“Who are you?” I asked her, unwilling to let my guard down even for a moment. I’d never encountered magic like hers before. And if I could sense her power, I had no doubt she could sense mine.

  “My name is Rina. You must be Ash. The vessel.”

  “A vessel for what?”

  “Inside you is great magic. Silas told me what happened. That you want to return it to the Archer coven.”

  “You’re not one of them,” I said.

  “I’m a hex,” she said, “But no, I’m not one of them.”

  “What coven are you from?”

  She lifted her chin, her eyes suggesting a pride—and power—over the words as she spoke them, “I am my own coven.”

  I glanced at the others. They didn’t look nearly as nervous as I felt. Probably because they couldn’t feel her energy like I could.

  “And you,” she said, nodding at me, “you are your own coven too.”

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “Ash,” Isaac hissed. “Don’t be rude to the creepy lady.”

  Rina smiled. “I’m here to help if you want it.”

  I glanced between her and Silas. “How do you know each other?”

  “Rina found me in the woods a few weeks ago,” Silas said. “She sensed my magic. And she offered to help teach me how to use it.”

  “She’s the one who taught you the dampening spell,” I realized.

  He nodded. “She can show you how to do the spell—for returning the magic.”

  “Why?” I asked her. “I don’t mean to be rude, but why help us? Everyone else we’ve asked told us no.”

  “Yes, you’re used to that, aren’t you?” She looked around at the others gathered by the fire. Then back at me. “Being told no. I can see it on your sleeves, you know.”

  “See what?”

  “Your hearts.”

  “I’m sorry, huh?” Isaac shook his head.

  Rina stepped over to him and took a seat on the log beside his. “When I was born, there were only lupin in this valley,” she said quietly. “Decades later, hexerei settled. One at a time. We weren’t so big on covens then. It’s a long story, our history. Boring, too, if you ask me.” She waved a hand and then continued with her story. “Over the years, I’ve seen many covens come and go. And still, the lupin have remained. Sometimes united. Sometimes broken. But never so beaten as these last twenty years.”

  “You know about the curse,” Kai said.

  She nodded. “I know a great many things.”

  “Are you clairvoyant then?” Idrissa asked.

  “It doesn’t take clairvoyance,” she said dismissively. “Not if you pay attention. Magic’s only an extension of our own senses, you know. Just like your wolf is an extension of yourselves.”

  “My mother said the same thing.”

  Rina nodded. “Claudia was a bright student.”

  “You know her?” I asked.

  “Hell, I taught her.”

  “I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “You said you aren’t with the coven.”

  “I’m not, though I spent some time with them. Hexerei as a whole are much more welcoming than Cohen’s coven has taught you about us. Once upon a time, we all helped each other. Didn’t matter what coven or which family or whose side you were on. Hell, we were all just on the side of the earth itself. Now, it’s different.”

  “Now they use guns,” Presley said. “To try to own the earth.”

  “And yet, you plan to return their magic,” she said. “Knowing he’ll use it to harm your people.”

  “I plan to return it because it’s the right thing for me,” I said. “I’m not a god. I can’t decide who’s worthy and who isn’t. Besides, I made a vow. And I don’t want to be someone who breaks my word.”

  “Very noble of you, taking the hex vow.”

  “I haven’t taken any vow,” I said. “I’m just speaking from my heart.”

  “Wait, what vow?” Isaac asked.

  “The hexes hold the possession of magic as a privilege and a responsibility,” she explained. “Harm none lest you are harmed first.” She cocked her head at me from across the fire. “Integrity never stopped a bullet, little one.”

  “We have a plan for that,” Idrissa said.

  “Yes, I’ll bet you do,” Rina told her, eyes sparkling. “How many other packs are coming to your aid? Black Moon? Silver Lake?”

  “None,” Kai told her.

  “They’ve forsaken you?”

  “We didn’t ask them,” he said.

