Silas looked thoughtful, which, in itself, was a bit strange.

  I laid a hand on Kai’s arm. “We need to get moving,” I said. “Everyone will be waiting.”

  I didn’t move, instead, waiting for Kai. Finally, he sighed, his body relaxing into my touch. “Yeah. Okay.”

  “What do you want us to tell the ones we brought back?” Presley asked.

  “Brought back?” I frowned. “I thought you said they were angry?”

  “Some were,” he said. “Most wanted to see for themselves, though. We have a caravan of about twenty cars and bikes with more on the way.”

  I stared at him, a little shocked. I knew they’d gone to announce us as alphas, but I never actually expected anyone to drive all the way here to see it.

  “You’re the youngest alphas in a century,” Presley explained with a shrug. If anyone was impressed by it, it wasn’t him. “They want to get a look at you.”

  “To size us up,” Kai said in a hard voice.

  Tension rolled off him.

  “Everyone’s gathering behind the Throttle,” Idrissa said for us. “Have them park in the lot.”

  She shot Oscar a look, and he nodded. “I’ll leave the gate open until they decide whether they’re staying or going.”

  “Got it.” Presley turned and jogged out.

  Idrissa turned to Kai and pulled him into a conversation about security patrols during the meeting. Oscar drifted away to speak to Mick, the other motorcycle tech from the Throttle and a former council member. The only council member who’d ever actually been on my side.

  Only Silas remained, his eyes glued to mine for so long that it stirred my nerves.

  “What?” I demanded, the buzzing underneath my skin starting to wear my patience thin.

  “Nothing,” he said finally and then turned and led the way outside.

  By the time we reached the Throttle’s back lot, my skin was humming so hard I wondered how the others couldn’t hear it. To keep my hands from shaking, I kept one in my pocket (I’d bought a denim jacket from the thrift store before going to find Isaac earlier) and with the other, I clung to Kai’s hand as we walked.

  Whatever calm he’d mustered before vanished the moment we stepped onto the sidewalk and he saw the caravan Presley had mentioned. A line of old sedans and Harley motorcycles—all with the Hawley pack flag displayed—sat at the curb of the council building. They stared hard as we walked past, mostly silent, but we earned a few unfriendly greetings too.

  Kai didn’t say a word through any of it.

  Somehow, that seemed worse than reacting.

  Up ahead, a woman blocked our path. Kai tensed, but I recognized her and the little girl pressed close against her side.

  “Hello, Callie,” I said.

  “Hi,” the little girl said, eyes twinkling as she looked up at me.

  “I’m sorry,” the woman said. “She wouldn’t stop asking to come see you. She wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “It’s no problem,” I assured her.

  “I’m Rhonda.” The woman held out her hand, and I shook it, frowning at the slight zap that shocked us both.

  Then I looked at Callie.

  “It’s good to see you,” I told her.

  “You were asleep for a long time,” she said.

  “I guess my body needed the rest.”

  “Did Rosie sleep with you?” she asked.

  “She did,” I said. “Right next to me in bed. Kept me company too. I didn’t have any bad dreams.”

  She nodded solemnly. “She chases them away.”

  “Thank you for letting me borrow her. I’ll return her soon.”

  She eyed me with a knowing that left me a little unsettled. “You should keep her a little longer,” she said. “Until you’re all better.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that.

  Finally, I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “We better get going. Thank you for this,” Rhonda said.

  “Anytime,” I said, my heart full as they hurried away.

  Kai fell into step beside me again, and we headed for the meeting.

  The Throttle rose up against the fading daylight, blotting out the fresh, clean look of downtown’s makeover. Here, it was only rough cement walls and thinned gravel that led around a chain-link fence.

  For me, it was home.

  But for our first council meeting as alphas of a pack three times the size of what I’d planned—it left a bit to be desired.

