chapter twenty-four
Sasha sat on her haunches at the pond’s edge and whined as she waited for Tabor to resurface. The seconds plodded along like foraging ants on the long march back to their nest until the moment Tabor broke through the surface in a cascade of droplets raining down from his nose, chin, and wet hair.
Sasha wagged her tail and watched him dunk his head under again. He rose up and splashed more water over his face, exhaling with pleasure.
The howls of her pack mates sounded closer, but Sasha didn’t answer—they found her soon enough. Aden whipped through the tall grass, slowing to a trot when he saw her. He was followed by Emerson, Peter, and Zackery bringing up the rear. One by one they shifted as they reached the water’s edge. When Zackery stood, Tabor’s head snapped up and his muscles corded. “You son of a bitch,” he bellowed, pointing a finger at Zackery.
Water sloshed against Tabor’s legs as he rushed for the shore. Zackery’s eyes went wide right before he jumped behind Peter.
“Wait a minute, Tabor,” Aden said, holding out his arms. “You have every right to be angry. We all know what Garrick and Zackery did, but the only reason we found you is because Zack did the right thing and told Sasha what happened and led us to you.”
Tabor stopped short, gnashing his teeth while Zackery cowered behind Peter.
“He should be banished right here, right now,” Tabor said.
“The pack will decide his fate—his and Garrick’s once we return safely to the hollow.” Aden straightened his back and shot Sasha a curious glance. “Why isn’t Sasha shifting?”
She turned her head and stared into Tabor’s eyes. His shoulders dropped.
“She was shot in the leg before killing her attacker. Are the other three humans dead?”
“Yeah, they’re dead,” Aden answered.
Emerson nodded. “I think we’ve all had enough action to last us several patrol cycles. We should get back. Everyone’s worried.”
“Especially Heidi,” Peter said, walking forward. “She’s been worried sick about you.”
With Peter taking steps toward Tabor, Zackery darted behind Emerson, who gave a huff of disgust and rolled her eyes skyward.
Aden released a deep breath, glancing at Sasha again. “Well, I guess her wound will hold until we return to the hollow. The bullet will need to be dug out as soon as she shifts.”
“Let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.” Emerson squinted at the treetops, frowning.
As the others crouched down to shift, Tabor remained standing as though he had no intention of joining them. Sasha gave a low, forlorn howl then pushed her animal aside, pain stinging her leg as she shifted. Blood flowed fresh and hot from her thigh and the sight made Aden and Emerson hurry to her side.
Sasha shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I need a moment alone with Tabor.”
Aden and Emerson looked at one another.
“We’ll catch up,” Sasha insisted.
Emerson’s nose wrinkled. “You should really shift back, Sasha.”
Sasha growled in answer.
“Hey, it’s your blood,” Emerson said, lifting her hands in front of her shoulders. She looked at the males standing around and flipped back her blond hair. “Let’s get going. If Sasha and Tabor don’t catch up soon we’ll come back and drag them by the scruff of their necks.”
Peter sniffed in amusement and crouched over the ground—his actions mimicked by Zackery.
Emerson’s irises pinged between Sasha and Tabor. “Try not to take too long,” she said with a sultry wink.
Aden shifted last. The others waited for him, except for Zackery who inched his way toward the tall grass like he couldn’t get away from Tabor fast enough. They all trotted off with Aden casting one last glance back before disappearing into the grass.
Water dripped down Tabor’s chiseled torso, glistening in the late afternoon sunlight. He folded his arms over his chest, which made it impossible for Sasha to do what she’d imagined the entire run down—throw her arms around him and never let go. It would have been difficult with her palms pressing firmly against her thigh, but she could have managed with one arm.
“You didn’t bring Wolfrik or Raider along?” Tabor asked moodily.
“They’re guarding Garrick back at the glade.” Sasha lifted her chin northward and locked her eyes on Tabor. “Now you want to tell me what’s bugging you, besides the obvious, before I bleed out?”
He hadn’t left her as she’d first believed—hadn’t broken her heart—but he soon would if he kept treating her with such cold indifference.