  She scoffed. “You think you can do it alone?”

  “We won’t endanger more innocent lives,” he said.

  “This is our fight,” I said. “And we’re brand new alphas. Those packs don’t know us. Don’t trust us. This is our chance to show the world who we are. Until we do that, we can’t ask for help.”

  “Lone Wolves to the end, am I right?” Isaac snorted.

  She patted Isaac’s knee. “That, my dear little lone wolves, is precisely why you deserve help in the first place.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  As dawn approached, the others texted to say they’d finished their preparations and gone on to the meeting point. All that was left was the magic. And Rina’s crash course had proven more helpful than I could have imagined. Over and over again, I practiced reciting the words I’d need later. The magic responded easily now. For the first time since that necklace had shattered, I felt capable of using magic rather than it using me.

  “Well, I guess it’s time,” I said.

  “You’re ready,” she said firmly.

  “I hope so.”

  “Leading with your heart in the face of fear,” Rina whispered to me. “That is the mark of a true leader.”

  “Thank you for helping me,” I told her. “I owe you.”

  “Maybe I’ll come and collect that someday.” Her eyes sparked with the possibility.

  “You’re welcome anytime,” I told her.

  She hugged me, and we both looked up as Silas joined us. He’d stayed close through our sessions without saying a word up until now.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  We headed for the trail.

  Rina remained behind.

  “You’re not coming?” I asked.

  “I’ve done my part,” she said. “Now you’ll do yours.”

  Rina’s confidence was a good sign, I told myself. But then her easy expression faltered as she looked at Silas.

  “You’re not done wrestling with yourself, I see.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  It was a terrible lie.

  “A man can be many things at the same time,” she said.

  Silas didn’t answer.

  “We should go,” I said quietly, noting the sun already climbing.

  Silas didn’t move.

  “Will I see you again?” he asked her.

  “You don’t need to borrow the Sight to know the answer to that,” she scoffed.

  He looked down at the fire, stirring the embers until all that was left was a thin curl of smoke and gray ash coating the ground.

  I watched as Rina turned and walked off into the trees.

  “Come on,” I said when she was gone. “The others will be waiting.”

  We walked in silence for a long time. I wondered what Silas was thinking. Where Rina would go now. What kind of secrets she and Silas had shared. And why he’d stopped sharing them with us. But I knew the answers already. I knew because I’d once been just as lonely and alone as he felt now. Even with my dad, I’d never felt like I belonged. This wasn’t about rejection from the pack. Whatever Silas was wrestling with, it wasn’t something we could fix for him. This, he had to fix on his own.

  “Thank you,” I said as we walked.

  “For what?”

  “For Rina.”

  “She taught you what you needed to know?” he asked.

  I nodded. “She taught me enough. Sounds like she’ll teach you too if you want.”

  He didn’t answer right away.

  Finally, he said, “We’ll see how it goes today.”

  “You should think about doing that integration ceremony,” I said. “The one my—our—mother walked me through.” He frowned, but I went on. “You have to make peace with both halves or you’ll have peace with neither.”

  “Is that right?” he asked.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “I suspect you’re going to do that no matter what I say.”

  “Why did you give Idrissa such a hard time for taking a job you didn’t want? Being beta, I mean.”

  He looked down at the ground. “It’s not about the job.”

  “Then what is it about?”

  “Look, I just wanted to belong somewhere. Before you got here, I fooled myself into thinking I belonged here. But after you came… Idrissa sees through my bullshit and doesn’t take it personally. That’s why I give her a hard time.”

  “Makes sense. Idrissa’s tough enough to handle it. But if that’s the case, why were you such a dick to me?”

  He gave me a crooked smile. “You’re tough too.”

  “Bullshit.” I laughed. “You just liked torturing me. Admit it.”

  “Hey, Ashes.”

  I stopped and looked back at where Silas was studying me. “Yeah?”

