Page 5

chapter Four

Michaela

S lipping into the bathroom, I shut the door behind me. After doing my morning routine, I pull out the new burner phone I picked up on the way here.

After getting Marley situated last night, I stayed up the entire night keeping watch. Finding out the Beta was living across the road didn’t sit well with me. I don’t trust these wolves. Yes, they let us stay, but I can tell they are not happy about it. And anywhere my little sister lays her head has to be safe. If that means I don’t sleep so I can stay up and watch her, then that’s what I’ll do.

Dialing the one number I know by heart; I wait for the person to answer.

“I was expecting your call last night,” Tech says as soon as he answers. “I thought your new furry friends had eaten you.”

Rolling my eyes, I lean against the bathroom sink.

“Trust me, they wanted to.”

“Let me guess, there were no welcome parties for you?”

I chuckle. “More like a lynching.”

“What are you going to do?”

I glance down at the cuffs around my wrist. “Despite how they feel, this is the best place for me. I just need time to figure out my next step.”

Tech is silent for a moment. Even though he wasn’t raised in our world, he possesses an extensive knowledge of it. He’s known what he was since he was one-year-old. The moment he was old enough, I made him study everything he could about our kind. I didn’t want him out in this world unaware.

“You can’t hide out there forever.”

“I know that,” I sigh. “As soon as I can figure out my next plan, I will move on.”

“Tell me again, how bad would it be if he discovers what you know?”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I say. “Imagine Thanos with all the infinity stones. Or Darth Vader with a fully functioning death star.”

“Oooh, so world ending?”

“Pretty much.”

“Alright, what do you need from me?”

“I need you to do that genius hacking stuff and monitor Markis. The moment he leaves the city, you let me know.”

“I can do that.”

“But Tech, you have to be careful. Markis is very smart. You can’t give him any sign that you’re tracking him. You are the only person who knows where I am.”

“I got you. Trust me.”

I know Tech’s talents. I have firsthand experience of how good he is at hacking and hiding himself. But he’s never faced an opponent like my ex. Markis is always two steps ahead of everyone. It’s one of the things that made me so attracted to him in the beginning. The way he thinks and sees the world should be studied.

“Good,” I say. “Stay safe.”

“You too.” The line disconnects. I place my phone down on the sink behind me.

The night I fled from the ambush my father set up, I had only one goal. Get far enough away from Markis that he couldn’t scent me and find a place to hold up where I could keep Marley safe. That was as far as I’d got with my planning. Now that I have accomplished those two things, I need to plan my next step.

“There is only one way to keep him from finding out what you know.” The voice in my head reminds me of my one true out. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. But in order to protect the secret I have, I’d take my life.

Pushing away from the bathroom sink, I make my way into my room to get dressed for the day. I quickly pull on my long sleeve thermal, hiding the cuffs around my wrist.

As soon as I slide my feet into my sneakers, Marley’s high-pitched scream has me sprinting out of my room. I’m at the front door in seconds.

A beheaded raccoon lies on our porch. Marley turns away from the sight, tucking her face into my shoulder.

“I smelled the blood. Why would they do this?”

Because they are assholes. I think but don’t say. Just then, something across from me catches my eye. The Beta steps out on his porch, a coffee cup in his hand and a smug smile spread over his face. When he notices me watching, he winks before taking a sip of his drink.

“Go back in the house, Marley.”

She lifts her head from my shoulder, her brown eyes staring up at mine. She then turns her head and looks at the Beta.

Marley steps back but doesn’t go inside.

“Morning,” the Beta says. “I see you had your breakfast delivered this morning.”

It takes all my many years of training to keep my cool. I look down at the dead animal and then back at him.

“Funny. Too bad a defenseless animal had to die for your joke to land. But what did I expect from a pack of werewolves.”

I watch in glee as his jaw ticks.

“Never talk to me about killing defenseless beings. We could slaughter every animal in this got damn forest and lay it at your doorstep and it still wouldn’t add up to the amount of people vampires have slaughtered over the years.”

“Whoa, that’s a lot of anger,” Marley says placing a hand to her forehead.

I turn to her, giving her my attention.

“Go inside,” I demand.

No matter how much I want to go off and tell this big stupid wolf about the things his kind has done, I can’t. Not only can I not do anything to get us kicked out, I can’t risk my sister’s health. Anger is a powerful emotion. It’s hard to block. Dealing with so many angry wolves will be one of her hardest challenges.

