After a moment of looking at Emory, I just smiled and kissed his nose. He giggled, wiping the back of his hand under his nose but still grinned up at me.

After watching him run back around the table to finish coloring, I turned to my sister and her mate still staring at me.

“What…?” I frowned.

My sister tilted her head in that way she did when she was going into ‘Big Sister Mode’. I sat back in my chair to prep myself.

“No Werewolf has two mates, Gigi,” my sister whispered low since Emory was humming loudly and had long tuned us out.

I nodded in acknowledgment of knowing this.

“But this boy…” Cece looked at Emory humming away. He picked up another color to use. Cece looked at me again, brows quirked upward, “This boy feels something strong for you.”

I glanced at Emory then back at Cece. Lowering a brow, I shrugged a shoulder, “What’s your point?”

Cece sighed, glancing at the eight year old then returned to look at me.

“My point is that maybe it’s different with you. It’s different because you’re a Quail Wolf. You are a rarity, even within the Werewolf kind. Especially as a Quail Wolf who is only ever known to be male, apparently.”

My sister bit her lip, contemplating her next words and then shrugged a shoulder.

“Maybe because you found another Quail Wolf in this century… the Quail bond becomes a mate bond in some way.”

The silence between us was deafening, and I sat up, scoffing that there was no way! That it couldn’t be it! Especially with how young Emory was, it had to be something else that he was feeling!

“But if it’s not Emory that your wolf is trying to connect to through this Quail bond, Gigi,” Sawyer frowned, sighing heavily, “Then maybe she senses the other Quail male you mentioned.”

My eyes widened as I sat back in my chair. “No… No, that’s—that’s not it! I—I can’t—”

Sawyer and Cece’s gaze switched to the entrance behind me when someone calmly interrupted, “They aren’t far off, Gigi.”

I whipped around in my seat and Emory looked up with wide-eyes and a giant smile on his face. “Iota!” he cried, his hands in the air before he jumped off the chair to go hug her.

The tall silver-blonde haired woman smiled warmly as she knelt to hug Emory back. He was in the middle of mumbling how much he missed her and that he was glad she was okay. Most of it was muffled since his face was buried into her chest.

Iota laughed, brushing the back of Emory’s hair.

“Come now, Young One. I’m very glad to see you too. But I can’t hear you if you are going to mumble.”

Emory lifted his head, giving her a toothy grin and shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, Iota.”

Iota smiled down at him then flicked her gaze to me as she stood up again. Though I didn’t take my eyes off her, I could sense my brother and Vicky behind her. I was right since Wade came around and bent to whisper to Iota whose gray eyes stared back in adoration. My brother could see this and grinned before raising his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Vicky’s nose scrunched as she looked between my brother and her sister. She raised a brow, making this gagging noise before wandering over to where we were and sat down at the table. Vicky snorted, breaking the new mates’ concentration as Vicky reminded her sister that Iota could not multi-task fawning over her found mate and giving me Caretaker guidance.

Her older sister just smiled at Vicky who rolled her eyes. It was good to see Vicky was back to her spunky—for a lack of a better word—personality. I missed the snarky comments.

The she-wolf’s eyes shifted to me and eyed me up and down. I instantly frowned, consciously looking down at myself again. When I looked up at her, Vicky clicked her tongue against her teeth and shook her head.

“Keep telling you to lay off the food, Shorty.”

Okay… Maybe I didn’t miss the snarky comments that much.

A growl emitted through my grit teeth as I reminded her that I wasn’t fat!

The others looked at me while Vicky continued, “Oh, sure! You only scarfed down, what, four plates of spaghetti last night?”

“You make it sound like that’s a lot…” I narrowed my eyes and curled my lip.

“It is.” Vicky nodded, raising her hands to lock behind her head as she leaned back in her chair. “Considering the three plates of lasagna, two hefty servings of mashed potatoes and veggies, three servings of banana cream pie, aaaaaand a helping of ice cream, too.”

She frowned, shaking her head then added, “My bad, I just remember it was two helpings of ice cream.”

Rolling my eyes, I muttered that I hadn’t been home in a long time and my Dad’s cooking was amazing.

“Excuse me if I indulge in good food,” I snipped.

