Not at all eager to revisit the past, Riley hesitated. But these people had been good to her, she reminded herself. They’d been patient when she refused to speak of it all these months. Most importantly to her, they were good to Savannah and Dexter. She could share the truth with them. It would also be a lot easier to talk about while Greta, Zac, and the little ones weren’t in the room. Greta would make snide comments, and the story would only upset the younger pack members.
“I got along fine with most of the kids in the flock, but my closest friends were Lucy and Wade.” Riley licked her lips. “Sadly, Wade was one of those people destined to go through life being emotionally bruised over and over. He was extremely sensitive, so he felt things deeply, too deeply. He was also thin-skinned and highly introverted, which made him socially anxious. To add to that, he was the most submissive raven in the flock—he was particularly submissive for a male. All that made him the butt of a lot of jokes. Growing up, I spent a great deal of my time defending him from others, mostly his cousin, Alec.”
“There was a boy like that in my old pack,” said Taryn. “The other wolves made his life hell.”
“Most of the kids in the flock did the same to Wade,” said Riley. “He didn’t get tougher as he got older. He became more and more withdrawn until he eventually stopped talking to me or Lucy. He stayed in his cabin most of the time, playing video games. We suspected he was depressed and told his mom about it, but she shrugged it off.
“One night I was at a house party. It was Alec’s twenty-first birthday and pretty much everyone in our age-group was there—no parents, no Betas, no Alphas, no enforcers; just a bunch of kids celebrating that they could legally drink. I was supposed to meet Lucy there, but I couldn’t find her inside. The music was loud, so I went into the kitchen to call her cell phone. I hadn’t even dialed her number when I heard it.”
“Heard what?” asked Jaime.
“Bang.” Riley swallowed hard. “I’m not entirely sure where Wade got the gun, but he shot and killed every kid there. It all happened so fast. I should have shifted and flown off, but I heard one of them shout Wade’s name and I thought that meant he’d turned up at the party—that made me freeze, wondering what the fuck I could do to help. I didn’t think for a single second that he was the one holding the gun. Not until he came into the kitchen. His eyes . . . they were dead. No rage, no thirst for violence. I swear, it chilled my blood.”
Riley paused in surprise as Tao’s hand squeezed hers. “I tried to talk Wade into putting the gun down, I asked him not to shoot. He frowned at me as if I was stupid, said he’d never hurt me, and then he just walked out the back door. People came to help, but by then he’d shifted and flown off into the mountains.”
“Did they track him?” asked Trick, leaning forward.
“The Beta, Hugh, found his dead body a couple of days later,” said Riley. “It looked like he’d died from dehydration, according to Hugh. He could have survived if he’d stayed in his avian form, but I think he wanted to die.”
Makenna wrapped her arms around herself. “God, that’s horrible.”
“There’s more,” Tao sensed. “I can understand you leaving the territory while the memories are too fresh, Riley, but not why you’d stay away for four years. There has to be more.”
She rubbed at her nape. “A lot of people were grieving. They’d lost sons and daughters. And as much as they were glad that I was okay . . .”
“They resented you for it,” Makenna finished.
Riley lifted one shoulder, asking, “Who could blame them? Of course they’d be wishing their own child survived. I could understand that. But Wade’s mother, Shirley . . . well, she didn’t want to face what her son had done. And you know what? I can understand that too. But she went too far—she accused me of putting him up to it. She said I must have taken advantage of his depressed state and made him act against his nature.”
Jaime gasped. “That’s crazy.”
“She made it sound very believable. I mean, I was the only survivor. Why shoot the others and not me? She implied I could have taken Wade there, watched while he did it, and then helped him get away. Some of the grievers were angry enough to want to believe that so they could have a living, flesh-and-blood person to rail at. Ravens are extremely protective of their young—it’s in their bones. Those deaths rocked everyone, made the parents feel like they’d failed their children. They wanted a whipping boy, someone they could project all that guilt onto.
“I was worried it would come to a point where someone finally did choose to believe it, so I left before things were said that couldn’t be unsaid.” And because she’d needed the time and space to deal with her own grief. “I’d always wanted to do a little traveling anyway. Most avian shifters do.”
Dominic tilted his head, asking, “Why didn’t you go back?” It was odd seeing him without his usual impish grin.
“Every time I thought about it, it just didn’t feel right,” said Riley.
“Of course it didn’t feel right,” said Taryn. “A shifter’s territory is their safe place. That event tainted it for you. And you no doubt felt betrayed by the very people who should always support you. I wouldn’t be in any rush to return either.” She blew out a breath. “You’re truly ready to go back, even if it’s just for the weekend?”
Riley nodded. “It’s time.”
After a moment of silence, Taryn asked, “When do you need to leave?”
“Friday.”
Makenna winced. “Can’t you leave on Saturday instead?”
Riley frowned at Makenna’s worried look. “Why?”
“Taking a trip on Fridays leads to misfortune,” Makenna said sagely.
Ryan closed his eyes, sighing. Makenna was incredibly superstitious and saw signs everywhere. Ryan, however, was a very practical person who believed superstitions were completely illogical.
“Sorry,” said Riley, stifling a smile, “the party’s Friday.”
“I’ll text Shaya and ask if there’s any chance you can borrow Nick’s friend’s private jet,” Taryn said, referring to the Mercury Pack Alphas. The packs were very close, especially since Roni had originally been a Mercury wolf, and so they shared Roni and Marcus. “We’ve done it a few times,” Taryn added. “Where in Arizona does the flock live?”
“Sedona, Arizona.”
Trey rubbed at his jaw. “The question is . . . who do you take with you to Sedona?”
Riley frowned. “I don’t need anybody to come along.”
“None of us go anywhere alone, Riley,” said Trey. “You know that.”
“I was invited,” announced Tao. “Lucy asked me to come.”
“Ah, well, then it makes sense for you to go,” Taryn said to him.
Shaking her head, Riley insisted, “I really don’t need protection.”
“Like Trey said, we don’t go anywhere alone,” said Dante. “The ravens aren’t going to like having a strange wolf on their territory. Tao’s a Head Enforcer—that’s a position people take note of, and it would make anyone very reluctant to fuck with him.”
“What about Kye?” asked Riley. “Tao’s his bodyguard.”