Page 59 of Gift from the Stone

“Great, another mystery to add to the craziness that is my life,” I whine as I pinch the bridge of my nose and lay my head on Draken’s arm.

“We’ll figure it all out, little wanderer, don’t worry.”

Ten

Tillman

“Have you seen anything?” I ask Rhett, our man on the ground in Terravile.

Me, Caspian, and Corentin are sitting around his desk with the communicator on speaker, getting an update on the pack’s activity since the wolves have begun their training for the trials. That’s what the majority of the day has consisted of, updates. There still isn’t shit coming out of Crestwood and I hope something comes out of this mission. Heads will fucking roll if not.

Their tracking spells are still being intercepted and they’ve gotten nowhere. They’ve acquired a tracker, but he doesn’t have the skill level as Oakly. But both her and Willow have made it known, under no circumstance, is Oakly joining the E.F.

Knowing what we know now surrounding Willow leads me to believe, like it or not, Oakly’s skills will be used, just not in an E.F. capacity. It’ll be in the capacity Willow needs, and that thought terrifies me.

“One hundred wolves have entered the running. There’s a multitude of different shifters here. I haven’t seen any markings yet, but combat training doesn’t start until tomorrow. I think a large portion of the pack has no clue what’s going on, but some of the wolves interact with the other shifters in a way that makes me think they may be rebels,” he informs us.

We needed a man on the ground who could report back anything they may see that could help us before we get there. At this stage, we won’t need every little detail on all one hundred wolves, unless they’re identified as a part of the Mastery, but the final ten, aside from Lyker if he makes it that far, we’ll need complete files on.

We also need someone watching his ass. Willow wouldn’t have seen him entering the trials for nothing. I told Rhett when he left, he couldn’t inform him what was going on. It’d only distract him from the trials and paint a target on his back while he was there if he started asking questions.

I hated sending Rhett’s Nexus and Lyker’s—both are fucking forces of nature and major assets to the E.F.—but they’re both from Terravile. So it was an easy cover for Rhett to pass off he was coming to pay his respects and watch the trials. It made the most sense sending him to collect what he could and once we gave him a briefing on what was going on, he was all for it.

“Keep us updated on anything you get. No doubt the rebels in the pack will keep their distance from you, but whatever you pick up, let us know. Stay safe. Leave at any sight of trouble,” I command.

“Yes, sir,” he responds before cutting the call.

He’ll go silent now until next week unless something happens or information too important not to get to us comes up. The whole Mastery knows the E.F. is hunting them, so the ones in the Terravile pack will likely keep their distance from him and his Nexus, but you never know how those sick fucks would react if they found out he’s there undercover and not on a social visit.

“One hundred wolves is a shit ton of competition. You think Lyker can pull it off?” Caspian asks.

“You think that’s what Willow saw? Lyker winning the whole thing?” I ask, rather than answer him.

“Yeah, obviously,” he replies like I’m an idiot for not thinking the same thing.

“Okay, asshole, I was just asking. Yeah, I think he could win it all. He’s a tough fucker and it’ll be a huge loss to the E.F. with him gone but also a huge win if he does and can help us clean house in that pack.”

Just like my parents, even once you’re out of the service, your loyalty always stays. And Lyker’s loyal to the bone. That’s one reason why he fought so hard not to go. He said his place was here, not back there. If we hadn’t told him that someone with the sight said he had to go, he would’ve ignored us completely and stayed right here, ready to fight this fight. He just doesn’t know I sent him directly to the enemy, but if he wins, he’ll help us end the treachery going on there, no doubt.

The Terravile pack being corrupt is a blow to the dynamic and structure of all the shifter packs in Elementra. For the most part, my aunt allows them to govern themselves as long as they’re adhering to the laws of the land. One of my uncles is a shifter and for the most part oversees them all as needed.

Terravile being the largest pack in Terian creates doubt and worry in our minds over all the other larger packs spread across the four territories. The Mastery getting their hands in them proves they can get their hands in all the packs if they want to. Hell, they might’ve already. It’s something we’re working on finding out now.

“Come in,” Corentin yells at whoever’s knocking at the door, cutting our conversation off. We all rise, taking a step toward Vince as he stomps into the room.

“Where is she? Is she okay?” I ask before he makes it five feet in.

“She’s fine, with Draken. Care to tell me why you didn’t warn me she was so powerful or that she was your true Primary?” he asks, huffing, crossing his arms.

“I take it Draken told you,” I state. I know Draken loves to brag about it, even though we’ve told him it’s dangerous.

“He told the whole class. I believe his exact words were ‘let this be a lesson to all you dickheads the next time you want to challenge my true Primary.’”

“Did one of them hurt her?” Caspian snarls.

Vince throws his head back, laughing, not a humorous laugh either. One that says don’t fucking play me for a fool.

“No, no one hurt her. Gage made a very derogatory comment to her, and she sent the entire class to their knees. Including me. She didn’t even react when I tested her dominance.”

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