Page 72 of Chosen Destiny

“Fine.” Jack rolled his eyes. “But only for you.”

There was a knock on the front door, followed by Dina, Miles, Stella, Lucas, the four former advisors, and their mates strolling in.

One person was missing.

“Where’s Jasmine?” Bodey asked before I could.

“She’s with the new pack, settling them in.” Janet’s face blanched, making her indigo eyes, which matched Bodey’s, appear all the darker, especially when contrasted with her strawberry-blonde hair. “She’s staying with Julie and Pearl at the other end of the neighborhood. We’d hate to risk her coming here.”

In other words, she was staying with Theo, but Janet was smart enough to know not to say his name.

Miles’s mother’s dark eyes latched on to Jack’s mother’s, an unspoken exchange occurring between them from their spots in front of their mates. If Alicia and Destiny knew about Jasmine and Theo, Bodey wouldn’t be far behind.

“What’s going on?” Taylor, Lucas’s mom, clutched her chest. Her long, dark hair cascaded over her blue silk nightgown. She took her mate’s arm, her tan complexion a shade paler than usual.

“One second.” Dina lifted a hand, her charcoal eyes scanning the place as if searching for something. Then she flicked her hands so hard that her auburn hair lifted around her, and she chanted, “Seal the house.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a faint glimmer that soon faded.

Destiny walked toward her son but stopped and sniffed. Her eyes widened as she glanced from Jack to Stevie. Then a blinding smile spread across her heart-shaped face. She bounced up and down. “You completed your mate bond!”

“Yes, but now isn’t the time to celebrate, Mom.” Jack sighed and squeezed Stevie’s hand softly. “We’ll do the celebrating after we’ve eliminated the threat.”

Alicia moved to the side of the granite island that separated the kitchen from the den. She ran her hands through her dark hair, and Phil followed her.

“What are you doing?” Stella asked, her dark-violet eyes on Dina. Flipping her dark, wavy hair, she moved to the spot between me and Miles.

“Putting a perimeter spell in place.” Dina dropped her hands and turned to us. “Witch magic is pouring into our territory.”

Shit. That wasn’t good.

“Do you recognize the magic?” Lucas rubbed the back of his neck.

“I don’t.” Dina bit her bottom lip. “But they’re powerful.”

I was tugged into a link with Samuel, Bodey, and thirty others. A wolf shifter I wasn’t familiar with linked,It’s some sort of gas. I don’t know what.

That reminded me of the day the wolves had attacked Stevie and almost killed her. A witch had come with them and cast some sort of smoke spell to block our sense of smell and our vision.What does it smell like?

We’re going in…His words trailed off, and his link went lukewarm, just like the others. The other twenty-nine followed within the next second.

My wolf howled in my head, her frustration mixing with mine. Something was happening to my people, and I had no clue what.

Samuel snarled, “I’m going.”

“Whoa.” Dina lifted a hand, blocking him from leaving like Bodey had. “What happened?”

“My pack is in danger.” Samuel wheezed, and I’d never seen him like this. He was like a different person.

Something’s wrong with him,I connected with Bodey.

He wants to be the perfect alpha. His wolf isn’t acting normally, so he seems out of character. His drive to do everything the way he thinks your dad did is throwing him off. He’ll come around and figure it out just like you’ve been doing.

I wanted to laugh. Figuring it out felt like the last thing I’d done. I’d more often fucked things up, but I didn’t need to dwell on that now, especially with a threat here. Instead, I answered Dina’s question. “They said it’s smoke. They were entering the area, and then their pack links went lukewarm, so they were probably all knocked out at the same time.”

“Smoke.” Dina’s mouth twisted. “I bet it’s lavender and they’re performing a witch spell. You’re supposed to do it with the herb on the ground, but to make it act quicker and more potent, some witches burn it and use it against their enemies to make them fall asleep.”

“Sleep?” Jack’s brows furrowed. “That doesn’t sound like Kel. It might be someone else.”

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