Page 13 of Wolf Touched

“I’d love to hear this explanation as well,” Raffe rasped, making sure Dave didn’t forget he was there. Not that he could anyway.

Dave licked his lips. “I did something that would make the wolf shifters want me dead.” He stopped, his hands clenching at his sides.

I tried to be patient, but if he didn’t continue, I might scream.

“I … I lost control and drank from someone.” He cut his eyes at the wall between Adam and me. “Another supernatural.”

Adam scratched the back of his neck. “Drinking from another vampire isn’t forbidden. Most mated couples do that from time to time.”

“It wasn’t another vampire.” He blinked and cracked his neck. “It was a wolf shifter.”

I shook my head. “I thought wolf shifter blood was toxic to vampires, and now you’re telling me you drank fromtwowolves and survived?”

“It wasn’t two wolves.” He stared at the smooth white ceiling. “It was the same wolf shifter both times. Josie.”

“Josie?” Keith stormed into the room and stopped between Adam and me. “No way. Not possible. She’d have told us.”

“She didn’t because she let me do it, and then she freaked out.” Dave placed a hand over his mouth. “I realized if you all found out what she let me do and that I lost control, we’d both be punished, so I asked Slade for help.”

I tensed. “When was this?” Even as I asked, I suspected it had something to do with Dave drugging me so that the Veiled Circle could kidnap me.

“At the beginning of the school year. He and Supreme Priestess Olwyn showed up along with Lafayette.” He sighed.

Every time I heard Lafayette’s name, it took me back to the night he tried to make me forget about the vampire attack, which had revealed that the stronger the power coursing through my blood was, the more appealing I smelled to vampires, causing them to lose their rational mind and become desperate to drink from me. Lafayette was the vampire people called to handle such things, and I wondered if that was part of his job description as the head of housing here at the university. He was responsible for keeping supernaturals and humans separated, which would involve altering human memories when needed.

“Why?” Adam’s brows pinched together. “Lafayette can’t do anything with a supernatural’s memory. And why wouldn’t Josie tell us?”

An unreadable feeling passed from Raffe to me.

“Lafayette came because they thought I drank from a human, but when Slade and Olwyn realized it was a wolf shifter, they went to the—” He cut himself off.

I suspected I knew where this was heading. “They know about theBooks of Twilightand the hidden library. But the coven isn’t aware that Raffe knows.”

Dave’s jaw dropped. “Oh.”

“Wait.” Keith lifted a hand. “You’re telling me the booksthat were supposed to be destroyed centuries ago are in a fucking hidden library somewhere, and we haven’t done a damn thing about it?”

My head spun. I hadn’t thought about how Adam and Keith would react to that news, but I didn’t want Dave to hold back information.

Raffe growled. “I didn’t tell anyone because Slade was using the books to find answers about Sky’s heritage and how her power works. I didn’t want the books destroyed until Skylar learned everything we could to help her control her magic so she didn’t fucking implode. I also wanted to protect you all from my dad’s wrath.” He lifted his chin, staring at his friends.

“I asked him not to.” I wouldn’t let Raffe take the blame for all that. “So if you’re going to be upset with anyone, it should be me. I’m his mate, and I asked him to keep that a secret.” What I said wasn’t technically a lie. I’d been his fated mate even before we completed our bond, but I tried to imply that I’d asked him after the bond completion, giving my claim more power.

“As much as I hate to interrupt to tell on myself some more, this needs to come out. Supreme Priestess Olwyn won’t hesitate to come here and finish me.”

My head jerked back. “Finish you?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Dave moaned as he sat upright, his face flushing. When he got situated, he exhaled noisily. “Slade and Olwyn found a memory-wiping spell in one of the books, and Slade waited for Josie to return from a run in the woods after our connect—er, my need to feed from her snapped. They were able to erase her memory and ease whatever might have happened when I fed from her.”

I swallowed. He’d almost saidconnection. Were theyfated mates? “What does any of this have to do with you drugging me?” Slade was friends with Dave, and when he learned Dave was here, he’d cared enough to ask about him.

“Supreme Priestess Olwyn told me I had to drug you.” He winced. “And Slade came to get you after I told them you were unconscious. It was the only way they wouldn’t rat me out to the wolf shifters.”

I shook my head. Thiscouldn’tbe true … but my blood was at a steady fizz, and I could read it was all truth.

“Are you saying Supreme Priestess Olwyn and Slade handed her over to the secret society?” Raffe whispered scarily.

“No.” He steepled his hands. “I’m telling you, they’re part of the secret society and planned it all, including knocking me out when they came to get Skylar.”

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