Tabor’s eyes flicked over her thigh, arms remaining folded. “Emerson’s right; you should shift back.”
“I’m not shifting back until you explain why you’re behaving like a coldhearted mongrel.”
Tabor hissed at the last word, arms dropping roughly at his sides. “I saw you with Wolfrik after the attack at the bluff. I overheard you making plans to discard me so you could be with him.”
Anger sparked like a solar flare inside Sasha’s chest. “I don’t know what you heard, but it couldn’t have been that.”
“He asked what you were going to do about me and you said I’d understand right before flinging yourself into his arms.” Tabor sneered.
Sasha groaned in frustration and pain. She rocked in place, her head beginning to feel woozy. “I told him I’d be there for him—as a friend—that you’d understand. What you saw was a brief hug between friends before we parted ways.”
Sasha’s chest rose and fell, hot air pushing through her nostrils in rapid bursts. She wanted to grab Tabor by the shoulders and shake him for assuming the worst; she wanted to smash her lips against his and kiss away the past three days. Most of all, she wanted him to join her side and show her they’d be okay.
Tabor hung his head, shaking it slowly. “I thought I’d lost you again. Twice in one day. I didn’t know how much it could hurt.” He sucked in a breath.
“I thought I lost you too,” Sasha said softly. “I thought you’d chosen to be with the wizards rather than claim me.”
“Never.” Tabor looked up, eyes flashing bright green.
“What a fine mess we got ourselves into.” Sasha sighed. “Our wolves wouldn’t have been so easily deceived. Let’s promise to always be honest with one another—to ask if there’s ever any doubt about anything.”
“In that case, tell me what happened with that human back there.” Tabor took a step toward her, arms still folded. “He’d seen you before.”
Sasha’s laugh held no humor. What were the chances she’d run into the same group of humans who had accosted her that day in the suburbs? It had turned out to be her lucky day, but it could have just as easily gone all wrong. When Zackery stopped their group to shift and explain the bit of parkland and campsite in the distance, Sasha had devised the plan of going in first in case humans had seen Garrick’s smoke signal and gotten to Tabor first. She’d worried they might be keeping watch the way they had in the suburbs and didn’t want to alert them to their whole group. She would go in first, on foot, so they wouldn’t know for sure that she was a shifter. If she got in without being seen or surrounded, she would yell Tabor’s name to signal to the group they could join her, and to distract possible humans to go looking for her while she circled round stealthily and found the pit Zackery had described to her.
She’d been shot, but they’d been lucky. It would have been much harder to get to Tabor if there had been men on lookout shooting at them before they could make it into the parkland.
Sasha inhaled sharply, trying to ignore the sting in her leg as she told Tabor that the men in the parkland were the same that had come upon them in the suburbs during their failed supply run. She told him the foul things they’d said to her, especially the one named Duke.
“I should have killed him.” Tabor grit his teeth together.
“He was mine to kill.” Her lashes fluttered. “Let’s go home now.”
Tabor dropped his arms and looked at her hands covering her thigh. “I can try and get that out now.”
Sasha shook her head. “We’ll clean it back at the hollow.”
For the remainder of the journey back, Sasha stayed in wolf form, along with Tabor and the rest of their group. They paused only long enough to drink water where they could find it and for Tabor to devour a rabbit as it attempted to reach safety beneath a wall of thorny bushes.
Upon reaching the hollow, they split into two groups—Aden, Emerson, and Zackery headed for the glade while Sasha, Tabor, and Peter continued directly to the den where Sasha waited patiently on her hind legs beneath the shadow of a tree. Tabor disinfected a sharp knife in a fire made outside the medical shed and Peter kept everyone back—telling them there’d be time for questions once Sasha’s wound was treated. They still crowded around as close as they dared. Senses alert, Sasha picked up on their agitation, along with Tabor’s concern for her. He didn’t need to say it out loud. Once they’d both shifted, he’d remained near her every step of the way—sometimes running at her side, sometimes behind, and often running ahead to make sure the path was safe.