Vicky shrugged, nodding to the side that it wasn’t her who was showing how good the food was.

I jumped to my feet, growling that she was barking up the wrong tree. The blonde smiled widely that as it seems we would be related sometime soon, it was Vicky’s obligation to show her new sister-in-law what a real ass kicking was. As a “Welcome to the Family” kind of thing.

The she-wolf chuckled, and I grumbled that Vicky seemed a lot more cheerful than usual. I told her that if it was because of Iota being fully recovered then I would let it slide. Otherwise, I was going to have to take it outside with her.

“Oh…” Vicky’s brows shot up. “Think you can take me, Shorty?”

“That’s quite enough, Victoria.”

Vicky blinked, turning to Iota who frowned at her that the younger sibling was to be polite. That Vicky and Iota were guests in the Gomez home and that called for respect.

The younger sister raised a brow, her eyes blinking a few more times before Vicky rolled her eyes and nodded. She grinned at me.

“My apologies, Shorty. I haven’t had so much stress as the past few days, so forgive me. I’m getting back into my normal routine.”

I narrowed my eyes, shaking my head as I growled out, “I can see that…”

“Well what’s going on in here?”

Sighing, I looked over at Mom coming in through the kitchen door and was wiping her hands on a hand cloth. She was smiling until seeing Iota up and about.

“Oh my! Iota, dear, I see you are all better.”

Iota nodded once, in her proper way, that she was definitely all better and could hear us all downstairs. She smiled that as nice as it was—she looked at my brother—to spend some time with her new-found mate, that Iota wanted to come down and socialize with her new family.

“Well of course!” Mom laughed, gesturing for her to take a seat while adding that Mom was just checking on dinner. “And with you being officially family, it’s important you get to know your new brothers and sisters.”

Mom placed a hand on my head and with so much sincerity, she thanked Iota for watching over me.

“Her father and I missed her terribly! We were so worried something would happen because of her wolf, but fate intended for Gigi to find you. And you kept my daughter so safe. Angus and I don’t know how to thank you.”

Iota raised a hand, shaking her head that it was unnecessary. “Vicky and I are Emory and Gigi’s Caretakers. We have a responsibility to them. This is by choice, not force. And because of that… there is no need to return your thanks.”

The silver-blonde she-wolf smiled over at Emory sitting back in his chair and was arguing with Sawyer that he was coloring wrong again.

Iota kept gaze with me as she told Mom, “Everything happens for a reason.”

Mom nodded in agreement, clapping her hands as she headed back to the kitchen and announced that tonight we’d be having chicken, sweet beans, and mashed potatoes. Mom kept talking about something as she disappeared behind the door and I smiled. Leave it to Mom to have no problem talking to herself.

“Gigi…”

Iota got my attention and though her voice was calm, her face said otherwise. It was more stoic than I was used to.

I noticed how her hand mindlessly went to her shoulder where Wade’s hand rested. She held it subconsciously as Iota asked if it was possible that she speak with me in private.

I nodded that we could talk in my room since Iota was technically not supposed to be here, the willow-framed woman nodded, rising from her seat and then looked at Vicky to watch over Emory.

“Wha—? Why?” Her eyes wide under furrowed brows.

Vicky complained that she shouldn’t have to play bodyguard anymore since Emory was in a safe place. She kept grumbling that her freedom was short-lived while Emory tried to ease Vicky by holding out a crayon to her and asked if she wanted to color with him.

Vicky’s brow rose, offensively eyeing the crayon held out to her. She scrunched her nose, tipped her chin to counter, “I want to use green.”

Iota rolled her eyes, seeming satisfied in her sister’s settlement to color with Emory and then turned to Wade who asked if she’d be alright.

My brother’s hazel eyes filled with worry, and I tried to hide my smile. It was definitely a side to my brother I’d seen, but his affection was much deeper because of who it was directed towards.

Imagine thinking that the person you were meant for was supposed to be dead and then appeared in such a horrible condition that you weren’t sure they’d make it through the night? I could understand my brother’s eagerness to keep his eye on Iota.

His mate smiled, tilting her head while raising a hand to touch his cheek. Her thumb grazed his cheek and assured my brother that Iota would only be upstairs.

