Carrie stood looking at Tristan Kane. She’d not seen him in forty years and somehow she suspected that if he knew she thought of him as Gabe’s little brother who still hadn’t found his way in the pack, he’d object to such a description.

She had to readjust her expectations immediately. There was nothing about Tristan Kane that didn’t scream Alpha. His eyes stayed permanently wolf and although he appeared exactly the same age and always would, for at least as long as he remained

Alpha, his gaze held a worldliness she’d never seen in him before Gods, once upon a time I wanted to sleep with him.

Her wolf laughed. That was before Gabriel. And if Tristan had ever really been interested you’d have run for the hills. No one compared to our beloved. Ever.

Her gaze shifted to the person she’d avoided looking at since she’d entered the room. To the right of Tristan stood his mate, staring at her with as much concentration as the Alpha.

Carrie tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “You have Victoria’s eyes.”

Tristan’s mate flinched like she’d been struck. “You claim to have known her?”

“I knew her quite well. My best friend on Westervelt. I never did get to say goodbye. I’m so glad she went on to live a happy life.”

“Summer looks much more her equal than me. But, yes, you’re right. I have her eyes. You’ve either been coached to know that or somehow you know everyone here even as none of us know you.”

Tristan rose. “Do not address my mate again.”

“As you wish.” Her wolf wanted to lower her eyes, her head. They’d not sworn loyalty to Tristan yet. Time would tell if she could count on him as an Alpha. He’d have to wait until then to earn his submission from her. She kept her head up high. Even if it hurt. A lot.

“My pack tells me that you claim to have knowledge of us even though we do not know you, wolf. They also inform me that you are aware of my brother Gabriel and where he has gone.”

It all came down to this. Tristan would either believe her or he wouldn’t.

“Do I have your permission to make a case for myself?” If he just wanted her to beg, she would do that too. Better to know where she stood before she got started.

“You do.” He didn’t move, his gaze making her skin crawl with the need to fall to the floor and whimper.

“I knew a lot of you when you were born.” Her throat threatened to close up. She hadn’t expected the power of her emotions, the years away making her vulnerable. If they rejected her she had nowhere else to go, no one to help her “But most of you are older than me.”

“Go on. I don’t smell deceit on you.” Ashlee spoke out, moving to join her mate where he stood.

“I’m not lying. I won’t ever tell you untruths. This place was heaven; only none of us knew that, right?”

She looked around the crowd. The whole pack had gathered. Cullen Murphy, who had terrified all of them when they were young, stood next to a woman who had to be Summer, Ashlee’s sister. Carrie sucked in her breath. For just a second, it had looked like her old friend stood in the room again. Victoria had risen from the dead to join her in this moment of reckoning.

Azriel, the one Gabriel always worried the most about, stared at her from older eyes. He’d aged and mated. To his left was a face she never expected to see again.

She pointed at the woman with brown hair streaked with every color imaginable. Carrie’s heart flipped. “You’re alive.”

Az’s mate acknowledged her with a nod. “I remember you. Kendrick held you prisoner too. He made you work with us. You did everything you could to save me.”

“I thought you died. All of his creations die.” Tears finally exploded from Carrie’s eyes. Enough. “You can’t know how sorry I was. I did everything I could, but I was powerless there. Trapped by a bargain Gabriel made for both of us. His intentions were good. None of us could have known back then just how long this would go on.”

“My name is Leah.” She let go of Az’s hand and stepped forward. “My wolf saved me. It wouldn’t answer Kendrick’s call but it did come for Az and Tristan. I made it.”

Leah embraced Carrie like they’d known one another for years instead of just a brief instant of hell when Kendrick had transformed the other woman into a fake wolf. No, Carrie had to readjust that thought. She’d been a real wolf; Kendrick had tried to make her a fake one. He would have flipped out if he’d known he had a Westervelt unmated female under his thumb all that time. Leah was the daughter of a woman who had escaped Westervelt and mated a human. Kendrick hadn’t known what he had.