He moved in and out of the shed briskly, his eyebrows furrowed and lips turned down. While he prepped everything, he stole quick glances at Sasha that deepened the wrinkles on his forehead until everything had been laid out and he spoke gently to her.
“Sasha, it’s time.”
She followed him inside the shed, shifted, and took Tabor’s outstretched hand as he helped her rise to her feet and lay on a blanket that had been placed on the table. She bit down on the piece of wood he gave her, nearly biting it in half when she felt the searing hot pain of the blade through her thigh. Shot and stabbed—two experiences she hoped never to repeat, though it was a relief to have the bullet removed from her body.
Heidi came in afterward to keep pressure on the wound with fresh rags while Tabor set the knife and bullet aside and scooped out salve from an open jar. Once the wound was cleaned and wrapped, Heidi handed Sasha a sundress and a pair of jeans and a top to Tabor.
As Sasha pulled the dress over her head she asked, “Where’s Garrick?”
Heidi frowned. “Raider is still guarding him in the den.”
Sasha pushed herself off the table and smoothed the dress down to her knees. She’d have to walk the whole way to the den in order to avoid reopening her leg wound. Ignoring the ache in her thigh, Sasha left the shed only to run into eighteen of the den’s adults.
Farley stepped in front of the group and announced, “We’re coming with you to make sure justice is served.”
“Garrick and Zackery should be banished!” Melissa yelled.
“Yeah!” the women around her cried.
Ford stood at the back of the group, arms folded over his chest. “That’s for the council to decide.”
“Sure, that would be fair with his son and two other elders making up the majority,” Melissa scoffed.
“We can’t afford to lose any more elders,” Ford insisted.
“Save your breath for the pack meeting.” Farley huffed.
As soon as Tabor stepped out of the shed, dressed, the group quieted and stared at him. The silence continued until Farley broke it by walking over and slapping him on the back.
“Good work, Tabor. It’s great to have you back home where you belong.”
Dana pushed her way through the group to get to Tabor, fanning her face with both hands and blinking back tears. “Thank heavens you’re unharmed. We’ve all been imploring the moon and stars for your safe return.”
Tabor rubbed the side of his nose and moved his weight from one foot to the other. “Thank you.”
Sasha was glad to see members of the den supporting Tabor, but it was time to deal with Garrick—and Zackery, though she felt their punishments should be different. She walked up to Tabor on steady legs, ignoring the throb in her right leg with every step, and reached for Tabor’s hand. His eyes met hers and locked at the same time his fingers closed around hers in a firm hold that made her chest bloom with hope that after finding their way to one another, nothing, and no one, would ever keep them apart again.
They led the way down the trail to the glade with the group breaking into twos, keeping to human form for the walk over as though in solidarity.
When they reached the glade, the unmated shifters were there waiting, standing around in groups of three or more speaking in hushed voices that died out when they saw the procession from the den. Garrick sat on a tall stump with his feet touching the ground on the opposite end of the clearing, sitting tall and proud, watching everyone as though the rest of the pack was on trial, not him. Raider stood alone on one side of Garrick, jaw shifting from side to side while Aden stood with Jager and Palmer on the other. Francine stood near her mate, hands on her hips. There was no sign of her newborn, whom she must have left at the den with Trish.
Zackery sat on a nearby log, shoulders hunched, staring miserably at the ground. No one stood around him—not even his supposed friends. The bonfire had been built up to a smoking mass and burned like a reckoning.
Once they were near enough, Jager nodded at Sasha. “Aden told us everything. It’s good to see you’re okay.” His eyes searched her bare legs, coming to a rest at her thighs where he squinted as though trying to see through the sundress’s peach-colored fabric.
Sasha’s lips drew back. “I’m not the one you should be worried about.” Her attention snapped to Garrick as she turned her body to face him. “Your life should be forfeit for what you did to a fellow pack mate, but I suppose we’ll have to settle for banishment.”
Garrick had the nerve to raise his brows slightly and shrug. “What I did, I did for the safety of the pack.”
