Page 73 of Chosen Destiny

Miles shook his head. “That’s not necessarily true. Kel wants Callie to submit, but if she can accomplish that without killing more of our wolves, that’s to her benefit. She wants to rule over all the wolves—she doesn’t want most of them dead.”

“Then what’s their plan?” If witches were putting our wolves to sleep, what would that accomplish?

Dina tapped her foot. “If I were them, I’d think, why come inside the area where we’ve put guards in place when they can send their strongest wolves to investigate us? I would stay in one place and have them come to me, easily wiping out my enemies.”

This night kept getting worse and worse. “But if we leave the witches alone, they’ll eventually come onto our land and put us all to sleep anyway.” I wanted to hang my head, but I kept it held high. “What do we do? Is there a spell that can counteract theirs?”

“Hey, as long as Stevie and I are in bed together, and she’s wrapped in my arms, a nap kinda sounds like heaven.” Jack shrugged, like what he’d said was completely reasonable.

Lucas smacked him in the back of the head, and at the same time, Stevie punched him in the arm. She growled, “Not helping,” at the same time, Lucas snarled, “Man, shut it.”

Jack spun around, glancing at Stevie, then Lucas, then back at her again. He pointed at his mate and his friend and said, “What the fuck just happened?”

Snorting, Bodey tried to hide his smile. “I think you’re mated to the female version of one of your closest friends. Obviously, you like to be smacked around.”

“Guys.” Samuel clapped. “We need to focus and come up with a plan.” A loud howl rang outside, and he tensed. “More of my wolves are heading toward the enemy.”

“Tell them to abort.” Dina raised a hand in front of her face. “They’ll only wind up unconscious or hurt.”

I clenched my hands and tried to hold on to my calm, but there was no comfort to latch on to.

Bodey’s hand tightened on mine, increasing the jolt of our bond. I tried to take comfort in it, but knowing this whole pack was in danger made it hard. “We should tell everyone to get in their vehicles and leave.” That probably wasn’t rational, but staying here wasn’t an option either. We had to try something. I hated to run, but I didn’t know what choice we had. “We can find somewhere to take cover even if we need to split up temporarily.”

“They’ll expect that.” Bodey frowned. “Kel is smart.”

“He’s right.” Dina’s expression crumpled. “Let me see what I can find out. I’ll be right back.”

As she opened the back door, I called out, “Wait. Someone should go with you.”

“I’ll be fine.” Dina inhaled and winced. “I won’t go near the witches—I’m going to see what I can determine from the magic without getting harmed.”

After she left, everyone fell silent. Then a phone rang.

Bodey removed the phone from his pocket and flinched.

When I peered at the screen, the one name I never wanted to see ever again scrolled across.

Kel.

I didn’t want to answer; I wanted to give her the middle finger. But she was vindictive. Maybe her anger would make her spill her secrets. She liked games, after all.

I had only one real option.

I took the phone, hoping like hell I didn’t regret the decision.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

Before I could answer it,Bodey placed a hand over the screen, blocking me.

My head jerked up as he said, “Let it ring another time or two. We want her to think we aren’t desperate and might not answer her call.”

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure if that proved we weren’t desperate. She could easily assume we were in wolf form, heading toward the threat she had a hand in.

“While you answer, I’m contacting the pack that lives an hour away for help.” Samuel’s eyes glowed as his wolf surged forward, reaching out to the pack’s alpha.

I allowed it to ring one more time, but I couldn’t handle waiting any longer. I inhaled sharply to steady my voice and answered, “Hello?”

A dark chuckle came from the other end, followed by Kel’s bored, regal voice. “For a moment, I thought you might be sleeping in the woods or too preoccupied to answer.”

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