Page 71 of Touched By Moonlight
How would everyone here react if they knew exactly what Iwas?
The recreational room ran half the house, a clear indication of Grayson’s devotion to the pack’s children. A bar, its cabinets locked, sat off in a corner with tables for the adultsenjoyment.
But when I reached the large screen television console, where five boys and girls played an intense video game, I didn’t seeCarmen.
“She left when we told her she was too little to understand the game,” one boysaid.
“Where?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. She went to the woods, I guess. She’s been spending a lot of time there today since her parentsleft.”
Gooseflesh broke out on my arms. The woods seemed harmless to shifters and Fae, but the woods contained power. I had felt it on my earlier walk. The dark forest was no place for a child without power or the protection of an adultguardian.
I went to findGrayson.
Minutes later, the pack organized a search, for no one could findCarmen.
I was no tracker, so I helped organize the search in pairs, and made sandwiches and poured water into Camelbaks for the others. Grayson, Nicolas and Stephan were efficient in doling out responsibilities, impressing me with their teamwork. Two pack members shifted into wolves to track, accompanied by another pack member in human form equipped with a radio to touch base withGrayson.
Eager to help, I carried two extra backpacks with supplies and a basket of food to the edge of the pack’s property line I had walked just after dawn. The pathway to the edge followed a worn trail through the meadow, and then you entered the woods. These woods, with the thick fir and maple trees, seemed welcoming and soothing, their scentrefreshing.
Someone had set up a canopy and folding table in a clearing, so I dumped the backpacks on it and the basket offood.
I could hear shifters searching the pathway beyond the pack’s borders. The gate stoodopen.
Since there was little else I could do, I returned to the house, glad to be away from those dark woods. There was something not right about that area, and all my Fae senses drew me toward the forest, while my common sense warned meaway.
Hopefully Carmen had wandered off to playnearby.
But two hours later, still no sign of Carmen. Lines of strain showed on Grayson’s face as he paced the back porch. The children who’d been playing downstairs sat nearby as another shifter read them astory.
“I should have kept an eye on her. Her parents trusted I’d take good care of her,” Graysonmuttered.
“It wasn’t your fault. She was playing downstairs and the other children didn’t want her.” I glanced at the boy who hung with the others outside, chewing his lowerlip.
The alpha’s gaze sharpened. “They’ve been warned not to do that. Carmen is already cognizant of the fact that she’sdifferent.”
He beckoned to the other children, who drifted over, faces sullen as if expecting punishment. Grayson squatted down to their level. The oldest, the boy who’d told Carmen to leave, couldn’t have been more thaneleven.
“I’m not going to discipline you all today. But you need to know you did something wrong. Carmen needs to be included in your play. You must make her feel welcome and part of our family. Especially you, Jason, since you’re the eldest,” he toldthem.
“She wasn’t included in the practice hunt,” Jason burstout.
“And that’s even more reason to make her feel welcome when you returned from your lessons,” Grayson said, his deep voice carrying a warningnote.
“But Carmen isn’t likeus.”
“We all have abilities. Some are different than others. You five are shifters. Carmen is a witch. We’re still apack.”
“A witch without power,” Jason muttered. “Everyone else has magick. Those without magick are useless. They don’t belonghere.”
Grayson took his chin between his fingers and stared him down. The boy paled. So did theothers.
“Carmen is young and has yet to come into any kind of power. Even her parents aren’t certain if she will have strains of magick, but she’s the daughter of two powerful witches. You, Jason, are the son of a shifter and a psi human. You may not have magick, but be entirely human. Should I throw you out of the pack if you do not shift into a wolf when your timecomes?”
Tears glittered in Jason’s eyes. “Please don’t do that. This is myhome.”
“As it is Carmen’s, so treat her kindly, with respect and never forget that.” He released Jason and frowned. “Tomorrow at school, you’ll help Carmen with her sums. It’s the least you can do for your earlierunkindness.”
