Page 107 of Wolf Touched

I inhaled deeply and put the phone into my back pocket. They weren’t mind readers. I needed to tell them, but foolishly, it felt like if I didn’t speak the words, maybe what I knew wouldn’t be real. I murmured, “Warin works withthem. He’s part of the Veiled Circle.”

“What?” Ednah pursed her lips. “No. You must have him mistaken—”

The memories of his fangs biting into my neck made me shudder. “No, I’m not. He was one of my captors in the underground bunker. He and a witch named Glinda were my handlers.”

“Glinda.” Sedona blinked. “No. That can’t be right. She’s one of the coven members in Missouri who’s been working on a solution to help us separate—”

“Holy shit.” Keith grimaced. “They’ve been around longer than any of us have ever known.”

We should’ve known not to underestimate the Veiled Circle, especially with how they’d taken me from campus, but it had made sense once I’d learned about Slade and Olwyn’s involvement.

Keagan looked back at his people standing behind him. His eyes faintly glowed, and his group dispersed, heading toward the water and near the tree line. They sniffed, searching for any sign of Warin.

I suspected they wouldn’t come up with anything. I’d bet Warin and Olwyn had determined exactly where they wanted us to arrive, and he’d never set foot here.

Bastards.

Worse, they now had a dagger to Mom’s neck. My lungs stopped functioning as the entire situation hit me. We had no element of surprise, and Olwyn had my parents. The panic I’d felt back in Salt Lake City came crashing over me. Being busy and believing we might beable to save them had gotten me through, but now the future looked damn bleak again. “It doesn’t matter whether you all smell Warin or not. They know we’re here.”

Raffe nodded. “The only thing we might still have on our side is if Warin thinks there’s a chance we haven’t put everything together.”

I bit my bottom lip. “No. They want us to piece it together.” My heart dropped into my stomach like a bomb. “That’s why they sent me the text now—to trigger this conversation.” Once again, we’d played right into their hands because we hadn’t seen the full picture.

“Maybe we should go,” a taller man who stood behind Keagan said.

I gritted my teeth to keep my frustration at bay. Losing the numbers we had was the worst thing that could happen to us since Olwyn and the others would have prepared to face this many, but this wasn’t their fight. Olwyn had brought it to me and targeted my family. Yes, the rest of the supernatural world would have to deal with the fallout, but that didn’t mean they had to face the firing squad right now. “If that’s what you all need to do, so be it. I can’t leave my parents. Not like this. Not after everything they’ve done for me.”

Raffe stood firmly next to me, though I could feel his dread and worry.

“Well, I, for damn sure, am not going anywhere.” Keith stepped forward. “I will fight alongside my alpha and alpha’s mate.”

My heart doubled in size. And to think, just over a month ago, he would’ve been the very one to suggest they leave me here alone. How far our relationship had come astonished me.

“I’m staying as well.” Sedona lifted her chin and moved next to him. “If it weren’t for Skylar, I’d be dead.”

The rest of Raffe’s and my pack, including Dave, joined Sedona and Keith, which didn’t surprise me. We were all pack and family, and when Sedona completed her fated-mate bond with Keith, she’d joined us.

Priestess Caroline and her coven had stayed several feet away, but she chose this moment to clear her throat and add, “My coven will always stand with the arcane-born and right our past mistakes.” Her eyes cut to Ednah in daring.

“None of this is needed.” Keagan raised a hand. “We promised to protect you, and that’s what we’ll do. The supreme priestess knowing that we’re coming doesn’t change a damn thing. If anything, it makes this fight more important.” He pivoted to face his men. “We’ve allowed these people to manipulate us into attacking innocents. Are we going to walk away and let innocent humans die? A species that isn’t even supposed to know we exist? Obviously, this organization doesn’t care about keeping our secrets.”

The tall man who’d made the original suggestion averted his gaze to the gravel road and nodded.

Eyes glowing, Keagan huffed. “As you suspected, Warin’s scent isn’t anywhere near here. They can’t pick up the trail.”

“I don’t feel any coven magic around here.” Priestess Caroline closed her eyes. “We aren’t in immediate danger, but that could change at any time.”

The longer we stood here, the more antsy I became. There was no telling what they were doing to my parents. “We need to go before she …” I trailed off, the sound dying in my throat. I couldn’t say the word on the tip of my tongue; it was way too permanent. I inhaled, hoping my voice remained steady, and tried again. “Before she hurts them.”

“We should split up.” Adam turned in the direction we’d be moving. “Groups of around twenty-five each since there are a little over a hundred and fifty of us. People from each pack group should mix together so we can communicate between groups via pack-link bonds.”

Stephanie rubbed her hands together. “That would put around nine witches in each group, though two groups won’t have vampires.”

“Does that matter?” From beside Lucy, Fane furrowed his brows.

“Vampires move quicker than the other species, so having them is an advantage, especially since we’ll be fighting vampires here.” Josie smiled and glanced at her mate.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my smart retorts to myself. Fane didn’t understand this world completely, and I didn’t want us to take the time to teach him now. Yet, he did need to know more so he’d be prepared to face them.

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