“But you fought him?” I shook my head. “I thought you didn’t fight, no matter the cause.”
“Let’s just say someone inspired me. Showed me it was possible to fight for what’s important without losing yourself. You’re a very brave girl.” He patted his arm through its sling. “Not sure I’ll be doing anything like that again soon, though.”
I tried to smile at him, but I think it came across as a grimace.
Talbot cleared his throat. “Jude’s here.”
He pointed to the alcove where Caleb had been lurking the first time we’d been brought to this room. I blinked, and my eyes focused on Jude, who sat in a high-backed chair, staring at his empty hands.
“He says he wants to come home,” Gabriel said.
“Really?” Finally? A pressure I’d felt in my heart for the last ten months suddenly eased. “Jude, I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”
Jude shook his head and looked up at me. I was surprised at how blank his face appeared—even more stoic and stonelike than I’d ever seen him look before. His eyes weren’t rimmed with concern like those of everyone else who stared at me in this room. No, Jude’s eyes seemed completely empty.
Suddenly, the memory of Jude’s helping Caleb escape flashed in my mind. Then the sight of his falling to his knees in front of the angry wolf pack, begging to come home. Was that really what he wanted, or was it the only way he could think to get out of the situation alive?
That heavy pressure settled back in my chest. My brother sat here right in front of me—but it was like he wasn’t my brother at all.
But at least he’s coming home, I told myself. He’d been lost, but now he was found. And we’d figure out how to help him, whether he knew he wanted help or not.
“As for Daniel,” Gabriel said, grabbing my attention again, “he’s …” Gabriel indicated the large white wolf.
I stared into the beast’s eyes. Yes, those were Daniel’s eyes. The wolf started to rock back and forth, yipping and whining, growing more and more agitated. I didn’t sense any malice in him like any other newly turned werewolf, but he was definitely troubled. I petted his back, trying to calm him.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “How long has it been? How long was I out?”
“A long time.”
I glanced back at the teens at the foot of the bed. They’d shifted to their knees, their heads still bowed in what seemed like reverence.
“I don’t get it. Are these the wolves … the boys … who bowed to Daniel and then turned on Caleb? Why would they do that? I thought they wanted to kill me.”
“Daniel is their alpha now,” Gabriel said. “Although their devotion to him is greater than I’ve usually seen. It must be his true alpha nature. He saved you by exerting his dominance over them—choosing to embrace his true alpha essence—and, in turn, became their new leader.”
But why were they all changed back to human form, and not Daniel?
“I don’t get it,” I said, growing as frantic as the white wolf. “Why hasn’t he changed back? Why hasn’t Daniel changed back into a human?”
The white wolf yelped and shook his large head. I wrapped my arms around his neck. My blood had matted in his white fur. I leaned my head against his chest. I could hear only one heart beating—not two, like when he’d been a werewolf before. Did his true alpha–ness do something to him?
“What the hell is going on?” I asked Daniel.
“I think …,” said Gabriel. “I think he’s stuck.”
“No,” I said, clinging to the white wolf’s neck. “No, that can’t be.”
The wolf arched his head back and let out the most mournful howl I’d ever heard. It sounded almost like a scream.
Acknowledgments
So many people deserve my immense gratitude for helping make this book a reality—and for keeping me from losing it during the process: You, my awesome readers, because without your enthusiasm this book wouldn’t have had a chance to exist. Thank you for all the love.