A Wicked Ritual by Emilia Hartley

Author:Emilia Hartley [Hartley, Emilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-03-04T05:00:00+00:00

Ness

Ryder wanted to…bring in new people? The thought stunned me and left me stuck. Ryder moved on ahead, leaving me a few paces behind while I processed what he’d said.

New people? New shifters in the pack?

But this was the only pack I’d ever known. If we changed the pack, would it still be the same pack that I’d sacrificed so much for? I didn’t like this idea of change. I knew what to expect from my old pack.

I didn’t want to put my trust in new people only to have them let me down later. Oddly enough, I was more comfortable with the cold looks from my old packmates. At least I knew where they stood.

Fuck, this was confusing.

I followed Ryder down the path. The smell of rot grew stronger and stronger, as if Alvin had been here moments ago instead of days ago. That should have been enough to pull me out of my thoughts, but I got trapped in the whirling torrent inside my head.

These new people were going to have to earn my trust. If Ryder expected them to fill positions of power within the pack, I would be on guard twenty-four/seven again. They were strangers; any one of them would be capable of doing horrible things.

Thor could vouch for them, and his word would go a little ways. Still, I knew from experience that bad people could hide in plain sight for a long time. Alvin had gotten away with it for years…

No. He hadn’t. Most of the pack had known, in one way or another. They’d gotten glimpses of Alvin’s dangerous side. Catriona had felt the sting firsthand when her sister was chased out of the pack.

Chased.

I had a creeping suspicion that Catriona’s sister was six-feet-under, but I wasn’t about to bring that up any time soon.

Chest tight with apprehension, I opened my mouth to tell Ryder that I would think about it. Before I could utter even a syllable, he threw his hand out to stop me. I ran into his arm, earning a quick glare from him. He held his finger to his lips, and I gave a quick nod.

Ahead, the park trail split. There was a well-worn path to the right and a break in the undergrowth to the left that seemed new. The smell of rot wafted from the left. It was so strong that I had to hold my hand over my face. Still, that barely protected me from the oppressing smell.

A soft crackle, like branches breaking, came from the left. Ryder stiffened. When I scented the air, I tried to sniff out whoever might have been hiding out of sight, but the smell of death was too strong in the air. How could Alvin have left behind such a strong scent?

For a moment, I had a hopeful thought, that we would push through the undergrowth and find Alvin dead in a small grove. Alvin had used the ritual arcana against me several times since he’d come through this way, though.

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