“No, what Tabor did was for the safety of the pack,” Sasha snarled. She rarely lost her temper, but she felt her face heat as though her head had been shoved into the bonfire’s flames. “What you did was personal, but you won’t have a chance to harm another pack member ever again.”
Jager cleared his throat. Sasha ground her teeth and faced him, heart turning to stone.
“You better back me on this one, Jager.”
His shoulders dropped and that’s when Sasha noticed how very old and tired he looked. Jager shook his head sadly before speaking.
“Humans are, without question, the cruelest of the species. Our wolves are killers, it’s true, but we live in harmony with nature and loyalty to our pack just as our ancestors did before us and continue to, to this day. It is a sad day when a shifter turns on another.” Jager sucked in a shuddering breath. “A sad, sad day. As sad to this old man’s heart as the day we lost so many to the vulhena.” He blinked several times before continuing. “Loyalty is what separates us from humans. To lose that—” He swallowed loudly.
Moments before, Sasha had been impatient to run Garrick out of the hollow immediately—and to lead the charge—but seeing Jager choke up put a temporary freeze on her temper. This was a shocking blow that would affect every member of their pack.
Jager cleared his throat. “I would like to propose putting Garrick and Zackery on probation.”
The fire roared back up Sasha’s throat and steamed out her ears.
“And punishment as well,” Jager said quickly.
“Unless the punishment involves a deep pit without food or water, I don’t want to hear it.” Sasha snarled.
“We cannot afford to lose any more pack mates,” Palmer said, his voice lifting as though to address the birds nesting in the branches overhead. He looked around at the pack mates who had gathered, his gaze sweeping over Sasha.
Typical, she thought, grinding her teeth. Her jaw ached from all the pressure she was putting on it.
Palmer shook his head. “Nor can we let such treacherous actions go unpunished, which is why Jager, Raider, and I would like to propose Garrick’s immediate removal from council—for life. For Zackery’s part, we propose the gravest of all punishments, that he may never claim a mate.”
There was a collective gasp and sidelong glances cast in Zackery’s direction. A shiver of despair went through Sasha. To be denied a mate for life was considered the worst punishment—short of banishment—but it would serve as a strong and lasting reminder of his actions and a powerful warning to others. Garrick’s proposed punishment, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly grave enough.
“I agree with Zackery’s punishment.” Sasha looked over at Zackery, but his eyes were still focused on the ground. “He must suffer the consequences of his actions, but I believe he still has a place in Wolf Hollow after coming to me with Tabor’s location and leading our group there. But Garrick shouldn’t be allowed on the council or in the hollow. We should not give asylum to unprincipled, disloyal, vulgar, vile, gutless mongrels.” The insults rolled off Sasha’s tongue with many more fighting to get through her teeth.
Garrick’s eyes narrowed.
“It doesn’t matter that Garrick’s not on council; he can’t be trusted,” Hudson said.
“That’s why we suggested probation,” Palmer said. “If he steps out of line again, the council will take actions.”
“We don’t feel the current council is representing the whole pack,” Heidi fired at him. She glanced back at her den mates, most of whom nodded. “Which is why we insist on adding at least two shifters from the den to the council.”
Watching Heidi address Jager and Palmer, Sasha thought how refreshing it would be to have another woman on the council with her. Heidi would be a wonderful addition if she didn’t mind taking time away from the den for meetings and announcements. Sasha wouldn’t have thought about it before, but seeing the way Heidi spoke up and rallied the other pack members made her an excellent candidate.
Palmer put his hands on his hips. “I’m a member of the den and council.”
Heidi’s lip curled when she looked at him. “We want members who care more about the well-being of the pack then their own personal interests. The council needs fresh blood.”
Garrick cracked his knuckles and glowered at Heidi. “The council decides council business, not you.”
Peter growled. “And the pack has every right to run you out of the hollow, so I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you.”
Sasha’s fists tightened. If there wasn’t such a large audience, she would have charged Garrick and punched him repeatedly in the face for doing the same to her chosen mate.
Beside her, Tabor remained silent, as he had in the den. She hated to think he felt he didn’t have a voice in pack matters after everything he’d been through.