  Just beyond the chain-link fence, at the edge of the grass, we stopped, and I stared out over the faces gathered. There were so many that I found myself shrinking back. But Kai was there, pulling me forward. Just ahead, Isaac and Oscar had dragged a mobile motorcycle lift outside and laid a piece of plywood over it as a make-shift stage. Kai led me toward it and turned to me before climbing up.

  “You can do this,” he said.

  “What makes you think I need reassurance?” I shot back.

  He held up our joined hands. “You’re crushing my bones.”

  “Whoops.” I eased up and gave a sheepish smile.

  “You can do this,” he repeated, his eyes locked fiercely on mine. He still looked angry, but in this moment, his steely eyes felt like steady ground against the quicksand of my own nerves.

  “We can do this,” I corrected.

  He nodded, lips curving. “Exactly.”

  “Ashes, you took down a ferocious, soul-stealing alpha-monster,” Presley said as he strode up behind us. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about one little public speech.”

  I took my hand out of my pocket long enough to give him the finger, to which he laughed, and then I climbed up onto the dais with Kai. At our feet, Isaac hit the lever that lifted us up into the air until we stood tall enough to be seen from the back of the crowd.

  The faces looking up at us quieted.

  “Ready?” Kai asked.

  I nodded even though I felt anything but.

  He nudged me, a clear sign that he wanted me to take the lead.

  I took a deep breath.

  “Welcome,” I said in a voice that came out way too timid. And then I tried again, louder. “Welcome. This is the first official pack meeting as, well, a new pack.”

  I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment because public speaking apparently wasn’t my strong suit. On the ground below me, someone sighed in obvious suffering, and a paper was thrust my way.

  I took it, clinging tightly to the edges as I scanned the contents. My eyes widened, and then, since my only other option was complete stuttering and awkwardness, I read it aloud.

  “Hawley, Asheville, Lone Wolves. Welcome. You’ve all given up a lot be to here,” I began. “Not just here at this meeting, but here in this town, in this pack, in this time in history. You’re alive. You’re breathing. And you’re hopefully feeling more grounded and settled in your skin than you’ve felt in a long time. For those of us who’ve just lived through a curse—and breaking it—this is a celebration. And for those of us who lost an alpha, a leader, a friend, this is anything but. I know we’re all coming together under an umbrella of conflicting emotions. And I can’t begin to imagine what you’re all feeling. What I can do is tell you that Kai and I are here for you.”

  Some murmurs rose against that statement, but I pressed on, grateful for the speech scrawled on the paper before me—even though it confused the hell out of me.

  But I could ask questions later.

  “Kai and I have gone through a lot to get ourselves here too. And to bring you all with us. We’ve battled witches, werewolves, and lots of WTF moments in these past weeks.”

  Some snickers.

  For some reason, that felt like permission to keep going.

  “Before I came to the Falls, I didn’t believe in wolf shifters. Nor did I believe in family or in staying in one place for too long. I’ve changed my mind about all three. Members of this pack quickly became my family. And I can’t imagine ever leaving them behind.”

  My eyes stung as I felt the truth of those words settle inside my chest.

  “I don’t know much about being a leader, but I do know about fighting for the people I care about, and I think that’s a good start,” I continued. “So, I’d like to ask for your support as we all figure out this pack life thing together. We’re not a bunch of lone wolves anymore. We’re a community. We’re connected. Bound together by our wolves. Our loyalty. Our love.

  “We’re asking you to pledge loyalty to us, your alphas, but we’re also asking you to pledge loyalty to each other. To this land. To yourselves. Together, with everyone’s help, we can rebuild Ridley Falls into something better than it ever was before.”

  I finished reading and looked up, stunned by the cheering that began on the heels of my words. As the people in the crowd clapped and whistled, Kai wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close with a squeeze. My heart swelled—and the magic flared to life. I gasped as it whooshed through me, an adrenaline rush unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.

  The cheering became a roaring in my ears.

  “You okay?” Kai asked, his breath warm against my ear.

  I nodded, but inside, my stomach churned.