“You worry too much, Mate of Mine,” Iota teased, leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

Wade sighed through his grin and pointed out, “Forgive me, Iota. But you just got back on your feet.”

Iota raised a brow and nodded, “And I’ll still be on them when I return. Wade, I’m not going that far.”

With that final word, she leaned over to kiss his cheek again before turning to me. I glanced at my brother before getting up and leading Iota up the stairs again to the very end of the hall.

I placed my hand on the door, pushing it open and waved for Iota to walk in. She sat on my bed, her gray eyes roaming my room. It wasn’t in the same way Vicky had looked around. The soft click from the door closing made Iota’s gaze snap to me. I still stood by the door, eyeing her warily since this grim look appeared on her face.

“It seems we have a problem, Gigi. One that is coming a lot sooner than we would like.”

Iota used a hand to motion me to sit beside her. I walked over slowly, my feet feeling heavy with every step. It wasn’t until I was seated with my hands tucked under my thighs for comfort that I raised my eyes to meet Iota’s. She’d been looking at me. Studying me.

“You’re in danger,” she told me.

My brows furrowed, blinking a few times as I questioned if she was referring to the death sentence I had for tomorrow night but Iota’s lips pulled into a tight line, shaking her head.

“Vicky told me about that…” Her hand rested on my knee. “I’m sorry that your mate doesn’t recognize you. I can’t possibly imagine what you are feeling.”

I shrugged, looking away as I mentioned that I was used to it. My nose scrunched, thinking about how Ridge knew who I was before and now he didn’t at all. Like I wasn’t who he thought I was, which made me wonder if what Molly did to him before was happening again.

Sighing, I told Iota my decision of forgetting about Ridge. That it was probably better—and safer—for him if I didn’t have anything to do with him anymore.

The silence from Iota made me look up at her and I could see from the frown on her face that she wasn’t on the same page.

My Caretaker still didn’t say anything until I raised a brow and huffed, “I would have thought you’d agree with me… but clearly you don’t.”

The she-wolf shook her head, “I don’t.”

“Why not?”

Iota bit her lip, taking in a deep breath. When opened her eyes, the silver color swirled with worry. “Gigi… Do you remember what I told you about Quail Wolves fighting their dark moments?”

I turned away, scrunching my nose as I thought back to our conversation by the fire. She’d said a lot to me that night, so it was a bit difficult to pick out just the right thing.

“Are you talking about having the strength to pull back?” I asked her.

The woman nodded, reminding me that it was my strength as a human that would be able to pull me and my wolf back in dark moments because of being able to recognize what is right from wrong, and vice-versa. That my human would know how to put a stop to it before it actually took over completely.

Nodding, I shrugged, “Okay, but what’s your point?”

“My point is that you are going to have to learn how to do that a lot sooner than anticipated. With Madilynn getting closer, it is only a matter of time before we have to face her. Her and that alpha’s army. You are going to be the one we have to depend on. You are going to have to guide us into this war.”

I blinked, my neck craning back a little. “You—you think that I’m going to have to lead? That I am the one strong enough to help everyone?”

Iota nodded. She reiterated that it was me who was a Quail Wolf. That it was me who was able to experience a pain so intense that it would have made regular wolves fall into a despair leading to suicide, but that I fought against it. Iota believed my broken heart experience meant I was born at the right time, born to guide the people.

“Your wolf is the only one who has enough strength to take on an army on her own, Gigi. Imagine what your wolf could do if she was balanced out with you.”

“Iota…” My eyes narrowed as I took in the way she was looking at me. “What are you saying…?”

The thin line of her lips tightened as she contemplated. Then Iota’s next words hit me in a way that I wasn’t expecting.

Iota’s voice lowered as she warned, “You’re going to go Dark.”

My eyes widened as I stood up, the tightness in my chest making me panic. “What?! What are you talking about?”

Iota stood up, trying to shush me back to calm, and I felt myself shaking while she took hold of my face and held my gaze.

“Gigi! Gigi, listen to me! You are going to go Dark, but you will be able to pull back. You can do it because you’ve done it once before! You did it when you attacked your mate, but it is up to you to pull back! Only you will know how, and when, to do so!”

