Gabriel’s words rang true, even though I didn’t know what to do with them. Letting go sounded much easier than it really was to do. I looked over at the sketchbook, wondering how he’d held on to an anchor that had been gone from him for so long.
“I tell you all of this, Grace, not to lecture or make you feel discouraged. That is the opposite of my intention. I do believe you have the potential to become a great leader—alas, as I said earlier, that time may come sooner than you would like.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m leaving, Grace.”
Chapter Eleven
TETHER
AFTER HOLDING MY BREATH FOR A MOMENT
“Whoa. What? You can’t leave. not now.” Panic rumbled behind my voice.
Gabriel scratched at his bandage. “Sirhan’s guards found me today. They came here to deliver a message.” He massaged his bruised jaw. He must have taken quite the beating. “I have forty-eight hours to return to Sirhan or else he and the entire pack will come here to collect me.”
Only a couple of hours ago, I’d been determined to go to Sirhan myself—but the prospect of his coming to Rose Crest made my stomach clench with dread. “Sirhan would really come here?”
Gabriel nodded. His eyes held that grave look. “Believe me, that is not something you want to happen.”
“But you’re his beta. Can’t you reason with him? Ask for more time?” Two weeks ago I would have been happy to get rid of Gabriel, but at the moment he was one of the few people I had left in the world to rely on. The idea of his leaving made me want to scream at the heavens.
“Sirhan has never been quite the same since his mate, Rachel, died as a result of Caleb’s treachery. And now Sirhan is dying of old age. Can you imagine how that would be for someone who has stayed young and felt immortal for almost a thousand years? The rapid aging he has gone through in the last few months has taken a toll, not only on his body but also on his mind. He is not someone who can be reasoned with easily. He is facing death in what appears to be only a few days’ time, and that has made him a desperate man. And desperate men can be very dangerous.”
“Then you really are in danger if you go back there?”
“If I reassure Sirhan of my loyalty by returning quickly, then I should be okay. As his beta, it is my duty to be with him in these last few days. I was going to go straightaway this afternoon, but I could not leave yet, after I heard what happened to your father.”
“But you are still leaving?”
“I must go first thing in the morning. There is an additional danger to Sirhan coming here. According to pack laws that are even older than I am, the place in which the alpha dies is where we must hold the Challenging Ceremony to determine the new alpha. If Sirhan were to pass away while he was here, not only would that bring Caleb and his pack here, it would also bring other Urbat challengers from all over the world to Rose Crest. You do not want your little town to become a battleground for every werewolf seeking to overthrow me.”
No, I certainly do not.
I had so many more questions for Gabriel, but before I could ask them, we were both startled by the sound of a mournful, and terribly loud, howl that emanated from the forest behind the neighborhood.
Daniel.
“Oh no!” I shot up from my seat and accidentally knocked Gabriel’s sketchbook from the table. His hand shot out and caught it before I could react. “I heard Deputy Marsh threatening to get a wolf-hunting party together. With everything that happened today, I totally forgot. They think Pete Bradshaw was attacked by a wolf, and now that he’s dead … They even have silver bullets.”
“That is a disturbing development.” Gabriel stood up and gathered his drawing pencils and sketchbook into a knapsack.
“I need to do something.” My hand went to the moonstone in my shirt pocket.
Gabriel put his hand on my arm. “Let me go after him. I could use a good run to think some things through, and you need rest. I will find Daniel, take him somewhere safe, and stay with him through the night to make sure he is out of danger.”
He slung his knapsack over his shoulder.