  Please do not let me throw up in front of my entire pack.

  “Will you pledge loyalty to your new alphas and to each other?”

  Isaac’s voice came through a megaphone loudly enough that I jumped. He winced up at me in apology, but the effect it had was obvious. As soon as he’d spoken the words, two-thirds of the crowd dropped to one knee, lowering their heads in deference.

  I watched them in awe, gratitude washing through me, and with it, a sense of responsibility that chased away the worst of the magic’s effects, at least, for the moment. These people were putting their complete trust and faith in me. I couldn’t let them down. The need to protect was a fierce compulsion that rooted itself deep in my heart.

  When I looked up at Kai, I could see he felt the same.

  “That was a kickass speech,” he said.

  “It wasn’t—”

  “Lies!”

  My head whipped toward the voice as it came again.

  “You lied to us!”

  A man in the back pushed forward, knocking down a couple in front of him who’d taken a knee. A few people called out angrily, but he ignored them, coming forward with eyes narrowed at me.

  “You said the curse is broken,” he said angrily.

  “Uh, boss,” Idrissa began.

  She’d sent patrols out to the perimeter but had opted to stay close to us “just in case.” I’d waved off her concerns before, but now I was glad to have a united front.

  “It’s fine,” Kai and I said in unison.

  Despite our answer, she stepped forward to greet him as he reached the front of the crowd, heading him off before he could come straight for us.

  “What makes you think the curse isn’t broken?” Idrissa asked him, pressing her palm to his chest.

  “Mates,” he said simply, and the anger turned to a flash of desperation in his dark eyes.

  Now that he was close, I recognized him. Scruffy beard. Glassy eyes. Gordon. I’d never seen him outside the walls of a bar before. Well, except for the night Silas forced him to fight that hexerei prisoner. He looked different now. He’d put on some weight. Not much, but it helped him look more filled out and, well, healthy. Except for the raw fear in his eyes that he aimed at me as he went on.

  “Not a single one of us has recognized a true mate. It’s been two weeks.” The desperation turned bleak. My heart ached at the sadness there. “We should have felt something by now… right?”

  Voices rose in agreement.

  Kai’s hand tightened along my waist.

  “No one knows how these things work,” Kai said in a voice full of authority. I appreciated his confidence, especially considering neither one of us had a damn clue about any of it. “But the curse affected us for years, and it makes sense the undoing won’t be instant either.”

  “You’re telling me I have to wait years yet to meet my fated?” Gordon asked. “I’ll be dead by then.”

  “I’m telling you to be patient,” Kai said.

  Gordon glared up at him. I couldn’t blame him. He’d waited twenty years for a moment that had come and gone without a single shred of change.

  “Screw your patience,” Gordon snapped.

  A growl escaped Kai’s throat. He dropped his hand from my waist and stepped to the edge of the dais.

  “Kai,” I began, but he’d clearly had enough.

  “Ash nearly got herself killed saving us all from that damn curse,” Kai said in a voice full of venom. “She didn’t have to do it. She could have left and lived her life in peace. But she stayed and fought. For us. We can, at least, give her some credit for that. Hell, some of us didn’t make it easy on her, even tried to run her out for it, but she did it anyway. And what has that gotten her besides more hate?”

  Without meaning to, my eyes drifted to Warren Close where he kneeled beside his wife, Amberly. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d taken a knee to show his loyalty, but the feeling rose up anyway. He’d been pretty pissed when we’d stripped him of the council title he’d worn his entire life. But now, the fire in his eyes had been replaced with a steadiness I’d never seen in him before. Still on one knee, Amberly held his hand and was watching Kai and me both with undisguised pride.

  She caught me watching her and shot me a smile.

  I smiled back.

  The magic writhed.

  “I know Ash did us all a favor,” Gordon said grudgingly. He looked at me, and I caught the reluctant gratitude in his glassy stare. “I appreciate it, sure, but we all want to know the worst is behind us.”

