Page 5 of Enemies By Fate

“Sadie doesn’t need to babysit me anymore,” I tell her flatly. “The less she knows, the better.”

“You’re just as stubborn as she is, you know that? Are you sure you’re not blood-related to her?”

Grimacing, I turn onto my side and prop the phone against my ear, peering out the back window and gasp, the same crow peering in through the back window now.

Seriously?

Sitting up, I ignore it this time and focus my attention on Circe.

“Unless Sadie is a secret shifter too, I doubt it,” I mumble, and Circe chuckles nervously.

“Right.”

An awkward silence falls between us, and I quickly think of a way to fill it and put my friend’s worried mind at ease before she can blow it all up in my face with her concerns.

“Well, it’s like you said—the dreams might not mean anything at all,” I tell Circe. “That’s why I’m going to the full moon party tonight. The Apex Alphas can give me answers.”

“You weren’t invited,” Circe mutters nervously.

“Every shifter is invited,” I insist firmly, even though I’m not sure if my intel is accurate. It’s only what I’ve been told by other shifters—none of whom are really friends or close to me. It’s not a ringing endorsement, but it’s all I have for now.

“Everypackis invited,” Circe corrects me. “And you don’t belong to a pack. We’re not even really sure if you’re a real shifter. You didn’t shift like normal shifters at fifteen. You don’t have a consistent animal that you shift into…”

She trails off, and I balk at the blunt reminder.

“Semantics,” I reply lightly, hoping she can’t hear the stress building inside me. “No one is going to notice me, anyway. There will be too many others there.”

Nervously, I twirl a long strand of strawberry blonde hair around my fingers, willing my pulse to slow, but every word we exchange only fuels my anxiety.

She’s going to talk me out of this. I can’t let her.

“How do you know that?” Circe asks. “You’ve never been to one of those parties. You only know what other shifters have told you. Maybe you’re being fed a pack of lies… no pun intended.”

I gulp back my nervousness and hold fast to my confidence. “It’s going to be fine, Circe. It’s in a public place, and I can slip out any time I want. I just want to see who these guys are, if they’re the ones I keep dreaming about.”

“And if they are? Then what?”

I draw in a shaky breath. “Then… then I’ll come home and decide my next steps,” I reply, but even as I say it, I’m not sure that’s the plan at all.

“I don’t like this,” Circe mumbles. “I wish you’d wait.”

“No!” I growl. “I’ve waited long enough already. I need answers, and tonight, I’m going to get them. I’m not putting this off again.”

The witch releases another loud, worried sigh in my ear, and I realize I’m stressing her out.

“Look,” I offer reassuringly, softening my tone. “I’m just going to go, check it out, and come home. I want to see if these Alphas are the same guys I see in my dreams.”

“You know they are,” Circe counters. “You checked them out online.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s not the same. I need to get some real sense for them, a vibe.”

“You’re going to confront them.”

“That would be dumb, Circe,” I tell her flatly and sincerely. “I’m not strong enough to take on a regular Alpha, let alone a pack of Apex shifters and their Alphas, during a full moon party. I’m not suicidal. This is purely a recon mission.”

My words seem to calm my best friend a bit, but her hesitation is tangible through the phone. “Will you check in with me?”

“Of course. Do you promise not to tell Sadie or anyone else where I’m going tonight?”

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