Page 72 of Teeth To Rip & Tear

“My problem?” Donovan laughed as if I’d said the funniest thing in the world. “I don’t have a problem. I’m just being friendly, is all.”

“If you’re being friendly, move out of my way.” I countered.

“I know you can befriendlierthan that.” Donovan sneered.

Anger twisted through me like a cyclone. I was so tired of being scared.

I remembered the leather journal in my hand and the scribbles and drawings with various braids. I had no desire to lose more hair, but I didn't have to if the journal was right.

Donovan had the same golden magic as most wolves, though his was darker and slimier somehow. I reached forward with a hand and grabbed the strands, knowing I looked insane to anyone who couldn’t see them.

Donovan frowned as I knotted the magic into a bundle, throwing it at him like a grenade.

It wasn’t a gun or an explosion, though it sounded like one. Fizzing, spitting, and popping, the magic writhed, becoming visible in a ball of light.

I used the opportunity to escape, racing from the library as fast as my feet would carry me. The journal tucked under my arm.

Chapter Fifteen

My grandmother had always told me about the Weavers Code and about sacrifice.

She often said that Weavers dealt in persuasion—convincing the universe that your reality superseded all others.

When I’d asked about glamour, and the ability to make one thing look like another, grandmother had told me that glamours weren’t reality. Glamours were beautiful fiction. Believable, until you scraped away the tarnish.

I’d often wondered why my grandmother wished I wasn’t part wolf and why she hadn’t rewritten reality to suit her needs.

Grandmother Eva had been deep in hiding from the Huntsman.

I had been her greatest liability, and yet she kept me. Taught me the best she could while hiding our magic. She hadn’t been loving, but she had been fair.

I’d often wondered if I’d chosen Joel because I hadn’t understood beingseen. When a speck of attention came my way, I’d folded like a house of cards.

Was I still the same person, desperate for any crumb of love? I wondered.

I’d slept with Dean, taken comfort in him because I’d felt something I hadn’t been able to deny. My attraction to Dean was a punch in the gut, demanding to be listened to. Dean mighthave been a behemoth of a man, but he had shown me he could also be gentle. An Alpha, a leader, and a protector.

Kaleb... I truly didn’t understand.

Perhaps he had given in to my affection because he was bored. Maybe I’d pushed for his attention because I was desperate to be liked. Even loved. If I couldn’t earn his respect, I could earn his body, even for a night.

Kaleb had stood between me and the Huntsman, but I felt the wall he put between us both. Kaleb was trying to distance himself, and I didn’t really know why.

I hadn’t slept much, too frightened that Donovan would follow me back to the kennels. I’d used the time to weave a bracelet from the leftover embroidery thread as a thank you to Dean.

My room didn’t have a lock inside, so I’d placed the small bedside table in front of the door for security. I’d focused so much on the Huntsman that it hadn’t crossed my mind that another wolf could be a threat to me.

Finally, in the early morning, I slept for what felt like a blink.

The sound woke me, echoing through my skull like I’d donned the liberty bell as a hat.

I’d hidden in my room, forgoing dinner, because I did not want to see Donovan, but as the sound grew louder and made my teeth twist, I knew I was being summoned.

My feet dragged as I made my way from the kennels, the bells chiming in my skull. The longer it went on, the more it hurt. There was no escaping the summons.

As I stepped onto the lawn and made my way to the staircase like I was five martinis deep, I spotted Dean, then Kaleb waiting at the bottom of the steps. Someone called my name, and I glanced over my shoulder, finding Mitchell with a shit-eating grin and his arms wide as if he planned on huggingme. Wyatt rolled his eyes at the other man’s behavior. As we headed toward the castle, I realized we had all been summoned.

The Locket pack.

---