Under the table, Emmitt reached over to give my hand a gentle squeeze.
“Good,” Thomas said. “Next, let me introduce you to the men who will be protecting you. This is Carlos and Grey.”
The two names on the tickets. Carlos, the muscled man with a beautiful tan, black hair, and incredibly dark eyes, nodded at me when Thomas said his name. Grey, less bulky with a head of thick, curly grey hair and merry blue eyes, winked at me.
“Both Nana Wini and Sam have examined their intentions,” Thomas said. “In addition to that, I personally vouch for them. Grey is my older brother. He has been with me through many challenges and has never let me down. Carlos has been with the pack since the day he was born. Even as a youth, he displayed tremendous courage and loyalty at the risk of personal harm.
“We don’t want to take any unnecessary risks. Either Grey or Emmitt will be with you at all times, and you will not be going to your old home, yourself. The closest we agree you should go is to the city. From there, Carlos will act on your behalf.”
Everyone’s eyes rested on me. Though in their eyes three werewolves might seem like good protection, I would rather have an Elder. Someone who could trump Blake.
“Will Sam be coming with us?” I asked hesitantly.
Sam smiled slightly. “Grey is an Elder and can communicate with us as needed.”
“Oh. I thought there were just two Elders,” I said, meaning him and Nana.
“No,” Nana said frowning slightly. “Though, our numbers do concern me.”
Sam heaved a sigh but didn’t speak.
“I think we need to give it consideration,” she said looking at Sam then Grey.
“Give what consideration?” I asked, not understanding.
“There is a candidate waiting to become an Elder,” she said with reservation.
“Waiting?” I said.
“We can’t communicate with him like we should and hesitate to allow him to take the oath,” Grey said, speaking for the first time.
“He might be the key,” Sam said. “What Winifred experienced when those two came to challenge has been noticed before.” He sighed. “But, never to the degree she experienced. We don’t give commands very often. We believe in free will, so we’ve never tested the completeness of our communication with each individual. We just send out information when it’s needed.”
He looked at Nana Wini. “What you discovered is a bigger issue. We need to think of the possibilities. The new candidate, with this communication limitation, might be able to communicate with the others like him.”
I didn’t understand their concern. If they had someone who could communicate with the others, why not use him. Nana seemed to read my mind.
“An Elder has vast power and a huge responsibility to that power,” she said. “When a candidate approaches us, we inspect their mind thoroughly. If we allowed a candidate to take the oath without making sure their intentions were honest and true, they could die.” I frowned, confused. “When we take our oath, we are bound to serve the pack’s best interest. Always. Our decisions may not be right all of the time, but they must be made with the right intentions. If we ever did anything knowing it would cause the pack harm, or wasn’t in the pack’s best interest, we would die instantly. It’s the tie to all of our kind that controls us as much as we control them.”
I stared at her, stunned for a moment. The connection she shared with all pack members could backlash and kill her? What a scary risk. Then again, putting so much control into one person was a risk, too. If there weren’t some kind of check and balance, they could grow into a power-hungry Blake.
“So, because you can’t inspect his mind, you don’t know his intentions?”
“He’s been waiting for three years. He has studied with each of us. We’ve tested him in many ways; but we haven’t been able to inspect his mind. We can touch areas of it, just like I was able to with the two that appeared last night, but not all of it. And just like the two that appeared, he can choose to ignore a direct command.”
“So, if he’s an Elder, he might be able to control them?” I wondered.
“He might. Or, he may die taking the oath,” Sam said.
Werewolves were getting more complex. Everything I knew about them whirled in my mind.
The Forlorn were on their own, controlled only by Elders, but in some cases even Elders weren’t able to communicate with them. The pack leaders controlled pack members. Through the pack leaders, the members were then fully open to the Elders. Due to the oath Elders took, pack members indirectly controlled them.
One important question swirled in the center of my mental hurricane. Where did that leave special people like me?
According to Nana, all werewolves wanted us, most protected us, but we answered to none of them. We were part of their lives but not held to their rules. Even the Claiming was different for us. They couldn’t choose us. We had to choose them. There had to be a reason for these differences.
Charlene brought us back on track.
“We can decide this later. Right now, we need to finalize the trip. I still think it’s too dangerous for Michelle, even with an Elder along. No offense intended, Grey.”
Grey winked at Charlene but remained quiet.
Dropping my gaze to the table, I considered their condition that I didn’t go near the house and the impracticality of it. I still thought Blake would only speak to me; but, even with the stipulation, the plan achieved my goal. I would be closer to Blake and further from my well-protected brothers. Going to Wisconsin put me in a better position to learn more about Blake’s real plans and would hopefully keep Blake away from Liam and Aden.
“I think it’s worth the risk,” I said quietly.
“All right,” Thomas said, standing. “The flight leaves at 10 a.m. We’ll see you at breakfast.”
So soon? I felt a little tug in my chest as everyone else stood. While Grey and Carlos left with Nana and Sam, talking about someone named Joshua, I wondered how I’d actually bring myself to leave Liam and Aden.
Charlene must have read something in my expression because she stood when I did and moved to hug me. I accepted the gesture of comfort without thinking.
As soon as she touched me, the room faded. This time when I flew through the darkness toward the growing white glow, I prepared myself to focus. I was determined to look for two things: the outcome of the confrontation with Blake and the safety of my brothers during that confrontation. If anything looked off, I’d back out of the trip immediately.
The white room closed around me, and I quickly looked about. Each image flew out of the way as soon as I decided I didn’t want to view it, and a new one crowded forward. It was like flipping through a book. Most images I barely gave a cursory glance.
I didn’t find any starring Blake but did see the one of Emmitt and me. As I focused on it, it started to play again and distracted me from my purpose. I had complete control of it, rewinding or forwarding through the scene. Before I bit him, however, the room blinked out of existence.
My consciousness returned just in time to see Charlene crumple toward the floor. Thomas’s quick reflexes saved her from a complete fall. He gently laid her down. I attempted to kneel beside her, but Emmitt caught me by my arms.
“No,” Emmitt said, pulling me back from my semi-crouched position.
Thomas already knelt beside Charlene, tapping her cheek and calling her name.
“What happened?” I asked Emmitt.
“One minute she was hugging you, the next she started breathing funny and fainted. Did you have another vision? You had that same look.”
“Yes. No.” I stared worriedly at Charlene’s prone form. “It was different. I think my ability is changing again, but I don’t know how or why. I think I did that to her,” I said to Emmitt in quiet fear.