“We should take her into the house,” Alarik finally said, taking Bayla out of Bastien’s arms, not without their eyes meeting for a moment. They were not hostile, as I would have expected, but scrutinizing, cautious.

And then something happened that no one had expected. Bayla's body began to tremble. Slightly at first, then stronger.

“What's happening to her?” Emely asked, and for the first time, there was fear in her voice.

“Something's wrong...” Amara finally said and began to whisper something I didn't understand. She put a hand on Bayla's forehead, which was now filled with beads of sweat.

Bayla's body vibrated and vibrated, then a deafening rumble of thunder sounded above our heads, and lightning flashed across the city.

“What the...” Mia gasped, and I pulled her to me.

The ground began to shake slightly, and the storm above us thundered powerfully, almost threateningly. The wind swept thousands of leaves into the air, blew away Emely’s jacket and shook the facades of the house.             

Then it started to rain.

This damn storm...

To make matters worse, countless disturbed ravens shot over our heads and... formed a circular formation.

I watched in shock as the noisy animals grew in number, but no one around seemed to notice.

“Amara, what about the girl?” Alarik asked aloud, because the thunder was ear-splitting.

Something dark was settling over the city at that very moment. It had started a few weeks ago when she had come here, but I had suppressed that uneasy feeling in the back of my neck day after day. Bayla was the trigger for something in this city, the key to a lock. Her appearance had set something in motion, and a deep, knowing feeling made its way into my consciousness. The feeling that this town would soon perish. And we with it.

Chapter 68

Emely

As if paralyzed by the events of last night, I stood at one of the windows of the entrance to our estate and stared out into the expansive garden, toward the meadow where Hunter and Cody were training my little brother, Finn. The smiles on their faces seemed so surreal, like they were living in a different world than I was at that moment.

Whatever had happened in the Quatura neighborhood yesterday, it would take me a while to process it.

Alarik had taken me home with him, and we hadn't said a word to each other the entire journey. Not a single one. When we had finally arrived, I had asked him if he would tell Father about it. And he had done so.

Father knew. And he had locked himself in his office.

I knew he was sitting there staring at the chessboard, knew he was racking his brains, fearing that if a human and a witch had been attacked, we would be next. He assumed the DeLoughreys were trying to give us a warning.

What if he was right? What if they were plotting to kill us all?

I fought the urge to rush up to Alarik's apartment and tell him about the connection to Bayla.

If there was one thing I didn't like, it was losing track of things and not knowing what was going on.

“Dimitrio,” I heard my father's exhausted voice through the office door. “No, there have been no further incidents.”

I looked up, turned to the double doors, and carefully crept over the floorboards that didn't creak until I reached the frame.

“However, I don't know how long this will last, and I'd like to know the pack is safe.”

Who was he talking to on the phone?

“That's why I called you.” He cleared his throat. “To be more precise, to take you up on your offer.”

I listened intently. An offer? Then it could only be an Alpha... And since Father had been seeking a pact with the Russian Alpha for years, I knew it could only be Dimitrio Rolanow.

“My daughter is old enough.” My breath hitched. “If your son wins the traditional games, he is worthy of her hand.” My heart stopped beating. “Yes, I'm sure of it.” My father's voice sounded more and more distant to my ears, and it was as if the strength was draining from my body. “My daughter is ready to be his wife.”

His wife?

With trembling knees, I slid down the door frame. Heaviness settled on my chest and pushed me further down until I was crouched in front of my father's office with my back pressed against the frame.

Glistening tears that I didn't know where they came from escaped my eyes, ran down my cheeks, gathered on my chin, and dripped down onto the olive-green blouse.

He wanted me to marry someone? Not just anyone but the son of the Russian Alpha... The son of the most powerful Alpha in the world.

Overwhelm and confusion became a confused mixture in my increasingly heavy chest. It was as if someone who meant a lot to me had thrown me off a cliff and promised me that the impact wouldn't be hard. But I fell, completely confused and powerless.

He hadn't even asked me...

I stared at my trembling knees, giving in to the increasingly heavy lump in my chest.

Behind the door, my father was talking to the Russian Alpha, but the content of his words no longer reached me.

Marriage... Me? How was I supposed to manage that? I didn't know how to love, and even less how to...

No. Stop.

I hastily wiped away my tears.

What was I doing here?

I had to be strong. I couldn't let this spark of selfishness get the upper hand now. I had to trust my father. He did everything for this pack. Just as I would do anything for this pack. There was a reason he accepted the Russian Alpha's offer. I was his key to an alliance, something that would help him against our family enemies, something that would save the pack from the Ruisangors.

Why was I even crying?

I stared at the family portrait in front of me on the hallway wall. That family picture from 1810, where Jeremiah Copeland had his hand around the shoulders of the first Esadowa woman to marry into this family. Tayen. In front of them, their five sons.

I stifled a sob.

Father had given me a job, and just as Tayen had probably gotten it from her father, to ensure the survival of the tribe and the survival of the Senseque, I would protect my family and the pack from the danger out there, do everything in my power.

Everything would be fine.

I would make Father proud. Finally.

Chapter 69