Page 18 of In Your Eyes
I was near the scene of the challenge.
I had to stop. I had to turn around. I had to run.
But when I tried, the call within me got louder, more insistent, until I couldn’t deny it, and despite the pain in my chest, I increased my pace and ran toward the battle ring. The other shifters had long since left, so the place that would haunt me for all of time was quiet and deserted; the only signs of what had taken place there were the rocks and the blood-spattered brush.
For a few moments, all I could do was stare and whimper.
Why was I there? Why couldn’t I leave?
Somehow my questions were answered within my head. I needed to go look at the brush next to the rocks that formed the edge of the ring a few feet in front of me. Though I didn’t know what I was looking for, I moved forward anyway.
The scents of the shifters who had witnessed the battle were still thick in the air, but my father’s blood was the only smell I could focus on. Not being an emotional person, I rarely felt pain unless it was physical, and even when I did, the ache never penetrated deeper than a surface level. But as I walked over that land, I ached all the way through my core. Still, I took one step at a time, following the voice inside urging me to find something.
Even with the sun rising in the sky and light filtering in through the trees, I didn’t see it at first because it was hidden under leaves and pine needles. But then I moved, altering the angle of my gaze, and I noticed a bright reflection. It lasted no longer than a second, but that was enough. Tilting my head to the side, I moved closer, focused on the object partially buried between rocks and brush, and tried to identify it.
I was about to poke it with my muzzle when that internal voice told me to stop, not to touch. Once again, I obeyed without hesitation and halted where I stood. It didn’t take long for me to recognize the object, even without touching it—a syringe. There was a syringe in the battle ring. But why?
Blinking, I looked back over one shoulder and then the other, trying to correlate the location of the syringe to where every step of the battle had taken place. It was on the Miancarem side; that much I knew. I closed my eyes and thought back to when my father pounced and took hold of Dirk’s neck. That had been at a spot further within the ring and behind me. After that, Dirk had crawled away, toward his pack members, who had been standing….
My eyes flew open.There. I looked at the syringe. They had been standing just on the other side of the rocks, and Dirk had gone to that very spot. I was sure of it. That was where my father landed on him in his wolf form, ready to tear out his throat before everything fell apart.
It hadn’t made sense, the way my father suddenly lost control over the fight, the way he had moved with no coordination and fought with no grace. It wasn’t like him and, when I thought about it, it had come out of nowhere. One moment he was pure strength and power, and the next he was stumbling and awkward. Had someone drugged him? Was that why there was a syringe lying in the brush?
Once again, I darted toward the offending object and once again the voice inside told me to stop. I shivered with exhaustion, sorrow, and rage, my mind a jumble of thoughts. I had to do something, but figuring out what was too difficult in that moment. And then, like a beam of clarity, I knew what I had to do.
I would call the interpack council and ask them to send a witness to the battle ring so he could see the syringe for himself. That would prove Dirk Keller had drugged my father and killed him without honor and outside of pack law. It wouldn’t return our Alpha to us, but at least my pack would be free of Dirk.
With a plan in place, I was calmer, more at peace. I would find a phone, call the council, and vindicate my father. Almost immediately, I remembered I had left my clothing behind a tree. My cell phone had been in my pocket, so unless someone had thought to take my clothes home—which was unlikely given everything else my pack had been dealing with after the challenge—it would still be there.
Within moments, I had located the right tree and found my clothing. The next step would be more difficult—to use a cell phone, I had to shift into my human form.
Focusing on the man within, I tried to change into my human skin over and over again, failing each time. Seconds turned to minutes, the sun rose higher in the sky, and still I remained in my wolf form. Howling in frustration at my failure, I began losing hope. But then a calmness filled me, soothing my tense muscles, whispering soft sounds in my mind and slowly, gently coaxing my body through the shift.
Once I was in my human form, I sprang into action. I grabbed for my phone and called the interpack council leader first. There was no answer, but I left an urgent message, deciding I’d give him ten minutes to call back before ringing him again. Thankfully it didn’t take him that long. I’d had just enough time to throw on my clothes and tie my shoes when my phone rang.
My words were short, but to the point. “I have reason to believe Dirk Keller violated the rules of the challenge and drugged my father. Please send a council member to collect the proof. I’m at the battle ring waiting.”
THEURGEto destroy the instrument used to kill my father was strong, so I forced myself to stay on the other side of the ring. Too ramped up to sit or think, I paced back and forth with my gaze locked on the syringe.
I scented the council members before I saw them—Heath Farbis, who had witnessed the battle, and a man who smelled vaguely familiar from the times I’d accompanied my father to interpack meetings, but not familiar enough that I could remember his name. Though I wasn’t aware of the time, it felt like not long had passed since my phone call, making me wonder how they’d arrived so soon. My focus didn’t remain on that question, however. My only goal was to protect my pack from Dirk Keller and seek retribution for my father’s death.
“Samuel Goodwin,” the man I didn’t recognize said as he reached his hand out to me. “I’m Anthony Lang, and you already know Heath Farbis.”
My patience, which was limited on the best of days, was nonexistent by that point. Between the sleep deprivation, stress, and sorrow, I felt like a string wound so tight it would snap at any moment. Despite that, I forced myself to take his hand and shake it. My father would have expected me to show respect, and I would make him proud in whatever way I could, even after his death. A sharp pain almost brought me to my knees at that reminder, but I managed to remain upright, my back straight and shoulders squared.
“Thank you for coming.” I paused and considered whether that was enough polite conversation and I could move on to what mattered.
Thankfully, Heath was of a like mind. “The message we received said you had reason to believe Dirk Keller cheated during the challenge. Tell us what you know.”
Reading people had never been my strong suit, but I didn’t hear any animosity or disbelief in his tone. I hoped that meant they would take my discovery seriously.
“I returned here….” I faltered midsentence, unsure of the exact time of my return or even how long I’d been waiting for them. Shaking my head in the hopes of clearing away distractions, I took in a deep breath and tried again. “I returned here at sunrise, shortly before I called the interpack council leader. My gut told me something was wrong and I had to return to the battle ring to find it.” That was perhaps not the most accurate description of the voice I’d heard in my head, leading me to the ring, to the syringe, and through my shift, but it was the clearest way I could explain it. “I didn’t see it at first, but then the sun bounced off it and”—I pointed toward the syringe on the opposite side of the circle—“I realized what it was.”
Both men squinted in the direction I was pointing.
“It’s a syringe,” I said, my voice starting to shake. “There’s a syringe buried in the brush, right next to the rocks. That’s the spot where—”
“That’s where Dirk Keller shifted,” Heath said as he started walking toward the syringe. Anthony followed him. “He was in his human form, Tom Goodwin had just shifted into his wolf skin, and they had started wrestling.” Heath squatted next to the syringe and then twisted his head around and looked up at Anthony. “That was when control of the battle changed hands.”
