Page 17 of Savage Prince

“We’ll find allies,” I say, rolling my shoulders back. “We will. There has to be someone. You’re just not thinking hard enough. There has to be someone on campus with powerful parents who’s on our side.”

He pulls in a breath, but hesitates, cocking his head. “Actually, yeah. There was. But she left a few days ago. Under weird fucking circumstances.”

He tells me the story of Diana, our friend who was cursed into the body of an owl, and the bloody footprints that led away from the owl’s corpse found in the woods.

Diana, the young woman who also happens to be the younger sister of the Alpha chosen to unite the packs of North America.

“That’s it,” I say. “That’s what we have to do. We contact her brother, tell him what happened, and ask him for help.”

“He’s in mourning,” Ford says. “I told you. In the note she left behind, Diana said she didn’t want him to know that she was still alive. She thought it would only make things harder if she wasn’t able to break the curse in time.”

“We don’t have to tell him she’s alive,” I say, though I’m honestly not sure that’s the best policy. If Diana only has two weeks to break this curse, wouldn’t it be better for her to have some help? But I push that worry aside for now, knowing we won’t be able to help our friend until we help ourselves. “We’ll just tell him what happened with Hammer and that we need backup. If he’s the chief Alpha of North America, this is part of his territory, and no decent leader is going to tolerate another Alpha coming in and taking over without his permission.”

Ford nods, but his brow is furrowed.

“What?” I ask. “What am I missing?”

He shakes his head. “Maybe nothing. But I…” He glances my way. “We don’t know much about this guy. Only that he went to war with his brother and destroyed access to a parallel dimension while he was at it. Diana seemed like a good person, but her brother might not be. And even if he is, he has his share of enemies. If he steps in here, it could lead to war all over again. He might not be willing to risk it for a school where his sister was killed before she even officially got in.”

“But we have to try,” I say. “Right now, this guy is the only solid lead we have.”

“You’re right,” he says after a beat. “And he’s not that far away. His pack is based in New York. If we steal a car, we can be there by tomorrow morning. We should try to get a face-to-face meeting. This isn’t the kind of request you make over the phone.”

“Do we steal cars on a regular basis?” I ask, thrown by how casually he threw that into the mix.

He shrugs. “Sometimes. We also…”

I wait for him to continue. When he doesn’t, I prod, “We also what?”

“Nothing,” he murmurs. “It isn’t important. I smell gasoline. There’s a town not far away. Let’s figure out how to get some clothes, find something to eat, and we’ll take it from there. Maybe we’ll find someone willing to loan us money for a bus ticket to New York. If we can avoid stealing, it’s probably for the best. We don’t want to attract attention from the human authorities or any of the shifters around here. At least not until we know whose side they’re on.”

“Okay,” I agree, torn between demanding he tell me what he’s holding back and the voice in my gut that assures me I don’t want to know.

I’ve only been alive in this refreshed body for about an hour and it’s already clear my last incarnation wasn’t an easy one. I was nearly killed by my own father, fell in love with my stepbrother, and have numerous friends in terrible danger. If Ford’s keeping a few cards close to his chest for my own good, I should let him.

But I already know I won’t.

I’m one of those people who hungers for the truth, even when it hurts.

And my old truth is going to hurt, I can tell that already.

NINE

ford

The first townwe come to is so tiny there’s not much there aside from a gas station, a marina that’s seen better days, and an abandoned church high on the hill, overlooking the crashing waves.

That’s not really surprising, though.

The original founders built Lost Moon where they did partly because of the land’s distance from human settlements. The area has become more populated in the last fifty years, but it’s still a rugged, hard-to-access area without a lot of economic opportunity for people who might want to live and work here.

I pop the back door on the church, and we search the interior for supplies, but come up empty-handed aside from a few swollen cans of canned goods in the corner by a sleeping bag that reeks of unwashed human. Not wanting botulism—or body lice from the bag—we head back into the woods, still naked and hungry.

But at least we haven’t been caught.

Hammer has to have men looking for us, which means the farther we can get from Lost Moon today, the better. Deciding what little strength we have left would be best used by shifting and covering ground faster, Juliet takes to the air just above the treetops, where she can quickly dip back down and hide, if necessary. Wolves are native to the area, so I won’t attract undo attention if a human spots me out for a run. The same can’t be said for a mythical bird with feathers every color of the rainbow.

By afternoon, my stomach is snarling loud enough to scare the squirrels away long before I pad into their territory and Juliet is stopping to rest more often. Shifters are stronger than humans, but we also burn through calories much faster, especially when we change forms. And if we get weak enough in one form, it grows increasingly difficult to shift back.

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