  “Look, I know what we’re about to do—it’s crazy. Everything’s a fucking mess. Has been for a while.”

  “Is this talk supposed to make me feel better?” I asked.

  “Just fucking listen, okay? When you came to town, it scared me. Because of my own secret. I know that’s not what it should have been about, but there it is. Even so, you’ve always been decent, and you’ve always put the pack first. And I haven’t been, well, I haven’t made it any easier on you. But I don’t want you to think… My wolf picked you. When you were fighting for alpha. Remember?”

  “I remember,” I said softly.

  “Good, because I don’t want you to ever forget it. My wolf picked you then. And it’ll pick you today. It’ll always pick you, Ashes. No matter what. I’ve got your back.”

  I eyed him. “Is this a brother-sister pep talk?”

  “It’s a ‘fuck Cohen’ talk.”

  “Got it.”

  He opened his mouth then closed it again. Finally, he shook his head. “Let’s just get this done.”

  He scowled and pushed past me.

  I fell into step beside him.

  After a moment, I looked up at him. Our eyes met. His scowl lessened.

  It was the closest to warm fuzzies Silas Hale would ever get.

  And it meant a lot.

  At the boundary line, we met with the others. The security teams had been spread thin to help guard or block every other entry point Cohen might use. Here, though, it was mostly just pack members. No trained security. Just the wolves hungry enough to end this that they were willing to risk their lives for us.

  Tiffany. Cade. Tori. Luke. Oscar. Cherise had come too, and I gave Oscar’s cheek a quick peck as I passed, listening to him insist that she stay clear of the line of danger.

  The rest of the security we’d assigned to the area were busy taking up their positions out of sight. Corbin, Idrissa and Adan coordinated it all like they’d been doing it forever. My heart filled with pride, watching them take charge and arrange the pack into orderly units.

  I made a mental note to provide more training to anyone who wanted it when this was all over. Even without Cohen to threaten us, we needed to always be ready to defend ourselves against anything like this ever happening again. And our pack needed a purpose. Every single one of us needed to feel fulfilled here if this was ever going to last.

  My wolf agreed, echoing her own ideas inside my mind.

  She wanted the respect of any pack who came sniffing around us. And she wanted Cohen’s head on a platter. This time, when the emotions came over me, the magic didn’t take me over. Instead, it merely flexed its supernatural muscles and then fell silent again.

  “Hey.” Kai caught up to us, shirtless and with a layer of dried mud smeared across his chest. “How’d it go?”

  “Good,” I said. “What happened to you?”

  “Presley happened.”

  I decided not to ask what that meant.

  “Did you learn what you need?” he asked.

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  “Where’s Rina?” He glanced from me to Silas.

  “She’s done her part,” Silas said, and Kai nodded.

  “Thanks, man. Bringing her in on this—I owe you.”

  “Nah,” Silas told him. “You don’t owe me anything, Stone.”

  “What about the teams?” I asked. “Is everything ready?”

  “Just about,” Kai said. “We did some recon earlier with drones, and everything looks good. Cohen’s people are all accounted for.”

  “And Kel?”

  “We weren’t able to make contact.”

  I sighed. “Hopefully, she sees it coming.”

  “Have you made the call yet?” Silas asked.

  “We were waiting on you two,” Kai said.

  “Give me ten minutes, and then do it,” I said.

  “You got it.” Kai nodded at Silas. “Want to take a walk?”

  “Sure.”

  When they were gone, I exhaled and went to work setting up the circle the way Rina had instructed. Tori had brought the supplies I’d asked for—moonstone, tiger’s eye, mugwort from Cherise. When I’d finished, I stood back, surveying my work—and praying it would be enough.

  Across the space, I caught Presley watching me. He made his way over, and I noticed his leather jacket strangely missing from his otherwise signature ensemble: black pants cuffed at the bottom, black tee with sleeves just the right length to show off his biceps, hair slicked back in a movie star ’do, piercing eyes that could stab right through a girl. Or guy.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You were doing that thing.”