Marley finally turns and heads back into the cabin. When I look back at the Beta, he’s still watching me.

“Look, I don’t want problems,” I say, trying to lower the tension. “I’ll stay out of your way, and you can stay out of mine.”

He shakes his head. “Until the day you leave Dark Woods land, you’ll never be out of the way, vamp.” He tosses the remainder of his coffee off the porch, turns, and then storms back into his cabin, slamming the door behind him.

“Asshole,” I murmur, even though he might still hear me.

Looking down at the dead animal, I turn my nose up. I guess I’m stuck cleaning this shit up.

“Now breathe,” I say, coaching Marley.

After the disaster of a morning, we got straight to our training. We always started training with basic fighting techniques. Despite what Marley thinks, I’m not trying to turn her into a member of the legion. She needs to have basic fighting skills if I’m not there to protect her. I will not have her as lazy and useless as other female royals.

“I’m going to push against your block. Are you ready?” I ask as I sit across from her on the blanket.

We found a secluded spot in the trees to do our training. I’d like to think it was away from prying eyes, but I’m not na?ve enough to think we aren’t being watched.

“I’m ready,” Marley says with her eyes still closed.

Using little force, I press against Marley’s mental block. I watch as her face tightens.

“Keep it steady,” I coach, while applying a little more force.

She grimaces as the little wall she built up in her head to keep me out shatters. Her shoulders drop in disappointment.

“I’m sorry, Michaela. I’m never going to get good at this.”

Placing a hand on her shoulder, I smile. “It takes time. These exercises aren’t for you to become a master at blocking, but to strengthen your own mental ability. The stronger your brain is, the better you will be at being an empath.”

She dips her chin to her chest. “Alright, one more time.”

She shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath. However, we don’t get to try again. Their scent hits me.

“Get up,” I tell my sister as I stand.

Marley gets up just as four young werewolves’ step into the clearing we were in. They look a little older than Marley. I recognize the tall one with dark shaggy hair. He was standing beside the woman Liz called Phaedra last night.

One of the other wolves’ steps forward, his lip curled up in disgust.

“Secure that block,” I say to Marley without turning to look at her.

“It’s up,” she replies.

“You’re in our spot, bloodsucker,” the young wolf snarls.

He’s lying. This spot was untouched when we got here. But I won’t argue with this kid.

“Fine,” I say, not turning away from the boys. “Marley, grab our things. We can find another spot.”

The group of boys takes a step closer. I tilt my head to the side, wondering if they will be bold enough to attack. I know Chayton made it known last night that I’m not allowed to hurt any member of his pack, but clearly, he doesn’t think I’m going to stand by and let them attack me.

“No, all of this land is our spot,” the leader of the little pack snarls.

I fight the urge to laugh in his face.

“Okay,” I say with a forced smile. “Let’s go, Marley.” I listen as my sister gathers our blanket off the ground behind me.

As soon as she’s done, I hold out my hand to allow her to walk in front of me. As she goes to take a step, one boy moves closer to her. I step in between him and her, causing him to come up short. His eyes widen in fear before he tamps it back down.

“Go, Marley,” I say, watching as she walks past the group of boys. I follow once she’s through the crowd.

“We don’t want you here, leech,” the leader of the group says through gritted teeth.

I spin on my heels to face the group. “Thank you for clarifying that for me. I didn’t quite grasp it last night when your pack voted for me not to stay or when you all placed the dead raccoon on my doorstep. But you saying it now really makes it clear.”

He looks confused at my sarcasm.

“Why don’t you leave?” the familiar one asks.

“We’re trying,” Marley replies before I can.

“We mean leave Dark Woods. Go back to the city where you belong,” the leader spits out.

Marley opens her mouth to speak, but I shake my head. There was no need to argue with them.

As we make our way back through the trees toward our borrowed cabin, I spot the Beta through the forest. His golden eyes staring back at me as if I were a complicated puzzle he’s trying to figure out. It’s clear that he’d been watching us the entire time. He saw those boys harassing us and not once stepped in to de-escalate the situation. I imagine he hoped that the confrontation led to us leaving or reacting badly and getting tossed out.

Rolling my eyes, I turn away from his golden gaze. Marley and I will finish our lessons inside.