“I—Iota—” I stammered, shaking my head, eyes tearing up. The fear rising in me made me tremble more. I gripped onto her wrists, shaking my head and whimpered.

“I know…” My Caretaker nodded, her gray eyes keeping mine as her brows furrowed. “I know you are frightened. But Gigi… Gigi, if there is ever a time for you to not fear the Darkness—and instead embrace it—it is now. Now when you can save your entire pack and all those humans in the town.”

“But I—”

Iota shook her head, raising her brows. “No. No ‘buts’. Madilynn thinks she has an advantage because of the male Quail on her side.”

My eyes widened, remembering about him.

“Do you remember what else I told you, Gigi? What other things I’ve told you about being a Quail Wolf? About you, specifically?”

With my face still in her gentle grasp, I was flustered in thinking back to our conversation while at the same time trying to get past my panic.

“I—I—there—that I’m a Quail—the only female one,” I stammered, shutting my eyes to concentrate until agreed and then I looked at her.

Iota nodded. “Yes. And why is that?” she pushed.

“Be—because I’m more compassionate.”

“Yes! And those male Quails lost control of themselves, Gigi.”

I nodded, though I didn’t really get her point.

Iota saw this and sighed, “Gigi… As the only female Quail Wolf, you have to succumb to the Darkness—in part—” she interjected when my panicked eyes came back “—because that is the only way you are going to be able to take control of this other Quail wolf.”

Iota huffed, shaking her head with her face scrunched. She let out a slow breath, telling me about having time to think about my situation and the impending danger I was in.

“It made me think while I was resting that this other male Quail Wolf is going to be drawn to you. Just like Emory is. But there is a reason that they both are drawn to you and that is because you are the only female. To them, they sense that you have a greater strength than either of them. They are going to bow down to one of the two sides of you, Gigi—and unfortunately it’s going to be the Darkness because that’s how you prove that you bow down to no one.”

There it was again… that phrase.

‘You bow down to no one.’

I suddenly had a flashback to my nightmare when that eerie voice whispered in my ear, “You are the Queen of Darkness…” and echoed in my mind. That voice rang in my ears, reminding me of that wicked version of me who took control. The way the other me’s gaze was lifeless and had revealed just a fragment of what I could possibly do if my wolf gains full control with the Darkness.

I blinked, meeting Iota’s gaze and whispered, “Madilynn thinks she’s in control.”

Iota’s gray eyes settled into relief. She nodded, finishing, “But Madilynn has no idea what she is going to awaken.”

I stepped back, lowering my gaze to the space between us and placed my hands to my stomach as I took in a deep breath. Iota released me, letting me back up a bit to get some space.

My brows furrowed as I whispered, “That was what that dream meant. It meant that time was running out because it was going to happen no matter what.”

“Yes,” Iota nodded, brows pinched. “But it doesn’t have to end that exact way. That dream was a mixture of your fears to what you are and what happened to you. It was fear manifesting into something ugly.”

Iota stepped closer, brushing my hair out of my face.

“But Gigi…” she shook her head with a small smile. “You were meant to be more than just an alpha’s mate. Giving you a high rank mate was purposely done to show where you belong in the world as a fighter’s daughter… as a leader.”

The corner of Iota’s lips curled up. She brushed back my hair, tilting her head.

“You are meant to lead the other Quails, Gigi. Being the Queen of Darkness doesn’t have to have a negative connotation if you can use it to be powerful in a good way.”

My heartbeat was slowing back to its normal pace as her words settled in. Iota was telling me that I could change the outcome. That I can use the Darkness to my advantage, instead of fearing it in the way the other Quails did. Instead of fearing the Darkness in a way that I felt hopeless against it, I was to embrace it. I was suppose to use the Darkness against itself.

Relief settled over me as I realized I didn’t have to become this monster people thought I would be. I didn’t have to lose my humanity. My relief was short-lived when I thought about something from back downstairs.

“Iota…” I frowned, staring at the ground. My mind reeled a little with my questions.

“Yes, Gigi?”