  “What thing?”

  “The thing that happens right before you cause an unnatural disaster. Shaking and shit.”

  “I’m fine,” I assured him.

  He hesitated, and I rolled my eyes. “Now what?”

  “Do you feel anything different about me?”

  I cocked my head, studying him. Nothing physical had changed that I could see. Leaning in, I sniffed, and my nose filled with a scent that was both Presley and something more. Actually, someone more. The awareness slammed into me, leaving me to wonder how I’d missed it the moment he’d walked over.

  My jaw dropped. “You smell like—”

  “Ssh.” He grabbed my arm, driving me backward away from the others. “Not yet. I just… Is it okay? With Kai? With you?”

  “Okay?” I repeated blankly. “Pres, it’s fucking awesome. I’m so happy for you guys.”

  “It’s not weird?”

  My brow lifted. “Weird because you’ve been pretending otherwise for so long or weird because you’re both my friends?”

  “Yes?”

  “No.” I smiled. “It’s weird because you tried to kill me once, though.”

  He groaned. “For the last time, I did not try to kill you.”

  “I mean, you tried a little bit,” I said.

  “I did not— Silas, come here.”

  Silas turned toward us and immediately looked like he regretted walking this way.

  “Silas, tell her,” Presley said. “We did not try to kill Ash.”

  “Which time?” Silas asked, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Presley’s face.

  “Bro, you are killing me,” Presley groaned.

  “You’re the one who asked,” Silas said with a shrug.

  I did my best to hide my smile, but Presley looked completely undone, and I had to admit, I enjoyed ruffling him. Seeing this uncertain, off-balance version was a far cry from the smug, egotistical asshole I’d met when I’d first arrived.

  “Listen, if your mate is okay with your violent past,” I began.

  Silas’ eyes widened. “Mate?” He looked at Presley, startled. “Who…?” He sniffed, and his eyes widened. “Oh shit. Well.” His expression smoothed out again, skipping right over surprise and going straight to acceptance. “Makes sense.”

  “Makes… Get the hell out of here,” Presley muttered.

  “What?” Silas demanded. “I’m happy for you.”

  “You don’t sound happy.”

  “This is just how I sound.”

  “Guys,” I said, barely holding back the laughter I was currently trying to choke back down. “We need to focus.”

  “Right.” Silas looked at Presley accusingly. “I was.”

  Presley glared at him. “Just keep your mouth shut.”

  Silas didn’t even look offended. “Consider it shut, my guy. Now let’s get back to what we’re actually here for so I can go the hell home.”

  He walked off before Presley could fire back with anything else. In his wake, Presley turned to me.

  “He’s grumpier than usual,” he said.

  I didn’t answer.

  Silas was about to aid one half of his heritage in defeating the other half. And so was I. We were both more than grumpy.

  When I was done, Kai and I made our way to the front, and the others from the pack parted to let us pass. A hand caught mine, and I turned to see a familiar woman staring back at me.

  “Rhonda.” I looked around. “What are you doing here?”

  “Idrissa didn’t tell you? I joined one of the security teams. I couldn’t just sit around anymore.”

  “Callie’s not here, is she?”

  “She’s at home. Thank you for sending Rosie back over.”

  I nodded. “I wanted her to feel safe.”

  “Thank you,” she said, eyes misting. “For everything you’re doing for us. I feel it. The difference in our wolves. We all do.” She looked around, and the people closest to her nodded their agreement. Most of them were Hawley.

  My chest filled with hope. We’d come a long way since they’d ridden into town to size me up.

  “That’s all I’ve wanted,” I told her.

  “We’re here for you,” she said. “Whatever you need from us.”

  “Thank you.” I squeezed her hand and then turned back to Kai.

  “Make the call,” I said. “Tell him there’s been an incident at the far end of the boundary. Request a dozen men be sent there.”