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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

ZURI

My gaze darted between Stone’s eyes and the wound healing quickly. Wh-what was happening? Why … why were my eyes glowing inside of his pupils? They were … white. Why were they white?!

“What’s going on?” I whispered, hands shaking and mouth dry. “Why are my eyes?—”

“Calm down,” Stone said, his wound closing completely.

I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times, scrambling to my feet and slowly backing away from him. My heart raced, and I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms, hoping that it’d go away.

Stone pushed himself to his feet, gaze on me. “Zuri, you’re okay.”

Though my packmates whispered to each other, their voices rushing through my head loudly. There were so many voices that I couldn’t even decipher any of them, except Stone’s—which soothed me, only to an extent.

When Sina and Maxine finally returned with a doctor—who didn’t need to help Stone, but all his other warriors instead—Sina walked over to me, brow furrowed.

She lifted my chin with her fingers. “Let me see.”

“No,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes closed.

“Please.”

After a deep breath, I finally lifted my gaze to meet hers. She squinted for a moment, as if she hadn’t expected them to be so bright, then smiled softly. Maxine bounced over to us and gazed over her shoulder at me.

“Is she a Paragon?” Maxine whispered.

“A Paragon?” I repeated. “Wh-what’s that?”

While I had heard of many species that resided in Durnbone, I had never heard of a Paragon. Granted, my old pack didn’t have many books in our pack library, so I couldn’t have known about them if there were many.

“I’m a Paragon,” Sina said, pursing her lips. “I … don’t tell many people this, but I have powers almost as strong as a god. Though my species is a dying one right now. If there are more of us, we need to know.”

“Have you … noticed any powers? Any strengths?” Maxine asked.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Visions maybe?” Sina said.

“No.”

“I thought that you saw the Moon Goddess,” James—who I had almost killed—called.

I glanced over at him and gnawed on my inner cheek, spotting Stone helping his warriors to the medical center with Sina’s mates and Maxine’s mate. Sina gently tilted my chin back toward her.

“Is that true?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“What kind of visions are they?”

I shrugged. “I see her and talk to her. Mostly through dreams.”

“Daydreams?” she said, brow arched.

“Sometimes. Is that bad?”

After Sina released my chin, she frowned and looked at Maxine. “No, it’s not bad. But I’ve never spoken to the Moon Goddess before, and I have visions. I can connect with other Paragons, too, though I can’t seem to form a connection with you.”

“Does that mean I’m not one?”

“I’m here! I’m here!” Olenna shouted from the edge of the woods. She leaned over her knees, breathing heavily, and waved with one arm. “Sorry I’m late to the party. But it seems like you took care of business all by yourselves.”

“The fuck would you even contribute to a war, Olenna?” Carve growled.

She narrowed her glare at him and scowled. “I’m not here for you, so fuck off.” Just as he was about to respond, Olenna slammed her open palm into his face and shoved him back with it. “Get lost, piece of shit.”

When he finally grumbled and stormed off, Olenna turned back to us and widened her eyes when her gaze landed on me. “Holy … moly, what is going on with you? Why do your eyes look like that?”

“We don’t know,” Maxine said.

Sina sucked in her inner cheek. “I would just keep an eye on it. Seems like it’s fading.”

“Keep an eye on it?!” I exclaimed. “How am I supposed to do that if I can’t even see it?”

Maxine snickered. “Good point.”

Sina smiled and leaned her forearm on Maxine’s shoulder. “I’m sure it will be easy for Stone to keep track for you. He’s obsessed with you.”

“Mesmerized,” Olenna hummed, her gaze flickering over to Carve for a moment.

A burst of butterflies fluttered in my belly from the way they exchanged a quick glance.

“ You can be mesmerized too,” Maxine said to Olenna. “If you ever let Carve?—”

Olenna pointed a finger at Maxine. “Hey. You finish that sentence, and I will personally cut off your mate’s horn tonight in his sleep. And I know how much incubi use their horns to get off. Don’t test me, Maxi.”

Maxine giggled and bit back a smirk, as Stone returned.

“So, Stone,” Sina said, glancing over my shoulder, “make sure you record when this happens with her eyes. What she’s doing. The emotions flowing through her. Times of day. That sorta thing.”

“Thank you for your input, but I can take care of my mate myself.”

“Just looking out for her.” Sina smiled. “She’s one of us now.”

“One of us?” I asked, wondering what she meant.

A Paragon? No. A wolf? I had always been one of those.

“One of the girls.” She grinned.

Warmth exploded through my chest, and I bit back a giant grin that desperately wanted to cross my face. I had never ever had a group of friends, never mind a group of close girlfriends. I didn’t want to scare them away already.

“We really have to come up with a name for us,” Maxine said. “Now that there’s four.”

“Durnbone Deadly Quartet,” Olenna offered.

“That sounds like an old-timey band,” Carve said. “You’re shit at picking names, Olenna.”

Through gritted teeth, Olenna pushed out a breath, then marched right over to Carve. She pinched Carve’s ear between her two nails and dragged him deep into the forest. Their argument drifted to us until their voices became more distant.

“Well, guess that’s our cue to go,” Maxine said, looping an arm around Sina’s elbow.

Maxine pulled Sina back to their guys, and they waved over at Stone before disappearing through the forest too. Once we were completely alone, I finally slumped my shoulders forward and rested my head on the center of Stone’s chest.

“You don’t think anything bad is going to happen to me, do you?” I whispered.

“No.”

“My eyes usually turn gold during a shift,” I explained, like he hadn’t seen them many times over. Still, I couldn’t make sense of this at all. “They’ve never turned white before tonight. I don’t know?—”

“Nothing is going to happen.” He gently took my face in his hands and swiped his thumb across my bottom lip until I parted them. Then, he slipped it into my mouth. “Besides, my little mate , I think it’s sexy.”

“Sexy?” I stared up at him, bewildered. “You’re not worried?”

“No, but you should be worried.”

“W-why?”

“Because if you don’t make it home by the time I catch you, then I’m going to fuck you where I find you, mate .” A low growl escaped his throat as his nails lengthened into claws. “So, you’d better start running.”