Page 34 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
“Now calm down,” the mayor said sharply, pointing in the direction of whoever had shouted. “That is not true, and you’re not helping anyone by spouting that sort of thing. There is no curse of the woods. Nothing to fear, noevil. Leave that sort of talk to ghost stories around the campfire. Okay? There is a logical reason to all this, and my office will get to the bottom of it, and—”
The mayor’s voice became a non-distinct blur as fingernails of glass scraped down my spine. Eyes wide at the mental warning siren, I started surveilling the crowd, looking for whoever was watching me.
It didn’t take long.
He was standing at the back of the room, flanked by a pair of open doors, the natural daylight streaming in through them lighting him up like a spotlight.
Black boots, black pants that still hugged his legs with far too much perfection, and a different red and green flannel shirt, but still the same man. With his long wavy hair, stubbled chin and mismatched eyes staring out at me from under the brim of his hat. The intensity in his gaze was striking, both eyes boring into me, like he was trying to get a point across.
I just couldn’t figure out what. It didn’t help that my body was warming under his attention.
Stop that. You are more than a piece of meat to be stared down by some sort of hunter.
Part of me wanted to behispiece of meat. To feel those thick hands on me, learning just how much power they contained.
Before I could figure out why he was there, the man stepped forward, standing tall.
“The forest is not cursed,” he said. The rich, deep timbre of his voice cut through the mayor’s comforting speech with casual disregard, as if it weren’t even there.
“If there is evil afoot, it does not come from the woods. It comes from one of you.”
The crowd was dead silent. I was dead silent. Everyone was stunned by his words.
Someone exhaled loudly, and the crowd erupted into sheer pandemonium. Accusations and threats were hurled in all directions, cries of calm were stampeded over with shouts of fear. It was a madhouse of people accosting the mayor and one another.
In the midst of it all, the mystery forest-man turned and walked out.
Why the hell would he say that?
I had to know. Leaving my spot against the wall, I waded through the crowd in the standing room only at the back, hurrying after him.
“It comes from one of you.”An odd choice of phrasing. Whoever he was, he knew more than he was saying.
Irritatingly good looks or not, I intended to get him to reveal it. Behind me, the crowd pressed forward toward the mayor, demanding answers. It was unnerving how easily and with just afew words the forest-man had unraveled them all, exposing their fears. Tensions must have already been high for that to be the case.
“You!” I shouted as I burst out through the doors. “Stop!”
Something was going on in New Lockwood, and he was going to give me some answers.
Chapter Fourteen
Lincoln
The hunter had become the hunted. I was stalked across the parking lot of town hall, to the grass and bush-covered park directly across the street. The eerie sensation of knowing I was being tracked and reeled in should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn’t. Perhaps it was the knowledge of who was hunting me.
Or perhaps I want to be caught.
“Hey. Hey, you! Forest-man!”
Her voice reached out and grabbed at me, the trap tightening its noose as the hunter struck. Wispy tendrils of imaginary power sank their greedy fingers into me, burrowing deeply until they reached where my wolf strained against the bonds of my mind. The beast was desperate with desire to stop and turn around. To be caught by this woman.
Setting my jaw, I plowed onward, sheer willpower overcoming desire and keeping me going step after step. My resolve was fueled by the anger of what I had done in the town hall, the words I had spoken to antagonize the population ofNew Lockwood. I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, I had wanted nothing to do with it.
Jackson and the rest of the Elder Council disagreed, however, and their point had been proven. The animals stampeding through the woods had been detected over an hour before they left the confines of the trees and raced through town. Dark magic was afoot, and they insisted that “the woman” must be kept isolated. They thought she was behind it.
“She must not be allowed to make allies of those in town who could assist her.”
That’s exactly what my words would do, in time. They would spread around, and the people of the town would begin to look for outsiders, like Sylvie, to blame. So they “suggested” I go speak at the town hall. It was well-known how the mayor responded to such incidents.
