Rabid (Kingdom of Wolves #6) - Ivy Asher Page 0,15

to try and run again before the ceremony. That doesn’t give me a lot of time and decimates the head start I was hoping to have, but it’s doable.

Until then, I’m riding shotgun, because if they put me in the back with that squawking shrew Lana, shit will get ugly.

I just need to play it cool and then run the first chance I get.

Chapter Three

The entire ride back to pack land, I sit ramrod straight, with a white-knuckled grip on my bag. Seamus says nothing, and I don’t either. Despite being overheard, I meant every word of what I said, and not one of my pack members in the car can deny that I’m right.

The females talk quietly amongst themselves in the back of the van, all the previous enthusiasm deflated out of them like an old forgotten balloon. With practiced ease, Seamus cuts through the town and into the forest area that separates the human territory from ours. A dirt road through the woods leads past the rushing twin rivers our pack is named after.

White rapids cut a path, each river at least fourteen feet across with a wide strip of land separating them. They’re two sisters who refuse to see their similarities and get along enough to become one. Their water is tumultuous and punishing while also nurturing the land and our people since we first settled here.

In no time, we’re pulling up to the main pack house where hundreds of shifters are already gathered. My stomach threatens to lodge itself in my throat, but I know better than to risk an elevated heart rate in front of Burke. So I take a fortifying breath, forcing myself to go numb before I step out and close the door behind me.

The other females stream toward the huge circle that the pack has formed. I glance around surreptitiously for a place to stow my bag, but there are too many people around. I consider stuffing it under the van, but when I make a move to do that, my eyes snag on Seamus, who’s staring right at me.

Fuck.

I jerk my attention away and turn back to the pack, falling into the crowd. Letting myself get swallowed into the tightly packed bodies, I shove and squeeze my way forward. I need to bide my time, and curiosity has its hook in me too, pack mentality taking over the second I’m in its midst.

When I work my way to the front, I find Alpha Burke there with the person who must be the Spirit Weaver. The male has tan skin and white hair strung with wolves’ teeth and rawhide ties. His lined face is pulled into a friendly smile, but the bright orange paisley shirt he’s wearing mismatched with the pea-green corduroys really sets him apart.

This isn’t the same Spirit Weaver who came last year to perform the Flux, but since they’re so rare, even more so than healers, I’m not surprised. They’re not always available to help. Apparently, this one dresses like he’s ready to watch reruns of That ’70s Show.

“Ah, I sense our hosts have arrived,” the male says.

Burke raises two fingers to his mouth and releases a shrill whistle. Immediately, the crowd parts, letting the rest of the females through. They all gather to the front together while the rest of the pack backs away to give us a respectful distance, but I’m the only one to stand alone. How fitting.

“Spirit Weaver Yaromir, these are the members of my pack who will be taking part in the ceremony,” Burke announces, standing straight and tall, and behaving every bit like the proud and prudent alpha he pretends to be. I have to control my lips so they don’t draw up into a sneer.

Bright, wise eyes take all of the females in as the Spirit Weaver nods at them, and then his gaze lands on me. For a second, I’m frozen beneath his scrutiny, worried that he’s looking right through me and seeing my spirit inside. Will it show him the truth of what I have planned? Does he know my wolf is going to be doomed to walk the spirit world alone forever?

Just as nervous sweat begins to bead at the base of my neck, he looks away and offers the crowd a genial smile. “I am honored to perform the Flux with Twin Rivers pack. Should we get started?”

Burke nods, and like the pack has practiced this, they all turn and begin walking to the ceremony setup that’s located