I turned toward the others.
The basement was the largest room of the Bennett house, and mostly sparse. The wolves tended to congregate down here after the full moons, sleeping on top of each other in piles, sometimes shifted and sometimes not. The humans had grown to need it almost as much as the wolves, with Rico loudly complaining about the amount of naked related people before usually passing out on top of a mound of overgrown werewolves.
The far side of the basement had a large room off to the side, separated by a sliding door. The door and the room itself were reinforced with steel. Abel had it built decades before for young wolves still learning to control their shifts. He would stay with them, along with their parents, in order to keep the rest of the pack safe. Thomas had hated that room, thinking of it as a prison, promising that he’d never use it as his father had. Carter and Kelly hadn’t been old enough by the time the pack had left for Thomas to fulfill that promise. But Joe had, and instead, Thomas had taken the pack to the clearing.
But he’d forced something that night, regardless.
Your arms are glowing, Ox had said, eyes wide, face pale.
Ox, who now stood tall and strong, arms crossed over his chest, eyes red as he watched Philip Pappas prowl the edges of the room. Joe stood to his right. Mark was on his left. They’d all dressed, at least partially. Joe and Ox wore jeans and nothing more. Mark had on a pair of sweats and a loose T-shirt. He was still favoring his arm, though it looked as if the skin had mostly mended.
Ox said, “Gordo. Watch his eyes.”
I did.
Pappas was half-shifted, but it was like he was trapped, like he was trying to shift completely but couldn’t. He moved on his hands and feet, his claws scraping along the floor. What remained of his suit hung in tatters off his body. I could see my handprint on his leg, the skin still charred. It had only begun to heal, but it was moving slower than it should have on a wolf of his size and stature.
His eyes were dark.
And then orange.
And then dark again.
He bared his teeth at the sight of me.
Then came the violet.
It was only a second. But it was there.
“Dammit,” I muttered. “I saw that earlier, but I didn’t—I thought it was a trick of the light.”
“I don’t understand,” Mark said. “It’s not supposed to be like this. His tether isn’t latching. Like he’s lost it, somehow.”
“Does he have a mate?” Ox asked. “Did something happen to them?”
“He was fine when he was here earlier,” Joe said, a frown on his face. He looked so much like his father at that moment that I had to look away. “If anything, it would have been after he left.”
Mark shook his head. “It wouldn’t have happened this quickly. It takes… time.”
“Tell that to my father,” I said without meaning to.
The wolves all turned slowly to look at me. Mark looked shocked.
“What?”
“That’s… I don’t know what that is,” Ox said.
Joe squinted at me. “Did you just… make a joke? I don’t know if I’ve ever heard you make a joke.”
“It wasn’t a joke. It was an observation.”
“He can be funny,” Mark said to his nephew. He frowned. “Sometimes.”
“He wasn’t feeling well earlier,” I said, trying to get them to focus. “When I was talking to him. There was a moment when he looked… I don’t know. Ill. Like he was getting sick. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but….”
Ox was staring at me again. “When were you talking to him?”
Shit. “He was trying to poach Robbie. Told him that Michelle would welcome him back if he wanted to.”