Page 174 of The Blairville Legacies

Nasty goose bumps crawled down the back of my neck.

Who would do something so disgusting?

My thoughts slid back to my time in Sacramento, to all the things I’d witnessed there.

How could I have thought I had escaped this destructive side of humanity?

I opened the news page of theBlairville Daily, where old missing person cases were already listed, but this was the first murder.

I discovered an article about Fogs Forest and the...DeLoughreys.

My chest began to throb violently, and the goosebumps intensified.

Mayor’s Office

“The woman’s neck is torn open,” the police chief sighed with a regretful expression. “Her body is drained of blood.” He took a deep breath before stepping closer to the mayor’s desk and lowering his voice. “And the location on the border of the Copelands forests is no coincidence either.” His jaw worked, making it look painful. “I think someone’s trying to send a message.”

The mayor sat tensely in her chair, staring at the man in front of her with a blank stare.

She had made her way to the town hall two hours ago, confused by the failed rite of passage when she had heard the news.

She hadn’t dared to go to the law office because she didn’t want to know the truth, but now she had learned it from the police chief.

Her gaze focused, and she looked up at the policeman.

“I’m begging you, Graham,” she began in a shaky voice. “Keep those details to yourself. The last thing this town needs is awar.”

She would keep her own mouth shut. Because if Nickolas or Gloria found out what hadreallyhappened, it would only be a matter of time before they rolled out their secret war plans on the tables and resorted to more radical means.

“As long as possible,” the policeman replied, nervously glanced outside, over to the law office, before looking back at her and stepping closer to the table. “Please, Amara...” His voice was insistent. At least give us a search warrant for the DeLoughreys.”

Something tightened inside her.

“Youknowthat won’t work,” she said quickly. “They want us to become their enemy, too. But as long as we’re neutral territory, Nickolas’ pack is protected.”

She didn’t want to admit it just yet. And she didn’t want to keep getting caught between the fronts when she actually belonged to one of them.

Every day was a balancing act.

“Keep calm,” she finally sighed urgently. “And put more patrol vehicles on the border areas.”

The police chief didn’t expand on this, and withdrew from the mayor’s office with a tense nod.

She looked out the window, past the black raven-studded rooftops, to Graham, who was trying to fight his way through the crowd of reporters outside the town hall.

This town was a minefield. And she knew she wasn’t strong enough to keep all the mines from exploding.

Chapter 41

Emely

“Why are you walking so fast?” My steps quickened. “Why don’t you slow down?”

I was usually fast. I could keep up with everyone, especially my brother. Only today he was running so fast, probably because of the conversation with Alarik.

If there were two people in our pack who werealwaysat each other’s throats, then it was the two of them. Alarik rarely turned, but when Nash took it too far, the two of them would face each other in wolf form on the big meadow behind our house.

“You’re protecting him, even though he’s not part of our pack!”my brother had growled in anger when I’d turned up on the lawn thirty minutes ago to find out if Father had been watching the news. And five seconds later, a white wolf had pushed Alarik’s upper body to the ground. Alarik hadn’t put up with it, of course, because even though they were both betas and Alarik took things calmly, as our uncle and the Alpha’s closest advisor, he was above Nash.

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