  “I don’t think that’s how life works,” I told him gently. “And I won’t lie or pretend by telling you it’s all easy from here. But I promise we’re going to figure out the curse. We won’t stop until it’s completely broken.”

  “How?” he asked, sounding much more hopeful than angry.

  I peeled my shirt up and revealed the curse’s mark. The rest of the crowd pressed in behind Gordon as they all leaned in for a closer look.

  “This used to be black, remember?” I asked. “I showed you all at the last council meeting.”

  People nodded.

  “Now it’s gray,” I explained.

  “What does it mean?” Gordon asked.

  “It means we’re on the right track,” I said, wishing I actually believed that. “But I think Kai’s right. The undoing—it’s going to take time.”

  A ping in my gut told me my words weren’t quite true. My own intuition knew it. Or maybe the magic was telling me what I didn’t want to believe. That whatever I held inside me stood between a gray mark and no mark at all. But I couldn’t tell Gordon that.

  I couldn’t tell any of them.

  They were all looking at me with renewed hope, and I refused to strip them of that too.

  Gordon grunted, eyeing me with a skepticism that felt friendlier than before. He wanted to believe me.

  They all did.

  No pressure.

  “All right then,” he mumbled and stepped back, apparently satisfied. For now.

  “What about those of us who don’t know shit about either of you,” someone called out. Another guy broke off from the crowd, this one less angry but just as challenging. And with an equally valid point. “I’ve never met you before. Hell, you’re both kids. What do you know about running a pack? And why should I trust you to even try?”

  “Hawley or Asheville?” Kai asked him.

  “Asheville. And Baron was a hell of a man.” His tone dared either one of us to disagree.

  “He was,” I said before Kai could answer. “And in the short time I knew him, he taught me more about being an alpha than anyone else I’ve known. His last wish was for me to take care of you, his pack. I’m going to spend my life trying to live up to his belief in me.”

  The guy ran a hand through his wavy hair and eyed me skeptically, though some of the resistance left his stance. “He said that?”

  “He did.”

  “And our families?” he asked after another moment. “Do you expect us to uproot them and move here to your town?”

  “Yeah,” a few others echoed worriedly.

  “Absolutely not,” I said and felt Kai’s gaze swing to mine.

  We hadn’t discussed this, but I couldn’t deny what felt right to me. And I went with it.

  “No one has to live in Ridley Falls to be considered pack,” I said. “Our territory just grew by three sizes, which means we have a large area to oversee, and we can’t do it alone. We’ll obviously be working on creating a council of representatives to help us do that, and you’re all welcome to live where you want within pack territory. In fact, after the meeting, please find Isaac here,” I added, gesturing to where he stood below me, “and let him know if you’re interested in running for council as a representative for your area.”

  Beside me, Kai let out a breath he’d been holding. I couldn’t tell if he approved or not.

  “And those of us who don’t recognize you as alpha?” asked another guy.

  I spotted him easily in the crowd. On the fringes. Long, gray beard. Taller than the others, huskier, and with nothing but a black biker vest covering his otherwise bared chest. He had a lip piercing and tattoos covering his large arms. He looked like someone’s very scary grandpa.

  “Hawley?” I asked.

  “Hell yeah,” he grunted, and the people around him all echoed their support.

  Beside him, a younger guy, around my age, pressed in close. He didn’t have the same angry expression. If anything, he looked nervous about how far this might go. His dirty blonde hair was long and curling around his ears as if he tucked it that way often. And even from here, his blue eyes pierced. I’d never seen him before, but he looked like he knew the biker well.

  “While I appreciate the loyalty to your people, your pack alpha and his brother were dangerous and destructive,” I said, refusing to let myself shy away from the guy just because he looked like he could break me in half like a Kit-Kat.

  The guy growled in response to my words.

  Anger worked its way in at that, but I shoved it out. If I was going to do this, I had to be fair. Anger and bias had no place here. Beside me, Kai was rigid, which told me he was still working through that particular issue.