"No." She shook her head as she motioned to her wings. "Demon stuff negates the wolf, remember?"
Theo nodded as he considered this. "Why do you suppose that is?"
Not able to help the sigh that escaped her, she gritted her teeth. "I am not really in the mood for an intellectual discussion on this."
"Are you angry with me? Is this somehow my fault? I mean other than the fact that I infected you."
Faith opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. Was she? Truthfully, Faith could feel rage sprinting through veins consuming her body and she had no idea the source of it. Sure, she was stuck on the ceiling but why was she yelling at Theo?
"I am incredibly mad at the moment and I can't tell you why that is." The quiver in her voice alarmed her. She was either about to start ranting or crying, neither of which she particularly wanted to do nor would either option be helpful to her.
"It's the demon." Theo sighed. "I'm so sorry Faith. It's one of the reasons I hid in the woods. The demon's emotions are not normal for us, and that makes us dangerous."
Faith's hands started to shake of their own volition. Theo's explanation made sense and considering how off kilter she felt, she could easily see why he would have hid from this.
"So you're worried I'm about to go off the deep end then?"
Faith's mind whirled and a thousand different thoughts consumed her at once. At her core, she was a pragmatist. They'd been given this ability--whether they wanted it or not--and there had to be a way to use it.
"I am."
At least he was honest. She could see the worry lines starting to form next to his eyes. This was just what they didn't need, something else Theo could blame himself for. Like a light dawning in front of her eyes, Faith suddenly knew how they would catch the traitor.
It was brilliant, it would work, and it required her to stay like this, at least for a little while.
"Theo, my love, I know what we're going to do."
"To get you off of the ceiling?" His eyes lit up like he thought that was a great idea.
She shook her head. "No. I know how we're going to catch the traitor."
"I don't think that should be our focus right now. We seem to have a more pressing concern." He raised his hand to the ceiling to point at her wings.
"My plan requires the flight."
"Really?" His tone of voice changed to a conspirator playfulness. "Do tell."
"We need to get outside and we need to find Tristan and Ashlee right now."
"But what if you fly away?"
"Darling, I would always come back to you. Change into your wolf form and see if you can catch me."
With a wink, she flew from the room, just making it through doorway without banging her head. Maybe she could control this transformation and use it to help them with their traitor problem. Then she'd figure out how to get back on the ground. She hoped.
Chapter Eleven
The woods were quiet. The clearing where Theo stood with Tristan and Ashlee was silent in the way only unused green space could be. It was like nature had decided since they hadn't bothered to take advantage of this particular area in a long time, she was going to go ahead and refurbish it with her bounty. Three deer ran by undisturbed and Theo noted that the Alpha couple stared at them as longingly as he did. When was the last time the pack had simply run together or given their wolves the chance to just be wolves? Theo had no excuse--he'd had a year of it, which was more than enough time even for his furry half, but if they lived through the next couple of weeks he was going to speak to Tristan about giving everyone a little leisure time.
He would kill to be able to communicate with Faith right now. But he could neither reach her telepathically nor call out to her with his own voice. His wolf paced restlessly and Theo clamped down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from shifting so he could join in the sensation. This was Faith's plan. He needed to trust her to do her part to carry it out.
Do you suppose she's ready? I can't even smell her to figure it out. Tristan's voice held strain. His brother never had liked the unknown and today they were counting on it to work.
If you could smell her so could everyone else and then the stealth aspect of this would be for naught.
I know you're right but I--
Hate this?
Yes.
Me too.
Theo stared intently at his brother. The future of the pack hinged on the next few minutes and Tristan looked as cool as he could ever remember seeing him. If everything went according to plan, Cullen and Summer would arrive momentarily in their wolf forms as if they'd just come from a run through the woods.
A rumor, cleverly started by Summer, passed through the pack that Tristan was holding a secret meeting between Theo, Cullen, Summer, Ashlee, and himself to discuss the traitor problem and work out a plan of attack against Kendrick. No one was supposed to know about the so-called meeting except that Summer had accidently broadcast specifics of the meeting meant for Ashlee's ears alone to part of the pack. By now, all of the members should know about it. Word spread fast on Westervelt. On cue, Cullen and Summer arrived, shifting from their wolf forms as they entered the clearing.
Whoever showed up next to spy on the meeting was their traitor.
Tristan had seemed shocked by Faith's deviousness but Theo wasn't. His mate had an incredible brain.
Cullen cleared his throat and Theo realized they were too silent. If they wanted this to look like a meeting, they had to play their parts.
"It distresses me to no end that all of our brothers are not here." Tristan kicked at the ground in front of him and Theo smiled. "What are you grinning at?"
"You have been doing that since we were children. Anytime you get really annoyed by something or distressed you kick at the ground."
"Perhaps we could save the childhood reminiscing for another time." Cullen rolled his eyes and Theo's wolf growled. The older man never had much of a sense of humor.
Summer hummed to herself and rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes.
"Speaking of annoying childhood habits." Ashlee glared daggers at her sister who rolled her eyes.
Clearly there was way too much familial baggage in the pack at the moment. If he got a chance, and the demon left them, he was taking Faith on a long vacation. Silently, he also gave thanks she wasn't someone's sister and he wouldn't have to spend the rest of their lives together listening to her yell at one relation or another.
A sudden thought struck Theo and he reached up to rub his chin. Faith knew nothing about her family. Even being back with the pack, she clearly didn't remember her parents. He must have known them. Who were they?
"Cullen, I have a quick question."
"Yes, Prince Theo?" The older man raised an eyebrow.
The sound of a twig breaking behind them cut off Theo's next statement. Five pairs of eyes turned in the direction and a growl issued from Tristan's throat. No one had expected it to be so fast. Before his eyes, Tristan leapt faster than Theo had thought possible for either shifter or human. He looked like a blur of light as he jumped into the woods, only the reverberation of his angry howl filling the air.
Oomph sounded and Ashlee shouted in horror.
"It's Rex." Her words were barely a breath as she ran after Tristan, shifting into half-wolf, half-human status and followed her mate. Her face and hands looked canine while the rest of her remained human. It was safer for her if she needed to fight.
Rex? Their baby brother? A spy for their dad? Something didn't sit well with Theo and he knew he'd better figure out what it was quickly before a betrayed and outraged Tristan tore Rex to shreds. Raising his eyes to the sky, he looked around vehemently. Where was Faith? She should have landed or been the one to pick up Rex, as the plan had been.