Chapter 478
Before I could say anything, Alannah removed her shoe and lifted a pot, revealing the same rune on the bottom of her foot. Ternen looked pale as he grabbed his hair and pulled back his ear, displaying his own rune. My mother looked at them, then turned to me. “What are these?”
“Parasitic runes,” I said, sinking back into the chair. “Abby’s was a draining rune. Vince is trying to drain the children of pack members who, I assume, wouldn’t blindly follow his plan to revolt.”
My mother scoffed, then fell silent. “You’re serious?” I nodded. “But how would he even know they wouldn’t follow him?”
I shrugged. “Maybe it’s small things. Like with Rick.” I pointed at him. “Vince wanted him to go against Dad; Rick refused. He woke up with the rune on his neck. When that didn’t sway him, Vince targeted Abby.”
Shelly stumbled back against the table. Her eyes, glossy with unshed tears, met mine. “Amy? What does his rune mean?” She turned to me.
I reached out and took her hand. “His rune is called the quickening. It enhances a wolf’s power with an extra boost. It was used in ancient battles to give a pack an advantage if they had lower-ranked members or fewer numbers.” She nodded. “But his was poisoned.” Her fingers tightened on mine.
“What does that mean?” Her question was soft. Rick took her other hand.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, leaning toward her. She pulled away to look at him.
“Of course it matters. Vince was trying to control you with it. I know it’s not good.”
Rick seemed to crumple against her. “Don’t hate me. If I’d just done what he wanted, we would have been fine.” His voice was muffled against her shoulder.
Shelly rubbed his head. “I could never hate you. You’re the other half of my soul.” She paused. “But if you’d worked with Vince to ruin another alpha for his gain, I know I couldn’t have looked at you.”
Rick pulled back, confused. “You think I made the right choice? Even with Abby? With everything that happened?”
“There are few things I would say mattered more than our daughter. None, actually. But you didn’t know he was going to target her. You did the only thing to stay true to a friend, to yourself, and to the goddess. How could I hate you for that?” She looked at me. “What does his rune mean?”
“Vince has traps all around the forest to catch wolves that get too close to the pack lands. He needed someone to use to catch them, to overpower them, to use the power he drained.” I turned to Rick. “Vince used the quickening rune on Rick to channel all the power he’d drained into him. But—” Rick hung his head, then finished, “But the power is too much. Whenever he called, I had to search for the wolf. I could burn off some of the power, but not much. The rest burns through me.”
“Why didn’t you ever attack Vince?” Toya interrupted.
“Because he couldn’t. It was part of the rune’s corruption. Rick couldn’t attack Vince or he’d drop dead.”
“I couldn’t leave you and Abby in Vince’s hands. So I played along, pretended to be on board with draining Abby for power.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry.” I could see his struggle. Shelly shook her head, but Rick needed to finish. “Please don’t hate me.” He grabbed her face and kissed her. “When Amy saw us, Vince had Verity there—the witch working with him. She kissed me. I hated it, but I had to play along.” Rick dropped to his knees. “I felt so dirty afterward, but I could feel the burn coming on, and I couldn’t move as the power flooded into me.”
Shelly looked down at him, then turned to me. “Is he telling the truth?”
I nodded. “Verity went to him. She kissed him, then left. Right after I took off, allowing him to catch up while I was using my magic. The forest was draining my power and funneling it into him. It was probably more power than he’d ever felt.” I looked down at Rick. “The rune is killing him, but despite that, he did his best to help me. Even when I was just a random wolf, he didn’t know. But he refused to put you and Abby at risk. I can’t say for certain if he’s lying, but I can tell you that no matter what, you and Abby were his main concern.”
Chapter 479