chapter 10
Selene wandered through a wooded area. She was dreaming…. She knew this. But it was different than before. The soft snow blanketing the forest floor hushed the sound of her steps. She heard gurgling and realized that she was close to a river. She could almost feel the chilly mist that rose up as the water bubbled over stones rounded smooth by the passage of time and elements.
She felt as though she was looking through a dense, grey fog. Her vision cleared a little, but not much. Night blanketed the forest, almost swallowing it, but was pushed back by the brightness of a near-full moon dropping through the tree branches and casting silvery rays of light on the snowy ground.
Selene moved stealthily, silent as a shadow. She entered a small alcove where the water was still, not quite frozen. She leaned over to look and then recognized that it was not shadow that she resembled, but moonlight. She was in her wolf form, silver white.
She bent to lap from the mountain-fed waters. But something was wrong. There was some dark substance in the water as she drank. Looking down, Selene saw that her white fur was covered in something darker. As a wolf she was colorblind, and it was night, so she couldn’t see what it was. But she could smell… and she knew that she was covered in blood.
Tons of blood.
Horrific screams split the night air.
Selene shot up straight in bed, gasping for air. Frantically, she ripped the covers away and ran her hands over her body. There was no blood on her. Anywhere.
Another damn nightmare.
These were too real. As much as she tried to convince herself that it had just been a dream, Selene knew deep down that something was terribly, terribly wrong.
*****
Ellie jumped as something slapped the kitchen table, just barely missing her bowl of cereal.
“That,” Griffin pointed accusingly at the newspaper in front of her, “is why we can’t trust her.”
Alex, freshly showered from his and Ellie’s morning run, was toweling his black hair dry when he entered the kitchen and caught the offending headline.
“Oh, shit!”
Ellie picked up the paper and carefully read the entire article, while Griffin paced back and forth like a caged animal. “This doesn’t prove anything,” she insisted once she’d finished.
Griffin was incredulous. “A white wolf attacked and killed a group of campers in that motor home park at the bottom of Big Thompson canyon, and you think it doesn’t prove anything?”
“I’m with Griffin on this one, Elle,” Alex murmured, taking the seat beside her. “It’s too much to be a coincidence.”
Ellie glared at her fiancé and received an unapologetic shrug in return.
“Fine,” she said after a few moment’s contemplation.
“Fine?” Alex asked suspiciously, crossing his arms over his chest. “What does fine mean, exactly?”
Ellie fished her cell phone out of her purse. The two men watched as she searched for a number, dialed, and waited for it to connect.
“Hi! It’s Ellie,” she eventually said. “Have you seen this morning’s newspaper?” She listened for a moment as whoever was on the other end talked for a bit.
Griffin grimaced. “She’s blocking me from listening,” he muttered to Alex.
“Huh, well you’re right about that,” Ellie continued, disgusted. “I have an idea on how to handle this. Can you meet me at Hugh and Lucy’s place?” There was another brief pause. “Trust me on this, okay?… Yeah… An hour? Sounds good. See you then.”
Ellie snapped her phone shut and turned to Alex and Griffin with a self-satisfied smile. “We’ve got an hour to get ready and get over to Hugh and Lucy’s.” Then she exited the kitchen.
Griffin sighed. “You’d better go after her, Alex. The mood I’m in, I’d probably say something I’d regret. Much as I love her, my sister can drive me nuts sometimes.”
“I’ll go see what I can find out, man.” Alex gave Griffin’s shoulder a pat on his way out the door.
*****
An hour later, everyone was gathered at Lucy and Hugh’s house. “Okay, Ellie,” Hugh prompted. “You’ve got all of us here, so I think it’s time for you to explain.”
Ellie stood up and addressed her extended family. “Everyone’s seen the newspaper article?” She motioned to Ramsey who was studying the pages. He, Nate, Charlotte, and Dexter had come over from the house next door when Ellie’d called.
Several yeses were mumbled as everyone nodded.
“How many of you think that Selene is the most likely suspect?” Ellie continued.
Alex covered his laugh with a cough. His adorable fiancée never pulled her punches. It was one of the many things about her that he loved so much.
Ellie, Lucy, Adelaide, and Lila kept their hands down, but all the others raised theirs.
“Okay.” Ellie nodded again. “Would you be willing to give her the same chance that you gave Griffin and me?”
“You mean the night of the first wolf attack?” Dexter asked.
When they’d first met, the Jenners and Pierces hadn’t known that Ellie was anything more than a normal human until the night a small band of Vyusher wolves had tried to attack their house and Ellie had intervened, saving their lives. That was the night they’d discovered the truth… Ellie and Griffin were Svatura, like them.
Ellie studied each face in the room, and everyone appeared willing to hear her out. Except Griffin, of course. No real surprise there.
Hugh stepped forward. “If even a fraction of what Lucy tells me about that young woman is true, it’s worth giving her a shot.”
“We’ll do better than give her a hearing,” Ellie said, smiling.
“What are you up to?” Alex asked.
“I say we use the same strategy that allowed me to show all of you the Svatura history.”
Everyone was silent for a second, and then Griffin rose to his feet. “Ellie, we don’t know all her powers. What if she manipulates this?”
Ellie gave her brother a sad look. “You really need to learn to trust people, Griffin, or you will end up leading a very lonely life.” She let out a disappointed sigh and continued. “I know all her skills, because she’s already let me touch her. None of the powers she possesses would allow her to manipulate this situation, even in the future. And especially not against the collection of powers we have in this room. She won’t be able to get past a combination of Lila’s ability to see the truth or sense emotions, Lucy’s ability to see her intent, my ability to control her powers when I’m touching her, Griffin’s ability to read minds, or Adelaide’s ability to see relationships. Between all of us, there’s no way for her to deceive us in any way. And if we’re all touching, I can show you rather than just tell you, which clearly isn’t working.”
“But she can block our powers,” Griffin murmured.
“How do you know?” Dexter asked.
Griffin threw him a cautious glance. Dexter was a quiet force to be reckoned with—the epitome of the strong, silent type, with a stocky build and serious, dark eyes. “Because she blocks my mind reading,” Griffin answered.
“She won’t block any of our powers,” Ellie added quickly.
It was Ellie’s turn to come under Dexter’s scrutinizing gaze. “Same question to you then, Ellie.”
“Because she’s agreed to that. And she’ll be here in a few minutes to put herself through the hell of reliving her life, just so that we can all trust her.”