Jager limped his way in front of Garrick and held his arms out as though beseeching the pack.
“It’s understandable everyone’s on edge after everything that’s happened. We will discuss the matter after we’ve all had a chance to calm down.”
“Why wait?” Heidi swept back her dark hair. “We’re here now.” She glanced at the other den members in attendance. Collectively, they gave a nod of consent.
As if realizing the issue couldn’t be put off, Jager squared his shoulders. At first his jaw shifted from side to side. Then he spoke. “Very well, I call to session a public meeting. All council members are present.” He made a point of looking at each member individually—with the exception of Garrick—before continuing. “It has been proposed that two members from the den be added to the council. That would bring our council to six. As you know, we require an odd number in case of a tied vote. Therefore, I’d like to propose we add three new members to the council.”
The pack exchanged loaded glances. Whispers of “three” arose like steam from the cauldron.
Clearing his throat, Jager continued. “I propose the council include two members from the den, and that we include Wolfrik.”
An ugly grin crossed over Garrick’s lips, an expression about as pleasant as his scowl. Eyebrows jumping, he looked at Sasha as though, despite everything, he’d managed to pull a win over her.
The man was both vile and stupid. Sasha had no problem accepting Wolfrik on the council, especially when taking an active role in pack matters was an ideal way to reintegrate him into the hollow and would help occupy his time. Wolfrik knew more about the outside world than any of them and his parents had been members. It was his rightful place. As such, she was happy to be the first council member to support Jager’s motion.
“I second Jager’s proposal,” Sasha said with a challenging gaze directed at Garrick. She had to hope that Tabor would understand her support of Wolfrik was as a friend and faithful pack mate.
“I’m in favor,” Raider said without hesitation. He leaned back slightly as though resting against an invisible trunk, and looked surprisingly subdued for someone whose father had committed an unforgivable act of betrayal.
“Well?” Jager asked Palmer, a brow lifting in question.
Palmer folded his arms. “Seeing as it’s already three against two, I’d say the matter is decided whether I agree or not. Seven members of council. Very well, then I propose Francine take the extra seat for the den.”
Outcries arose at once, chorusing like howls on a full moon.
“Preposterous!”
“She’ll vote the same as him. What’s the point?”
“Next he’ll propose one of his daughters take the third spot.”
“You’re joking?” Chloe thundered from beside Heidi.
Melissa stepped forward, hands on her hips. “And who would take care of Francine’s newborn pup if she were to sit on council meetings?” she demanded.
Sasha would bet the moon the female shifter wasn’t about to offer despite her reputation as den mother.
Francine kept surprisingly quiet, but her glower spoke volumes.
“Trish,” Palmer said, tilting his head and speaking in a tone that conveyed it ought to be obvious.
Amidst the low chuckles and grunts there were louder grumbles.
“I hear Trish is sick all the time,” someone said. “She can’t take care of herself, let alone an infant.”
“He has no shame, does he?”
Even Devan crossed his arms unhappily. “Mates aren’t allowed to serve on council together.”
Picking up on his words, Jager lifted his head. “With rare exceptions, as in the case of pure-blooded mates like Sasha’s and Wolfrik’s parents.”
“I nominate Ford,” Garrick said, speaking the name of his nephew.
“You don’t get to nominate anyone,” Peter reminded him at the same time Chloe grumbled, “Sure, put two more men on the council.”
Flynn joined her side and patted her arm in a gesture of comfort.
Feeling alert to everyone around her, Sasha had listened with sharp focus to the pack’s comments. The time had come to voice her thoughts. The sooner they nominated members for council, the sooner their new members could decide Garrick’s fate.
“I nominate Heidi to the council,” Sasha said.
Heidi’s eyes widened in surprise.
Bracing herself for protests, Sasha drew in a breath, preparing to defend her choice. But as quiet settled over the clearing, pack members turned to one another in quiet discussion. Peter, who had been standing near Devan, walked over to his mate. “Is this something you want to do?” he asked in a low voice.
