mother’s.

Seeing him in such distress helped me push away my remaining nerves.

How could I show weakness when this poor kid was having such a rough time?

I pushed myself off the bench and went to Samuel. Large brown eyes watched me warily as I slowly approached. Then he lay down and covered his eyes and nose with his paws. Behind me, I heard Night start to walk toward me, but he stopped. Tavi must’ve stopped him.

“Don’t worry,” she said to Night. “He’s not a danger to her. He’s not being aggressive.”

It was true. He wouldn’t bite or charge or raise a paw against me. He was just frightened.

“Easy…” I soothed. “Remember me, Samuel? I came to talk to you a few months ago. You showed me some of your art.”

He couldn’t respond as a wolf, but he wasn’t backing away from me or trying to rush around me. He did, however, remove his paws from his nose.

“Yeah, I thought you’d remember me.” I reached for his head, and he winced, his ears flattening, his eyes closing, but when I touched his soft fur, he opened his eyes again.

He looked up at me as I stroked his head.

“I know you’re scared. And I know that it’s because you probably realized the same thing I did earlier today—you’re going to see things you’ve tried very hard to forget. ”

Another soft whine, and he wrapped his tail tightly around him.

“It won’t be a fun experience, and it might be frightening, but I want you to know that your memories can’t hurt you more than you’ve already been hurt. Today will be the start of the rest of your life, and you’ll be able to look forward instead of back. Understand?”

One of his ears lifted. He stared at me, waiting for more.

“I also want you to know I will be there with you the entire time.” I scratched him under his chin. “And that’s very lucky. You know why? Because I’ve already done this. I know the ropes. You’ll be okay.”

His other ear lifted.

“That’s right, Samuel, I’ve got your back. And I’ll keep you safe. Don’t forget, this will help you, and it’ll help the other boys who were kidnapped. It’ll be okay, I promise.”

I continued to stroke his head until slowly, carefully, he got to his feet.

“Atta boy,” Adam said. He and his wife visibly relaxed as he followed Samuel and me to the stone circle.

The two of us sat in the center of the stone circle. Samuel rested his head on my knee, slight tremors racking his body. He didn’t try to leave, though, brave boy that he was.

Night caught my eye. He was grinning at me, and the pride shining in his eyes made my heart race.

I looked at the elders. “Let’s get this started.”

Elder Forsythe nodded. “Of course.”

He and the other two elders stood around us. I took a deep breath in, let a slow breath out, and closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I wasn’t standing in the forest I’d found myself in when I was looking through my mother’s memories.

Instead, I was sitting on an old felled tree trunk just behind the tree line that surrounded Kings territory.

There was that familiar cast of gray over this world, which wasn’t doing wonders for my vision.

I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t see through the darkness until it suddenly hit me.

I was in the body of a six-year-old boy, a boy who hadn’t had his first shift yet.

His wolf side wouldn’t have awakened yet.

Realizing this was like taking a bucket of ice water to the face. I had forgotten how helpless and weak I’d been when I was only human, and that weakness was only compounded by the fact that this body belonged to a child.

A shiver of unease passed between my shoulder blades, but I got control of myself before the vision began to distort.

“Sammy!” a small voice pulled Samuel’s attention. I recognized Trevor Coolie, one of the boys who went missing. I’d helped my mother tutor the flaxen-haired boy. I watched him run toward Samuel from the darkness.

“Trevor!” Samuel slid off the trunk to meet his friend halfway.

The boys hugged, then Trevor quickly pushed him away. He started digging in his pockets. “Look what I got, Sammy!”

He pulled out his hands, revealing fists full of mini dark chocolate bars. Samuel gasped.

“How did you get these?”

Trevor’s answering grin was smug. “I snuck into the dining hall when Glenda wasn’t looking.”

“No way!”

“Yes, way. I told you I was the sneakiest.”

Trevor shared one of his handfuls with Samuel.

I grinned. Mom was far too perceptive for Trevor to have snuck past her; she’d probably noticed the boy immediately but pretended not to.

She had always been soft with kids, and I imagined she was especially so at this time, when little boys were going missing.

Trevor finished his candy before Samuel, who was still licking chocolate from his fingertips.

“Hey, Sammy, doesn’t this remind you of that story?”

“Huh?” Samuel was apparently still basking in his after-chocolate glow. “Story?”