“I hope not,” Marie moaned. “I do not think I am strong enough to fight her, and you have already been injured tonight.”
“We just have to make it home,” Claire said encouragingly. “We can pack some stuff and go straight to the airport, just leave and never come back. Let Beatrice deal with Zahlia.” Not that she will, but it’s not my problem anymore. Claire forced herself not to think about the fact that leaving Hanover Falls meant leaving Matthew and Emily, too.
The expression on her mother’s face made her look like an old woman. “Claire, we cannot. It is our responsibility to help the pack. As soon as we make it home, I need to contact the others. Once we can arrange a gathering, then the pack can determine Zahlia’s punishment. We must also deal with Matthew. He knows. And unless we can be sure that he will keep our secret … well. It must be taken care of one way or another before we could go. If he tells his father, then there will be no place where you and I could be safe.”
“What do you mean, ‘taken care of ?’” Claire choked.
The thin slash of her mother’s lips were all the answer Claire needed.
“You—you’re talking about killing him?!” she gasped.
Her mother shrugged uncertainly. “Perhaps. But only as a last resort, only to protect our pack. It is permitted in our laws—and also in the laws of man. There may be one other way. In our traditions, there is something called a gardien, a secret-keeper.”
“Yeah, I know about that, Zahlia told me.” Claire flinched when she said Zahlia’s name.
Her mother’s lips thinned in disapproval. She sighed. “It is my hope that he will become one. The humans throughout our history who have known our identities without revealing them are offered the protection of our pack in exchange for their silence. You would be asking Matthew to carry a heavy burden, Claire.” Her mother’s eyes burned with fever and her gaze made Claire catch her breath. “It may be a very difficult choice for him to make. But it is the only way. I am sorry, chérie. Now. I suggest we go, before he makes a choice without even knowing that he has. Every moment we delay only increases the chance that he has already told his father what he has seen.”
Claire knelt in the soft carpet of pine needles, her lungs burning with a scream she could not voice, while her mother stood and limped deeper into the forest.
In spite of the ache in her belly, Claire hurried after her mother. The deeper they went into the woods, the jumpier Claire got. Every twig that snapped in the distance, every rustle of a bird’s feathers made her start, sure it was Zahlia. It took them longer to get home than Claire had thought it would. By the time they crept into the yard, Claire was shaking with the thought of what she had to tell Matthew.
She hurried ahead and peered in the window. One light burned in the kitchen, but there was no sign of Lisbeth. Claire got her mother into the house and they both crept upstairs. A note pinned to her door caught Claire’s eye.
Claire-bear,
Sorry I wasn’t here when you got home. Some last-minute plans came up, and I decided to jump on it. Hope that’s okay! I’ll be home around one—call my cell if you need anything. Hope you had fun!
—L
She’ll be back by one? Crap.
It was already eleven. If she didn’t leave soon, Lisbeth would be home before Claire could get back.
Claire got her mother into bed and then sprinted back to her room, ripping the note off the door as she went. She got cleaned up as fast as she could with her sore ribs. The shampoo she scrubbed through her hair burned when it ran into the wound on her ear. On the edge of the sink, her phone flashed at her—Emily had called four times. Claire reached out with a soapy hand and turned it off. She’d deal with Emily later. Tomorrow. Sometime soon. Man, I am a really sucky friend.
Claire snaked her arm back into the shower and scrubbed at the dirt under her ragged nails. When she was clean enough that she didn’t look terrifying, Claire slipped into her mother’s room.
The silk comforter was pulled up to her mom’s chin—her frail body barely made a lump under the covers.
“Mom?”
“Yes, Claire?” Her mother struggled to keep her eyes open.
“Do you want anything? I have to go—to talk to … well. You know.”
“Thank you, but I will be fine. Please tell Lisbeth, er …” her mother hesitated.
“I’ll leave her a note saying that you flew home because you got sick. That’s true enough. She’ll probably come up here bugging you to drink some sort of miracle tea or soup or something, though.”
“That will be fine. I know how to handle Lisbeth.” A trace of humor tinged her mother’s voice.
Claire grinned. “I’m sure you do.”
“Be careful out there. And Claire?”
Claire cocked her head.
“Thank you. For everything. Not many creatures, human or wolf, would have done what you did tonight.”