“I don’t know,” Heidi said, pressing her hands to her cheeks.
“You would make an excellent council member,” Chloe said. “Wouldn’t she, Flynn?” she asked, turning to her mate.
Flynn nodded on cue. “Yes, yes, she would.”
“The perfect choice,” Melissa said with an approving smile directed at Sasha.
“Heidi?” Peter asked, stepping in front of his mate to give them a bit of privacy. Several seconds later, he moved aside.
With a stoic nod, Heidi released a deep breath. “If the pack is in agreement, it would be my honor to join the council on behalf of the den and all of Wolf Hollow.”
Raider shrugged and Palmer sniffed, but neither of them protested. Garrick could do nothing beyond glower.
“Are we in agreement then?” Jager asked. “Heidi on the council?”
“Yes,” Sasha said.
“Yes,” Raider echoed.
Palmer nodded.
Jager lifted his chin. “Is the pack in agreement?”
“Yes,” came the collective response.
Jager nodded. “Then it is settled. I officially proclaim Heidi as a council member.”
Den mates surged forward to congratulate Heidi, some offering her advice, while others wasted no time putting in requests.
Jager cleared his throat. “Unless there are any objections to Wolfrik, I propose we swear him in as well.”
“I want nothing to do with the council,” Wolfrik said.
His voice jolted Sasha—she hadn’t noticed him until he’d spoken. Now he prowled out from the shadowed trees and stood apart from everyone with cool detachment.
“And what of your pack?” Jager asked. “Do you want nothing to do with us?”
Vacant eyes drifted over the gathered shifters as though they were another pack Wolfrik had happened upon in the woods. That brief moment of vulnerability Wolfrik had shown her felt like a dream—one she’d never experience again. Even if he did open up to her again, he’d never allow another pack mate to get too close to the truth. Wolfrik had always been proud and considered anything less a sign of weakness. Chills ran up and down Sasha’s spine. She had an urge to wrap her arms around her abdomen.
Finally, he answered in a faraway voice. “Wolf Hollow is my home. I will not leave it again.”
Those words should have brought Sasha some comfort, but they did not. They were spoken with no sentiment, no heartfelt sense of loyalty or belonging. She’d hoped that after sharing what he’d been through in captivity, he could begin to heal.
As though to confirm her worst fears, Wolfrik trained his hardened gaze on her and Tabor. “So long as everyone leaves me alone, we can all live together in peace.”
Sasha swallowed back her disappointment.
“That’s not how a community works,” Jager said.
Wolfrik’s eyes narrowed. “I know better than anyone how things work in the hollow, and I’m not bending over for anyone—certainly not for the council.”
“Your pack needs you,” Jager tried, one last time.
A bitter smile formed over Wolfrik’s lips. “Tabor can protect you better than I ever could. The pack doesn’t need me. All I need is a place to sleep and hunt. The hollow will do.”
With those last haunting words, Wolfrik stepped back into the shadows, which appeared to swallow him whole.
Like a flame snuffed out by the wind, Sasha’s hopes for Wolfrik’s involvement in pack matters died out. She’d be there for him as a friend if he ever needed her, but she’d never run after him again. It was now up to Wolfrik to rejoin the pack—not just in body, but in spirit. After the horrors he’d been through it would take time, but she had to believe that one day his heart would find its way back home.
“I would like to volunteer myself for council,” Ford said, bringing the attention back to the glade.
A silent growl scratched up Sasha’s throat. Ford himself didn’t bother her so much as his relation to Garrick. Then again, Raider was the bastard’s son and she was happy to have him on council. Maybe Ford wouldn’t be so terrible.
“I think Ford would make a great addition to council,” Palmer said, “and he’s a den mate.” He raised his brows as if to say, what more do you want?
“Works for me,” Raider said.
“I have no issue with Ford on council,” Jager said. “Sasha?”
She was already outvoted and since no one around them had raised any objections she nodded.
“I suppose Ford’s relation to Garrick shouldn’t prohibit a placement on council, though he would be wise to learn from his uncle’s mistakes,” she said.