Biting my lip, I tucked my hair behind my ear. Glancing to the side, I mentioned that downstairs, my sister mentioned that Cece wondered if my bond with Emory was turning into a mate bond and then it was mentioned that this was also happening with the other male Quail.

Looking at my Caretaker, I squinted, “You said Cece wasn’t far off. What… What did you mean?”

The woman’s eyes softened, a small smile on her lips as she nodded, taking a seat on the bed again. She placed her hands on her lap, nodding again that she did say that.

“This was something else I thought about…” Iota stared at the floor. “Especially when I was escaping from Madilynn.”

She grew quiet, eyes resting on her lap while a finger flicked off something from the knee of her sweatpants. Then Iota looked at me.

“Gigi… Because of there being more than one Quail all at once, your wolf is seeking out another male wolf as powerful as her own. She’s going to fight the bond between you and your alpha mate—not that you can blame her after what you had been through. But your wolf is going to be drawn to a male she sees will suit her needs; emotionally… and physically.”

I frowned, swallowing, “But… But that means…”

Iota nodded, “Yes… That means your alpha mate will be nothing to you should your wolf take another of her kind. The Quail bond will diminish anything you have left with the alpha. It will be like this new male your wolf chooses was her True Mate to begin with.”

She stood up again, a serious gaze locking with mine.

“This male Quail will fight for you, Gigi. When a Quail is possessive, they come with a force to be reckoned with. It will be up to you to put him in his place should you decide that your alpha is the one you want.”

Her hand went up as I opened my mouth to argue about the possibility of this Quail having a mate like myself.

“Quails are not supposed to have mates, Gigi, remember? It is not a thing for your species. The only reason you found yours was because of you being female. You were more sensitive to the idea, open to it… and the Spirit World has an odd way of trying to test things out. In your case… they gave you an alpha whose rejection awoke the Darkness inside you.”

Closing my eyes, I shook my head, asking her how she knew all this.

Iota smiled, chuckling lightly. She shrugged a shoulder that her great-grandfather was a bright man. Perhaps she inherited such smarts. Iota added that she happened to rely on her dreams; seeing anything and everything related to Quail Wolves from the past. She thought it another odd talent of hers. But like it took many years to learn to smell things other Weres could not, it took Iota just as many years to be able to understand and remember the past lives of the Quails that appeared in her dreams.

I huffed through a grin, “So you’re a witch then…”

Iota laughed, shaking her head. She assured me that she wasn’t, but that as a Caretaker it is helpful to get some aid from the Spirit World in order to protect and guide Quails when they needed such guidance.

I let out a breath of air, letting my shoulders slump as the overwhelming information settled in. I smiled, about to tell Iota that I was going to need a nap after all that… but then…

My nose scrunched as I looked down at my hands that began to tingle. I rubbed my fingertips together, narrowing my eyes as the tingling sensation worsened. My hands shook heavily and I frowned, “Iota…”

She noticed my odd behavior and her eyes widened, looking at me, “Gigi…”

My upper torso snapped forward, like I was shoved, and I gasped. There was a twinge in my spine that rounded to the front of my stomach was and I cried out. The heavy panting increased, and my teeth clenched so tight they felt like they were going to crack open. Squeezing my eyes shut, I groaned before a shrill scream came out.

There were stomps and voices in the distance but I tuned them out. The pain vibrating through my body was too overbearing to concentrate on anything else. I panted heavily, trying to tense my muscles but it only made the pain worse. I cried out again when I jerked forward.

“What’s happening to her?!” someone shouted from my right, then I heard Iota shout for them to stay back.

I snapped my eyes open, seeing every crevice in the floorboards of my room. A growl ripped from my chest and I slowly raised my head with a heated gaze on Iota standing in front of my family. They all were wide-eyed behind her.

Iota narrowed her eyes back at me, raising a brow and held up her hand at me. “Gigi… Remain calm…”

The warning in her voice made me grin. As I was still hunched forward, I tilted my head slightly, sneering, “I don’t take orders from you, Caretaker.”

To my ears, it sounded like two voices speaking at once; one more raspier than my actual voice. I tried to squeeze my eyes shut and pull my wolf back in.

“Arrrgh! Iota!”

