Chapter 166
Heather
The door opened, and we all quieted as Mr. Langdon strode in. His gray-speckled hair was more messy than usual, which was a huge sign that he was stressed. He wore a pair of sweat pants and nothing else. Not even shoes.
That meant one of two things: either he’d just been a wolf, or he was going to go wolf any second and didn’t want to destroy his favorite pair of jeans. "We’ve got a problem."
My breath quickened. I only had a few vials on me. If Luciana were here, they wouldn’t be enough.
"The wolves we had issues with last night," he said to Donovan. "They’re defecting."
I took a moment to calm down. That wasn’t what I’d been expecting—which was good—but it still wasn’t fantastic. What did this mean for the pack?
Brent started toward the door. "Where are they?"
"The parking lot, but I’m worried they’re part of a bigger problem. Some teenage Weres leaving the pack is one thing, but if Rupert did more damage..."
Even from beyond the grave, Rupert Hoel was being a pain in the ass. My patience was in the negatives and plummeting fast. There was no way I was letting those wolves get away. Not until Mr. Langdon made sure there was a clean break. We couldn’t risk Luciana using them to gain power over the pack.
We booked it from the library, racing for the parking lot. Alpha energy pumped through my blood as I prepared for a fight. It made me tingle and feel alive, as I ran. The sensation built with every step. Brent kept pace beside me, but I was in the zone, focusing only on getting to the rogue Weres.
I spotted them piling into a white SUV and a little coupe. The same group from the table at breakfast
"Stop," I yelled the command at them, throwing a healthy dose of alpha energy into it. Callista paused for a second, but then jumped into the passenger side of the coupe. Engines roared to life as they gunned it.
What the hell? That much power behind an order, and it just rolled over them?
How was that possible?
Good thing I wasn’t just an alpha. "Stop!" I put everything I had into that one word. The magic built within me—racing down my fingers—as I held my arms out, screaming the word, willing it to be possible.
Everything stopped.
Not just them. Everyone. Brent had frozen mid-step. Xander and Adrian stood a few feet behind us, totally motionless. Even Mr. Langdon and Donovan had stopped. It was like someone had hit the pause button on the world. None of them even blinked.
It took me a second, but I remembered Claudia had done this. When I first went up against Mr. Hoel, she’d frozen a whole mall full of people.
I grabbed Brent and shook him, but he didn’t unfreeze. "Wake up!"
He gasped, almost falling forward. "What the hell is going on?"
"No time. I don’t know how long the spell will hold. Let’s get them tied down."
"One second." He ran to the line of black SUVs parked in the front of the lot, and popped the trunk of the closest one. After pulling out a bag of gear, he headed straight for the white SUV. "I’ll do the grabbing. You zip tie their hands."
"Will that hold them?" Weres were strong enough to flip cars. There was no way a flimsy bit of plastic was going to stop them if they wanted to be free.
"There’s some silver mixed in with the plastic, but even that won’t hold a pissed off Were for long. But it should be enough."
"Enough for what?"
"To get them in the feral cages. Until we figure out what they’re up to, that’s where they’ll have to stay."
We worked quickly, getting all eight Weres out of the cars and bound. Including Callista and Leslie. I snuck a peek back at Serena, still frozen. This was going to kill her.
"Okay, so how do you unfreeze everyone else?"
I chewed on my lip as I scanned their unmoving forms. I had no clue how to fix it. "I’m not even sure how I did it in the first place. I guess I’ll go touch them and yell at them to wake up like I did to you." I stood up, brushing off my jeans.
"Do you think we should—"
His question became moot as everyone started moving, almost tripping as their momentum caught up with them. I jumped back from Leslie as she struggled. The rest of my friends gathered behind me.
"What happened?" Mr. Langdon’s voice was almost a growl. "What did you do?"
I wasn’t quite sure how to answer in a way that wouldn’t piss him off more, so instead I gave him a sheepish smile. "Caught them for you. What now?"
"Now, we release them." Waves of power rolled off Mr. Langdon so thick they were almost visible.
"Anyone who wants to leave this pack, leave this land now." His voice was half growl and laced with so much magic that my hair stood on end. I closed my eyes as his command tingled through my body, racing along the pack bonds.
"Those of you who have tampered with your bond are no longer welcome." His words vibrated through the magical web of the pack. Everyone in it—even if they weren’t physically here—would hear him. "Any students who leave must go back to your native packs. You will be reported to your alphas, and expected home. If any who leave interfere in our fight against Luciana, you will be treated as an enemy of all packs. If you stay and harm the pack, there will be no tribunal. You will pay the ultimate price. You have five minutes to get off our land. Do not come back." He grabbed Joseph’s zip-tied wrists. "Except you. You I want answers from."
"You can’t hold me here." His voice was full of whine. "My father’s the Alpha of the Canadian pack. I’m a student. I get to go home."
"I know who your father is. That’s why I’m keeping you until he comes to pick you up." Joseph’s face paled, and Mr. Langdon grinned. I never knew he could be scary, but I made a note to never do anything that would put me on the receiving end of one of those looks. "Yes. I’d be very afraid if I were you. Your father and I go way back. We’re going to have a long talk about what you’ve done with the pack bonds."
"It was—"
A group of wolves approached the parking lot, and Mr. Langdon growled. "Keep your mouth shut until I say you talk."
"Any Cazador who is not with us in this fight, leave now," Donovan added, and another wave of power rolled through the pack—even stronger than Mr. Langdon’s. It was like a countdown, warning dissenters to get out now. While they still could.
I kept my eyes closed, focusing on the bonds. They looked like a big spider web. Mr. Langdon was in the center and the ties spiraled out from him. Further out, a few strands were missing. And more of the distant, faint lines—the Cazadores who weren’t part of our pack specifically but tied to us through the Seven—were evaporating by the second. Then more. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. More.
I opened my eyes. "They’re all leaving." I tried to swallow down the panic, but it wasn’t working. They couldn’t leave.
"No, not all of them," Mr. Langdon said.
"But we need as many people as we can to fight Luciana."
"No." Donovan’s tone was clear and firm, leaving no room for question. "Better to have fewer people fighting honestly than more fighting half-heartedly. Or worse, working against us. Best be done with it now."
Brent took the zip ties off Joseph and the others one by one. I wasn’t sure letting Callista go was smart, but I wasn’t about to argue with Mr. Langdon. But Leslie...
Serena came to stand beside me. "You were right."
I leaned against her shoulder. "I’m sorry. I know you were close."
"If she’s leaving the pack, then we weren’t really all that close."
By the end of it, almost forty people left.
Some Cazadores. Some students. It didn’t take more than a few minutes, but it felt much longer.