We spend the next fifteen minutes filling Aries in. No one is happy about tonight’s dinner, but they can't think of another way to get Paige and Kiara out of there safely. Even if the Avynwood Pack stormed the Diaminsey, Paige and Kiara could be killed. We're going to have to play nice, and that means us going there for dinner. Lucky me.

Rion is fuming. He doesn't want me anywhere near them, but there's nothing else to be done. In all honesty, I'm not afraid. Not even a little bit. What I am is worried about my friend. That's my sole purpose in going there. To get her and Kiara free. Neither deserves to be mixed up in this.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. Removing it, I see my mom texted me.

Mom: Did you leave school early?

I completely forgot she’d be alerted if I didn’t show up in my classes. Time to lie.

Me: Yes, I wasn't feeling well. I asked Paige if she could drive me. We went to her house since it’s closer to the school.

Mom: You have to tell the school when you leave. They called me asking where you were; saying you and Paige didn't show up for your next class.

Me: I thought I was going to throw up. I'll probably stay here tonight. I don’t want to move at the moment. I’ll be home tomorrow after school.

I’m not sure if she’ll buy it. She’s a nurse. She always insists on taking care of me. The one thing in my favor is that she’s at work still. Also, the fact that both of Paige's parents are currently traveling for business. No one would know if I'm at her home or not. I do have to get her car to her house, though.

“On it,” Ford states and teleports away. He’s turning out to be someone I can seriously count on. As much as I hate him hearing my thoughts, it does come in handy at times.

Mom: Are you sure you're okay? I can come pick you up after work.

Oh, no. She can't do that. I won't be there. I'll be hours away having dinner with wolves.

Me: I'll text you if I feel worse, but honestly, I’m already feeling better.

It helps that this isn't the first time I've been sick at Paige's. It's common practice for us to stay at each other's homes even when not feeling well.

Mom: Okay. Get some rest. If you need me, I’ll come right over.

Me: Thanks, Mom.

“Okay, I have my alibi in place. Mom thinks I'm at Paige's house and Paige's parents are out of town, so both of us are covered,” I tell Rion.

Ford pops back into the room minutes later. “Her car is at her house. Everything looks good. You might want to erase me teleporting into the parking lot and then to her car, though. I had to dodge police as well. I can’t remember who on the force is a shifter and who isn’t. They were there investigating the wolf sighting. From what I heard, however, only one teenager saw it and no one believes the story. You’ll have to cover yourself back at school tomorrow, Ari. They’re going to wonder why you ran out at the same time.”

Cace leaves to tell Cash to take care of the video of Ford teleporting. I’ll use the same lie I told my mom for school tomorrow.

“I can't believe our only option is to let you walk into their home tonight,” Aries says, with his head in his hands where he sits on the couch. We migrated into a large sitting room so we could sit down.

“If you storm their home, they'll kill Paige,” Ford states grimly.

“I know. I just wish we had another way.” He glances up at Ford. “Are you sure you can't teleport in there?”

He nods. “I tried. I'm blocked. Javen must have been telling the truth.”

“I don't want you going,” Rion says to me.

I turn to where he sits beside me. “It doesn’t matter what you want. My friend is in danger, and I'm not going to sit here and do nothing about it.”

“You're human, Ari. You could get killed.”

“They gave their word.”

He barks out a laugh. “And you believe them? You know nothing about them.”

“They aren't going to hurt her,” Ford interjects. “I read Javen's mind when he thought I was only talking to Ari. They have no ill will with her. They merely want to talk but knew the only way she would was if she had no choice. They don't want to hurt her.”

“Or he learned how to project what he wanted you to hear in his mind,” Aries interjects.

Ford shrugs. “Anything’s possible. It’s a wolf’s word, however. That’s a pretty strong assurance.”

“You’re right. We don’t give our word for just anything. We do it when we mean it.”

Rion stands abruptly. “I can't believe all of you. You're fine with my mate walking in there? To handle things she only recently learned about? She doesn't know anything about our pack politics or the way things work between rival packs. And let's not forget that we're on the brink of war.”

“Maybe Ari can help calm the rift between our packs,” Aries says. “Maybe she can stop the war before it happens.” Here we go. I don’t know what kind of voodoo these wolves think I have.

“Hold on,” I state. “I'm going in there to listen to whatever little talk they want to give me, then I’m going to get Paige and Kiara, and leave as fast as possible. I'm not going in there to negotiate or anything else. I'm not part of your pack or any pack. My friend was taken, and I need to get her back. Kiara, who has done favors for me, is being held. She needs to be freed. I get that you're looking at the bigger picture, but that stuff needs to be handled between Aries and Travis. I'm no one in this battle. Everyone keeps telling me I play a huge part, but I have yet to see it. I honestly just want my friends back.”

“I know, Ari. And we'll get them back. You're taking two strong wolves and a vampire with you. I'm only thinking ahead,” Aries says. “My guess is Travis has an ulterior motive by getting you there. He's not going to want to have a small conversation. He wants something from you.”

“He wants her to join their pack,” Ford states. All heads swivel toward him. “That's what I read in Javen's mind.”

I breathe a sigh of relief and send a silent thank you to Ford. The last thing I want is for Rion to find out about our conversation with Wake.

My stomach growls in hunger. Rion turns my way. That’s not embarrassing at all. I can’t help it that I missed lunch. I need food and a nap. This day has been crazy, and I barely slept last night.

