Page 22 (1/2)

The blue light shifted slightly from the woman’s shape but did little else "No trail," Alex said, with soan "The money will be transferred to your account within the hour Can you take care of this?" He asked,towards the earthquake ers and shifted back seamlessly to a panther The other Brethren, and Anton I noted, also shifted, then twisted back to the direction of the keep and bounded off Just before the tree line, Corrigan’s head turned and his panther eyes, as green gold as his hulanced back towardsback to the front and disappearing into the night

Tom stood there and looked at me hopelessly The desire in him to join them and be part of the Brethren, even if only just for the brief trip back to the keep, was so overwhelly transparent that I waved at him in irritability "Go"

Gratitude flashed in his eyes and he was gone, leaving just Alex and I alone in front of the dunes, with the terra blue s the only sound left was the gentle to and fro of the waves lapping on the beach behind us Alex pulled a san to rew and lifted itself into the air then moved to hover the corpse of the terra the body and causing me to shield my eyes A heartbeat later all that was left was a faint shadow outlined on the sand

Alex reached out and the sphere flew back to his hand, returned to its original size and landed in his opened palm He stuffed in back into his pocket and looked at one, perhaps you can tellhere And why you smell so – different"

I was still momentarily mesmerised by his display of power but I shookhow far I could trust him He could reveal my true nature to the Brethren at any point But there was just soured that if he’d been going to tell away all my secrets, he’d have already done so already by now And he had an’s co desire to unburden ht the subject up with the pack because it made them feel uncomfortable to be ree the subject whenever I’d spoken about it Added to which, I was starting to both like and ade In for a penny in for a pound, I supposed

"I don’t knoho my father was," I said softly "And my memories of my mother are rather hazy I have flashes – I know she was petite and dark haired, unlike ood heart I reh the snow and wishing I could ot out and did just that – built a tiny one by the side of the road, even though we had no gloves and it had to have been below zero SheAlex stayed silent "I know that ere always on theShe discouragedfro to, so I suppose that ere trying to escape fro Or someone

And then one day we ended up here It see and that she kneho the pack were But she must have been human because that’s what I aht into the keep without knocking and was stopped by John in the hall He asked her as going on and all she did was push me at him Then she turned and walked out Before she left the threshold of the keep, she turned and said, ‘No-one must ever know You are all bound to keep her secret’ And she left She never came back I’d sit by theof the library for hours and days, and then weeks, watching for the car to come and for her to jump back out and take me aith her, but she never did

The words that she’d said must have had power to them because no-one in the pack has ever been able to talk of me to another They tried – John later told me that he had called up the Brethren for help hat to do with this human child they’d suddenly found themselves lumbered with and found he couldn’t speak He’d said it was like having a weight clawing his tongue to the bottom of his ht of revealing to an outsider who I was had been excruciating After trying to break the geas hi repeatedly, he compelled the others to never attehed, sharply "They weren’t happy to have me John was always kind but sometimes back in those early days he had a look in his eyes as if he’d like to just drown me in the nearest well There were others ere less kind

But the longer I stayed, the ot used to me The pack here aren’t particularly violent or even particularly active They keep the Way and follow the Brethren’s orders from London but they’re not monsters Before they knew it, I was part of the furniture I made friends Tom, the as just here, and Betsy, a werelynx And others too

John started to train h I couldn’t shift, I could be just as strong as they could I helped hunt I helped keep thehteenth birthday, John bit me I wanted it, so badly I didn’t care what my shift was to be, I just wanted to be like them And it was a pain that I’ve never experienced before or since The shifter virus ate throughand turning itself inside out And after three days, I was still rily at the sand

"But you stayed," Alex said, his eyes projecting empathy At least it wasn’t pity, that much I didn’t think I could deal with

"This is one – or worse - but for the most part, the pack accept o?"

Alex nodded, understandingly "So if the Brethren found out, they’d…"

"Kill me," I answered flatly "Maybe kill the rest of the pack too, I don’t know Even though it’s not their fault The geas my mother placed on them meant that they couldn’t tell anyone So either they murdered me and disposed of my body, or just accepted me in And like I said, they’re not monsters Not this pack" My last sentence was heavy with

Alex frowned at me "Are you sure the Brethren would do that? I mean, I know they used to hold with all that ‘death to anyone who discovers our secret’ shit," he sketched iinary quotation marks in the air, "but I don’t think they’re still like that"

I snorted "John seemed pretty sure they’d react violently So do all the others now And I’ve heard proof with an himself thinks of hu alpha, er than they’ve had for centuries, but that he’s not a bad dude"