Chapter 14: Say It Out Loud

I went down to the water in Merrick's flannel with my hair dripping.

Merrick walked a step behind me. He had not been told to, and he did not need to be.

Pippa was awake. She stood in the cabin doorway with a poker in both hands.

On the far bank, Lorna swayed in her gold robe, barefoot in the frost.

Two hunters waited on the pack side, thirty yards back, by the willows. They did not cross the water. They did not come closer.

They were close enough to hear.

"Bri," Lorna said. Her voice was thin and wet. "Please."

"You can talk from there."

"I can't stay long. He sleeps for an hour after he's been loud. I walked out the kitchen door."

"Then say it fast."

She wiped her face with her sleeve. The gold ring in her eyes was thick tonight.

"It hurts," she said. "She hurts. She fights me every minute, and she's so strong, and I can't make her stop."

"That's my wolf."

"I know whose she is." Her mouth shook. "Take her back. Cross the creek, put your hands on me, and take her back. Please."

"The Keeper said you have to give her freely."

"I can't, I don't know how, I don't..."

Her face went smooth.

Her shoulders squared. The tears stopped, and the gold swelled across both eyes.

"Briony," said Garth, out of my sister's mouth. "Come and collect her. Tonight. I'll have the hunters stand down."

I felt Merrick go hard beside me.

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