Leah pulled back. “She doesn’t lie to you, my Alpha. Kendrick had this woman trapped the entire time I languished there.” Leah returned to Az’s side. Pride swelled Carrie’s chest that she managed to not scream for Leah to please not leave her there alone.

Tristan nodded. “Continue.”

“I knew Gabriel my whole life. He scared me, like you scared me.” She looked straight at Cullen when she said that. Her former teacher scowled before rolling his eyes. “All of you were larger than life. And then one day Gabriel, who had never spoken a word to me other than in instruction, announced that he was my mate. That he’d known for years. It really threw me for a loop.”

“Why can’t we remember this?” Michael, the teacher, the calm one, asked. She’d not noticed him before that. There were too many things in the room, too many forgotten smells, sounds, and sights. This moment couldn’t be more important and yet she found she couldn’t focus as clearly as she needed to.

“Kendrick and Gabriel made a deal to save my life.” She took a deep breath. “In exchange you would all forget me. I would not die. I would stay with Kendrick and Gabriel would feed his father whatever information he needed to stay one step ahead of you.”

The room exploded with noise. Tristan held up a hand and they all silenced. Yes. That was the kind of power an Alpha should have. Absolute authority. But did he wield it kindly, or did the son share more than just his dark good looks with his father? “Do you mean to imply my brother is a traitor?” Carrie stood up straighter. Now or never.

“No. Kendrick believed he had created a traitor, but he found Gabriel a difficult spy. My beloved never told his father anything he could use. Your father bemoaned it endlessly but he didn’t dare get rid of Gabe. Not when he was being fed small tidbits of things that never added up to much.”

Cullen surged forward to stand next to Tristan. “Like what? What pieces of information did Prince Gabriel feel were worthless enough to feed to our enemy?”

“I’m not sure of all the details. I was a prisoner. Whatever I gleamed was what I overheard from Kendrick and Drea when they weren’t paying attention.”

Tristan started to speak and Carrie hurried to finish. He needed all the information before he passed judgment. “If it means anything, Gabriel lost his wolf that day.

Kendrick tricked him and has had his wolf hostage this whole time too.”

“I’ve seen my brother shift many times between that time and now.”

Carrie nodded. “From what I understand he could look like a wolf, but the wolf part of his soul went missing. Leaving him all alone.” She felt deep inside herself where his soul still fit. She wouldn’t let him die that way. Not alone. Not without her.

“Someone could go mad from such a thing.” Michael shook his head. “That explains much of his behavior.”

“And…” She really needed to make his case. Tristan had to want to rescue his brother, not leave him to perish at the hands of his father. “He’d had enough. He showed up to kill Kendrick, which I believe he would have done or died trying. For some reason, he became convinced it would no longer end my life. I’m not exactly sure why. He doesn’t seem to be particularly coherent after all this time. But Kendrick tricked him and gave him back his wolf while dosing him with another curse that has made him lose himself completely.”

The room stayed silent at her explanation. Tristan stepped even closer. “What does my father intend to do with my brother? Kill him? Torment him? Dissect him for parts?”

“To have him lead Kendrick’s wolf army against you.”

Ashlee sat down on the edge of her husband’s chair. She looked deflated. Even Tristan had paled at the news. No one spoke; no one even coughed.

Carrie’s skin crawled with goose bumps. She had to say something. It couldn’t be left like this alone. “I take it by the way no one is speaking that Gabriel is still the best trained warrior wolf.”

Michael nodded. “If he has gone to Kendrick then we are lost.” Michael’s eyes sought Cullen’s. “Perhaps it’s time to disperse. Give him Westervelt. We’ve had to move before. This is our third pack location.”

“And once before we were spread out. When I was a child, that was the case.” Cullen added. “We can keep out children safe.”

Carrie didn’t want to speculate exactly how long ago that had been. Cullen might look about thirty-five, but he had hundreds of years behind him.

“No.” Tristan’s response resonated throughout the room, which fell into hushed tones again. “We came here because it is magic. This island sustains us as nowhere else ever will. Angel proved that when she pulled the Westervelt chest out of the lake. We belong here. He does not. He lost that right, and even if I have to rip my brother limb from limb I will not leave this place. I love my children as much as any man could. We will do our best to shield them, but this is our last stand. We’re not leaving Westervelt.”