Rion takes my hand in his, lifting me from the couch. “Come on. Let's get you something to eat.”

I turn toward Ford and say in my head, “I want to talk to you after I eat. Meet us in Rion's room in a bit. I'm going to suggest he take me there to rest. I have a favor to ask.” He nods subtly.

Rion leads me through the house to the kitchen, where two women are cleaning dishes and preparing food for dinner. My phone vibrates again. This time it's Brayden. I tell him the same thing I told my mom. He says he wants to come by later to check on me. I text back that it's not necessary and I'll see him in school tomorrow. That I'm in no shape to see anyone else. Fortunately, he acquiesces. I should have thought to text him earlier. No one else will care about me not being in school. Sometimes it's good to only have a few friends.

After filling my stomach, exhaustion hits me full force. I ask Rion to take me to his house so I can lie down. I don't tell him Ford will be paying us a visit.

Five minutes after we get there, Ford appears. Rion and I are sitting on the edge of his bed. “What's up, princess?”

“Why are you here?” Rion asks. This time it's not done in a growl or an irritated snarl; it's a simple, tired tone.

“Ari asked me to come.”

“Okay,” I start. “I'm going to ask Ford something and, Rion, you can't stop me. No matter what I ask or say, it's my decision and you need to respect that.”

“I don't like where this is going,” he says.

“I do,” Ford replies and rubs his hands together.

Here goes nothing. I face Ford. “I want you to give me more of your power.”

Ford lights up like a Christmas tree, while Rion looks like he's about to internally combust.

“Have you lost your mind?” Rion yells. “You want Ford to bite you again? Wasn't it enough the first time?” His face gets redder with every word. I'm surprised steam isn't rising from his ears.

“Hear me out. I'm walking into a pack of wolves tonight. I have zero defense, outside of being able to teleport. What if I can't get out of there fast enough? What if they do try to kill me?”

“If they get close enough to try and kill you, that means Cace, Ford, and I are all dead. The chance of that happening is slim to none.”

“I know, but it can't hurt to have another power no one there knows of. And let's be honest. The deeper I get into this paranormal world, the more my life seems to be in danger. More powers would be a good thing.” My only defense is to teleport. I used to have no problem being a simple human. That was until I was immersed in this paranormal world where I’m a catalyst and a dream watcher.

“What kind of power were you thinking?” Ford asks.

“Is it possible to be invincible?”

He laughs. “You can become immortal, but I'd need to change you to a vampire for that. What do you say?” He waggles his eyebrows. “Join us. Become one of the undead.”

“No!” Rion shouts. “Absolutely not!”

“While I don't share Rion's hatred of me becoming a vampire, I'm not sure that's for me.”

“What about the ability to heal instantly? If someone were to cut you, you'd heal. Bite, heal; anything shy of decapitating you, you'd heal,” Ford suggests.

“Wouldn’t that make me immortal? I’d heal from anything.”

“You’d still age normally. You wouldn’t have to worry about cancer or other illnesses, however. That is, until you mate with Rion. Then you’ll gain his gift of a long life.”

“Say what now?”

“When a human mates with a shifter, there is a transfer of power, so to speak. You’ll get to live as long as Orion if you can keep your head attached.”

“Now I remember. I read something about it in Lealla’s series.”

“You need sleep, Ari,” Rion cuts in. “You should rest then decide something like this.”

“I'm tired, sure, but my mind isn't going to change just because I took a nap.”

“Let's do this,” I tell Ford. Not that I’m looking forward to him biting me again, even if it was an amazing euphoric experience. But this could help me have an edge over Travis and his pack.

“Okay, but there's a catch,” Ford says. I quirk an eyebrow. “I can't give you that power. Well, technically I could, but it might be a weaker version of it. That power was given to me by my mother. I inherited it. It’s not like teleporting. This is your life we’re talking about. My mom is much older and stronger than me.”

“How old?” I have to know now.

“Four thousand.”

“Years?” I ask in a high-pitched voice. Ford nods. “That’s insane!” Wow. I’m going to meet a four thousand-year-old vampire. “One day, I'm going to ask you to write all this down for me. My head is going to explode with information overload.”

He chuckles. “Do you want me to ask her?” I nod. “Okay, give me a few. I have to find her. My parents tend to travel around a lot.” He snaps, disappearing out of sight.

Rion shakes his head. “I can't believe you're doing this, Ari. You're choosing to let a vampire bite you for the second time.”

I shrug. “It's not like she's going to drink my blood. She's only passing on one of her powers. Think about it. I might be dead if I couldn't teleport. Wolves chase me in my dreams. You have no idea what that's like. I can't outrun them, Rion. They aren't there to play fetch.” He gives me a pointed look. “Okay, bad dog joke. Sorry. You get my point, though. I have to keep myself safe when you can't. And truth be told, I don't like relying on other people to always be around, watching me, protecting me, putting themselves in harm's way, just so I'm okay. Why do that when I can gain the power to do it myself?”

“What if all this power changes you? What if you aren't the same Ariane I fell in love with?”

“Is that what all this is about?” He can't be serious. It’s not like I’m going to get this power then throw myself on a sword. Or decide to taunt the wolves.

“Partially.”

“I think you're grasping at straws. You don't want me to go through with this, and you're trying to find any way to convince me not to.”

He peers into my eyes. “I love you, Ariane. I don't want anything to happen to you. You're my everything.”