Chapter Seven

Renn takes a deep breath and looks around, trying to assess the situation, making sure that no one else is around them to hear.

“Come on, let’s go to our special place,” he says as he grabs her hand and pulls her with him.

The cave isn’t too far, but it is tucked away a bit off the beaten path. From what they could tell, no one else knew of this place, which calms Gabi a bit when Renn suggested that they talk there.

Once they reach the cave, there is an awkward silence between them. They are close to each other, so close that normally it would seem uncomfortable to be standing this close to someone, but it isn’t.

Gabi stares at Renn with worry and tension in her eyes. She tells herself she has to tell him. He has to know.

“Gabi,” he says in a soft tone but still lined with concern. He lifts his hand and brushes a dark tendril that had fallen against her face and tucks it behind her ear.

It takes everything Gabi has not to lean into his touch.

He places his hand on her arm and begins to rub it. “Whatever it is, please tell me?”

She looks again at Renn with his silver hair pulled back at the nape and his silver eyes filled with worry and yet something else. Can it be love? No, what in the moon is she going on about. This is Renn, her friend and nothing more.

She takes a deep breath before she breaths out in a hushed tone, “I wasn’t able to transform into a wolf.”

Renn looks at her confused. What does she mean she wasn’t able to transform into a wolf? She is one of us. Her mother was a wolf, and her father was definitely a wolf—a cruel, ruthless wolf. But a wolf, nonetheless.

Gabi continues, “According to Oka, my mother ran away from the clan after mating with my father. Somehow, they found out that she was pregnant and went on a mission to track her down and take what they felt was rightfully theirs: me. My mother was killed for her betrayal to the clan and to my father.”

Renn is frozen in terror with everything that Gabi is saying. A vague memory comes to him about being at a house and seeing his father and brother transition into their wolf forms before storming into a house while he stayed outside with his brother, Mori. He shakes his head for a moment; he always thought that was nothing more than a dream. However, this still didn’t explain why the Moonkeeping Rite had failed and she wasn’t able to transform into her wolf.

“I think this might be the house that they found my mother staying at. Renn, if that is true, maybe… maybe I can find something to tell me about my history and why all this is happening,” Gabi says and then is quiet as she continues to try to get a read on Renn’s reaction.

Still emotionless, Renn slowly moves around the cave processing all of this.

They can’t go to Dyrk and ask him. He will never tell them the truth about what happened, and besides, if he finds out that Gabi didn’t transform, Renn could only imagine the worst being done to her. Setting her as the example of what happens when you break Dyrk’s rules. No, there is no other solution but the one that will still kill them for breaking a rule. Never run away from the clan. But are they really running away? They are simply looking for a logical explanation to why Gabi didn’t transform at the Moonkeeping Rite. Either way anyone looks at this, Dyrk will only see it as betrayal, and there will be blood shed to pay for the betrayal.

He turns and looks at Gabi and gives her a small smile. “We need to go to this address and see if we can find anything about your mother and your past that will solve all this.”

Gabi looks at him with utter shock.

She starts to shake her head. “No, I will not have you leave the clan and risk your life. I couldn’t.”

He grabs her face with both hands. “If you think that I am going to let you walk out of here and leave the clan with no one to look out for you, then clearly you are mistaken.”

Look out for me? What about him?

“What about your knee? If we have to run…”

Renn drops his hands. “Please, I can still outrun you, bad knee and all. We just have to be careful and make sure we cover our tracks so they can’t get to us so quickly.”

Gabi turns and walks away from Renn. She stops a bit away from him and closes her eyes as she tries to make a decision. On the one hand, it would be great to have Renn with her while they go on this journey, but on the other, if they are caught, then they are both dead. She doesn’t want to risk his life; he is still so young and has so much to live for. He might even be better off without her and be able to find a mate to settle down with. A wolf that is part of the clan, part of the pack, and loyal to her father. She shivers at the thought.

“Renn, you have so much to live for. You can’t risk all that just for me. I am not worth it,” she says as she lowers her face to hide her tears.

Renn walks over to her and lifts her chin up with his finger. She can see the fire in his eyes as he speaks. “Don’t you ever talk like that about yourself ever again. You hear me? Gabi, you are worth dying for.” There is an awkward pause between them before he continues. “Besides, I have already made my decision, and I am going with you. End of discussion.”

He releases her chin and starts to look around the cave to see what they will need to help with their getaway.

****

“OKA!” Dyrk yells into the corridor as he pushes the double doors open to find the old lady.

Oka is sitting at a table, stirring some moon awful ingredients that smell wretched.

“Where is she?” he bellows.

“Who?” Oka answers.

“Don’t play coy with me, you old hag,” he threatens as he puffs up his chest in defense.

“Careful, Alpha. This body may look old and fragile, but my spirit is strong, and my power is fierce.”

He steps back for a moment and weighs the situation. Relaxing his shoulders, he tries again. “Where is Gabi?”

“Gabi? Last time I saw her was up on the cliff,” she answers before continuing to add ingredients and stir the concoction she is working on.

Dyrk’s patience is wearing thin. All he wants to know is if his daughter was able to go through the Moonkeeping Rite. Did she finally find her wolf? Then and only then would he truly know that she belonged to him. He always had a doubt, but nothing to truly go off of. She smelled like a wolf, and she could hear and talk to wolves when in their wolf form. Why she couldn’t be like all the other teens her age was something he could not find an answer to, unless…

He shakes his head.

“Did the Moonkeeping Rite go through? Did Gabi transform into her wolf?” Dyrk asks in a seething tone.

Oka shrugs. “It’s possible, but it’s also possible that I could have messed up the ritual, and we will have to wait until the next full moon.”

Dyrk chest is moving at an unusual rate as he breaths and tries to control his temper.

He turns and walks out from the room and continues to walk quickly through the corridor and stops when he sees someone of usefulness.

Baine.

Baine straightens when Dyrk stops right next to him. He can tell that the Alpha is definitely angry about something, and if he had to bet, he knew exactly what that something was.

Dyrk closes his eyes as he clenches his fist, and through gritted teeth, he says, “FIND HER.”