He turned to Carrie and she felt the full-on blast of his Alpha power hit her square in the chest. She actually stepped back two feet. “Angel is here?”

“Right here.” A female stepped out from the crowd. Dark like her brother but with her mother’s high cheekbones and eyes, Angel could be nothing else than a Kane.

“I carried you to the boat. Your mother entrusted you to me, to get you off Westervelt.”

Angel visibly swallowed before answering. “Thank you. If you’re telling the truth about any of this. If none of us can remember her then we only have her word to go by. No offense, but before we prepare to destroy a Kane, I think it would be smart to confirm who she is. Cullen, can you remember her? You knew me when no one else did.”

“No. I have no memory of her. My memory of you, Angel, came because I believe Mary Jo wanted someone to know who you were, someone to remember when it was time. After that Tristan’s powers heightened and we got all of the females back in our memory. Except for this woman.” Cullen looked Carrie up and down. “If I ever worked or trained her I do not remember it.”

“That’s because it’s Kendrick’s witch’s curse. I’m not sure what to do.” Carrie hugged herself. If everything she’d said hadn’t convinced them, what more could she do? If they wanted she’d go around the room and tell each of them something about themselves from when they were younger. Still, the argument could be made that she’d been coached on all of it.

“I can help.” A beautiful woman with long flowing brown hair stepped out of the crowd. “If Drea or one of her cronies made a curse, I can lift it. With a little help from Ashlee.”

Carrie gasped, taking two steps away. “You’re a witch.”

Having never cared for them before the curse, her years dealing with Drea had done nothing to improve her opinion on the horrible crones.

“Talk to her like that again and I’ll rip off your face. I don’t care who you are.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Rex. Enough. She has reason to mistrust me. No one here save Tristan liked me at first. Not even you.”

Carrie hadn’t recognized Rex. He’d grown darker, if that was possible, more intense. Certainly his eyes aged him, maybe even more than Michael’s did. And he’d clearly mated a witch.

Stranger things have happened.

Thanks. Her wolf didn’t seem to be helping much.

“Give me your hands please, Carrie.”

She didn’t move. Touching a witch did not rank high on the list of things Carrie wanted to do.

“Please. My name is Elizabeth Willow. I hate Drea. She kept me a slave for years until Rex rescued me. And I use the word rescue very loosely here.”

“Hey.” Rex objected to the crowd. “I got her out of there.”

“I’m the reason Kendrick must be stepping up his plan. They can’t send their wolves in magically anymore so it’s time for a full frontal assault.”

Ashlee walked up behind Carrie and placed her hand on her back. “I can see the curse on you. It’s shielding you from Tristan’s vision. Nasty-colored thing. Brown and squiggly. Can you see it, Elizabeth?”

“No,” the witch answered. “But if Carrie will trust me and you’ll help I can get it off.”

“Please.” Ashlee’s eyes met hers. Even though she knew it to be Ashlee and not Victoria, she couldn’t help but want to do what had been asked of her as if Victoria had been the one doling out the request. She couldn’t have raised a bad person. If Ashlee trusted Elizabeth, then Carrie would too.

She placed her hands in Elizabeth’s, surprised at how rough they felt. This woman hadn’t lived a life of luxury. At some point, she’d been scraped up and callused.

“Thank you.” Elizabeth nodded. “Ashlee, would you begin the spell? Carrie’s a wolf. We’re going to need to use some wolf magic to accomplish this. Together we’ll get it done.”

“Little one,” Tristan interrupted. “Do not harm yourself.”

“I won’t.” Ashlee rolled her eyes and Carrie stifled a laugh. “He’s never going to stop calling me little one. I’m thirty-frickin’-three years old.”

Ashlee touched Carrie’s back. “I call upon thee, Watchtower of the West. Protect this pack and those who support it. I call upon you for sanctity against those who would cause us harm.”

“Good.” Elizabeth whistled through her teeth. “Give me more.”

