Heartsong (Green Creek 3)

I jerked upright. That voice was real.

“Come outside,” it whispered.

It took me a moment to recognize it.

Malik.

I glanced down at Ezra. His face was slack as he snored loudly, lips flapping slightly with each exhalation. I moved carefully to avoid waking him. I stepped over him before bending over to lace up my boots. I glanced back at him once more before heading toward the door.

The stars were bright in the sky above the farmhouse. The moon was hidden behind a fat cloud, casting everything in shadow. Malik stood near the porch of the house. He put a finger to his lips as I approached, jerking his head toward the house.

I nodded in response. I was curious about this. About what he wanted. Why it had to be such a secret.

He began to walk away from the house toward an empty field.

I followed him.

I kept a few feet between us. I’d heard three separate, slow heartbeats from the house, so I knew his pack was sleeping and not lying in wait. I didn’t know this man, but I didn’t think he was stupid enough to try to start something. Not if he wanted to avoid bringing down the might of the Alpha of all on his pack.

In the distance, far from the house, a large structure rose at the opposite end of the field. It was an old silo, and he led me toward it.

He moved quickly and quietly, not quite jogging, but his legs were longer than mine, and I had to hurry to keep up.

The cloud moved away from the half moon. My skin thrummed. I jerked my head to the right, sure there was another wolf running beside me.

There wasn’t.

We were alone.

He stopped about three hundred yards from the silo in the middle of the field.

A breeze blew through the tall grass. It sounded as if the earth was whispering.

He asked, “Can I trust you?” again without looking at me.

What the fuck was going on? “Yes.”

“What I am about to show you will stay between us. Do I have your word, wolf?”

I hesitated, but it was brief. “Yes.”

“Your first instinct will be to shift. Don’t. Your second instinct will be to speak. Don’t. You’ll stay still. You’ll stay quiet until I say otherwise. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Quiet as a mouse.

I thought I heard my mother laugh.

“As we get closer, you’ll feel magic. You’ll….” His shoulders slumped. “It’s there for a reason. No one can know. Not any of your wolves. Not your Alpha. Not even your witch.”

Magic? How the fuck was there magic? “I don’t know if I can—”

He whirled on me, eyes blazing. His hand was around my throat before I could take a step back. “You must,” he growled at me. “Many things depend on it. If you speak even a word of what you see, then all the death that follows will be stained upon your fangs and claws as if you were the one who dealt the killing blow.”

I didn’t struggle. I brought my hands up and circled his wrist. “Okay, I get it. Christ. Let me go.”

For a moment he didn’t. Instead his hand tightened around my neck. I flashed my eyes at him, a bright beacon in this dark field.

His own eyes faded back into darkness.