Unlike Garrick, Ford didn’t shoot her a nasty glare, merely gave a curt nod of understanding.
“Since we need a seventh member of council, I’d like to nominate my eldest, Emerson,” Palmer said.
“Knew it,” Melissa muttered.
“I’m fine with that,” Sasha said. She wouldn’t mind another woman on council and, again, didn’t hold parentage against other shifters so long as they had a mind of their own, and Emerson had already proven her loyalty to Tabor twice now.
“As am I,” Jager said. “Raider?”
Surprisingly, Raider clenched his jaw and made it appear as though they would have to pry his answer from his lips. Garrick smacked his fist against his thigh, staring intently at his son, but Raider refused to look at him.
“Raider?” Jager asked again.
“Fine,” Raider said, teeth still clamped together.
Jager brushed his palms together and smiled. “Good. It’s settled. We have our new council.”
“Nothing’s settled,” Sasha reminded him and all the shifters around them. “A traitor still sits among us. Removing him from council isn’t enough.”
“I vote that he stay,” Ford said.
“You haven’t been sworn in yet,” Sasha growled, “and I see my warning has fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps we should rethink your inclusion.”
“I’m with Sasha,” Heidi said. “Garrick is a danger to the hollow.”
Ford folded his arms across his chest. “However misguided Garrick’s actions were, he believed he was acting in the interest of the pack. And he’s not the only one with concerns. He’s just the first who took action.”
“Against the shifter who saved the hollow,” Heidi said, stomping her foot on the ground.
“Heidi’s right,” Peter said. “We wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation if it hadn’t been for Tabor’s heroics.”
“I think the pack should decide,” Chloe said.
“Yeah,” Hudson hollered. “How many in favor of banishing Garrick?” He raised his hand.
Other arms went up and more followed until over half the hollow had their arm—or both, in Hudson’s case—above their heads.
With a smile of vindication, Sasha faced Garrick and said, “Looks like the pack has decided.”
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” Jager said, waving his hands then lowering them when Patrick snickered and said, “Look, Jager’s raising his hands too.”
Jager snarled, a sound that shut Patrick up. Seconds later, Jager clasped his hands together and turned beseeching eyes at Raider. “Surely you wish to speak up on your father’s behalf?”
Raider mimed one of his father’s shrugs, giving his dad the briefest glance. “If the majority of the pack wants him gone, I wouldn’t think he’d want to stay, but if we did give him a second chance, we need to reiterate the terms of his probation. It should be agreed upon that any offense, no matter how minor, would result in immediate and absolute banishment.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Jager’s head bobbed eagerly.
“No,” Sasha said. When she turned to Tabor, all the animosity whooshed out of her, replaced by a well of sadness drowning her vision and turning the forest into a blur both beautiful and blinding. How could she call this place home if Garrick stayed? He’d almost taken away the love of her life. Tabor had been willing to sacrifice everything for her. It was her turn to do the same. The greens of his irises came into sharp focus, but before she could speak, Tabor opened his mouth.
“Let him stay.”
A collective hush fell over the glade. Sasha’s head jerked. She must have heard Tabor wrong.
He spoke louder. “If he left he’d just find another pack to bully and betray. Let him stay and face judgment for what he did for the remainder of his life under the watchful eyes of shifters who know his true nature. Let him stay and know what it’s like to be an outcast.”
Garrick’s face turned beet red as his eyes locked on to Tabor’s. They stared each other down, neither looking away even when Jager jumped in to say, “I think that’s fair. Wouldn’t everyone agree that sounds fair?”
“Fair would be beating him unconscious, marching him through the wasteland without food or water, and throwing him into a pit,” Sasha said. “Lucky for Garrick, Tabor is more tolerant than I.”
Tabor steepled his fingers. “My charity only extends so far.” His eyes narrowed on Garrick. “Try and touch me again and I’ll make what I did to the vulhena look like a kindness compared to the punishment I’ll inflict on you.”
Garrick had the good sense to avert his eyes while the rest of the pack held their tongues at the blatant threat. Not even Ford protested.