“That’s very powerful old magic, Ashlee. Where did you learn it?” Carrie hadn’t heard it since childhood. Very few female wolves could manage it.

“Sometime when this is over I’ll tell you about my experience with Tristan’s aunts.” Carrie jolted. “They didn’t die?”

“Another time.” Ashlee nodded at Elizabeth. “I call upon thee, Watchtower of the South. Protect this pack and those who support it. I call upon you for sanctity against those who cause us harm.”

Ashlee moved around Elizabeth, gripping her other arm. “I call upon thee, Watchtower of the East. Protect this pack and those who support it. I call upon you for sanctity against those who cause us harm.”

Carrie shivered. The room had dropped at least five degrees. The pack remained fixated on Ashlee’s every word. This couldn’t be the first time she’d done this. Still, the largeness of the powers she addressed made Carrie want to howl.

“Almost done.”

“I call upon thee, Watchtower of the North. Protect this pack and those who support it. I call upon you for sanctity against those who cause us harm.”

“Now I’ve got it.” Elizabeth waved her hand in the air. Lightning whipped into the room, striking in front of Carrie’s feet. She would have jumped backward but Ashlee held her in place.

“It’s still there.”

“Nasty one,” Elizabeth growled. If Carrie didn’t smell witch on her she’d think her part wolf. “This is a Drea special. No matter, I’ll kill it.”

Elizabeth slammed her hand down on Carrie’s shoulder. Colors swirled before her eyes and the earth tilted on its axis. Her stomach heaved and she felt gratitude she hadn’t really eaten or she might have thrown up all over Elizabeth’s shoes.

“Come on, you. Go away.” Elizabeth clapped her hands. “Now.”

Ashlee squealed before letting go of Carrie. “You got it. All gone. It just … dissipated.”

“Yep.” Elizabeth brushed her hair out of her face. “It was nothing.”

Rex came up behind her. “Nothing for my witch.”

Carrie slumped over on the floor. It felt as if someone had taken a string that had been holding her upright and cut it off. She had nothing to keep her standing. She just … couldn’t.

The floor felt cold. She wanted to close her eyes and sink into it. Would the earth take her home? What would happen to Gabe now if she vanished?

“Tristan.” Ashlee’s voice called her attention, but she couldn’t bother to see what he wanted.

Pack. We have no pack. No mate. Her wolf sobbed. Alone.

“It’s going to take just a few seconds.” Elizabeth spoke but Carrie had no idea what she meant.

A warmth started in her toes and made its way up her spine. Suddenly the cold floor didn’t feel quite so frozen. Her insides heated and she could raise her head.

Murmurs filled the room and Carrie’s head filled up with sounds she hadn’t had earlier. Conversations, feelings. What was going on?

Tristan kneeled down over her. “It’s the pack. You’re feeling us again.” He extended her hand and she stood up. “I can feel you.”

Tears streamed down her face. Yes, this was pack. Home. Family. Community. She didn’t have to eternally live alone with Kendrick. These beings belonged to her and she to them.

“Sister.” Tristan kissed her on both cheeks. “Curse or no curse, how could I forget you?”

He sounded remorseful and his face had dropped its stern Alpha stance. Instead, the Tristan of old looked at her through wolf eyes.

“Not your fault. Kendrick made it happen. I’m sorry he did. Gabriel thought we could beat him like this, if only we didn’t die. Well, if only I didn’t die.”

“And how could I blame him?” Tristan smiled down at Ashlee before returning his attention to her. “I am mated. No one harms her. Ever. I think if any of the men had the chance to make that choice, they would have done the same. Not that he won’t have to be punished.”

“Punished?” She gulped.

“We’ll work that out later.” He put his hand on her shoulder and her wolf shuddered.

Do it.

“My Alpha. I give you my allegiance. I give it to the pack and to you. I give it for myself and for my mate, who is lost to me at the moment.”

“He’s coming back.” Tristan embraced her. “And I take your allegiance, sister. Welcome home.”

Carrie nodded. It wouldn’t really be home until Gabriel returned whole and solid again.

“It’s nice to be out of the cold places.”