I took in another heavy gasp, my head thrown back as my fingers curled into fists. I could feel my claws digging into my palms. There was a weight I could feel on me but no one was there. It felt like I was losing breaths because of how heavy it felt.

Hunching forward again, I screamed, feeling my teeth elongate before snapping open my eyes once again as I could hear Iota shouting at me to rein my wolf back in.

“Do it, Gigi! Reel her in! She is testing you! She wants to know just how much you are willing to take back what is yours!”

“Argh!”

I dropped to my knees, my nails scraping into the wood floor and panted out a growl. My eyes lifted, seeing every flawed feature o my Caretaker as her stone-faced gaze took me on. I knew she wasn’t going to back down until I did, which was agitating both me and my wolf.

Iota growled for me to be the Quail Wolf I was meant to. “Fight it!” she bit out.

“Or what?!” came through my raspy voiced growl. I bared my teeth at Iota. “Take me on, Caretaker! See how well that ends for you!”

I sensed Wade tense up and snapped my gaze onto him. I growled, watching my brother lower his chin, eyes turning gold in offense. But Iota held out her hand to him. She warned my brother that it wasn’t me but my wolf who was trying to take over.

Iota snapped at my family, “If you attack her, Gigi will kill you! You have to let her hone in her wolf! So stay back!”

She faced me again, narrowing her eyes and stepped closer. I saw this, baring my teeth again, this time letting my lip curl but Iota shook her head that she would not be backing down. She pushed that I was going to have to deal with her getting into my space.

From the side, Vicky was already tying her hair back and rolling up her sleeves while some of my family was asking what she was doing.

“What? You forget but as her other Caretaker, I have to be able to put her down as much as possible. Shorty is strong as a normal Were, but in her Quail Wolf mode… fuck that! We can’t take any chances!”

I gnashed my teeth in her direction but the blonde cracked her knuckles while shaking her head.

“Alright Shorty… Show me what you got this time.”

My vision kept going from clear to normal and back about six times before I placed my hands on the floor and cried out from built up frustration. I stared straight ahead, growling as my gaze hardened and ordered my wolf out loud, “Submit! I am not going to lose them because of you!”

I squeezed my eyes shut again, lowering my head and panted out another cry.

From the side, I could hear little footsteps and then a panicked, “Gianna!” but Vicky was there to hold Emory back.

My body stilled, sensing another Quail present and I slowly turned my head. My wolf’s eyes locked with the eight year old’s. Emory’s eyes widened and I watched through my narrowed gaze as the electric blue hue colored over his brown irises. The blue intensified when I curled my lip and growled at him. Emory’s face turned stoic for a brief moment, lowering his chin before his lip curled, growling low and then suddenly turned to claw down Vicky’s arms.

The blonde yelped, frowning at him before the eight year old growled again and started clawing in any direction he could. Luckily Vicky was able to dodge his swings.

I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing heavily and fast through my nose. I mentally shouted at my wolf to stop it! To give me back control! She growled at me before I fought back, concentrating on my wolf. She was surprised at my efforts as I growled out loud, pushing to stand on my feet.

Looking at where Emory was being held off by Vicky, I shouted, “ENOUGH!”

Emory’s hands froze in mid-air while Vicky and the others stared at me. My gaze was on the boy who lowered his arms but still held a sneer on his face. Emory looked over his shoulder at me, narrowing his eyes.

Raising a brow, I growled out—in a lower tone—“Enough.”

The eight year old glanced at Vicky, growling at her before stepping away. He had bowed his head, raising his eyes solely to me. I eyed him, nodding my approval of his obedience then turned my gaze to Iota who looked surprised yet relieved.

The woman’s smile stretched up and she nodded, “Come now, Quail Wolf… lower your defenses.”

With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and slowly could feel the strength of my wolf drain. When I opened my eyes, I was back.

My attention went to Emory who straightened and blinked a few times until his eyes were back to the chocolate brown I was used to. His eyes widened, tears brimming as he rushed over to hug me. Emory rammed into me, his head against my stomach and tightened his arms around my waist.

Emory panted, “I’m sorry, Gianna! I didn’t mean to hurt Vicky!”

I placed a hand on the back of his head, sighing that it wasn’t his fault but mine. I explained that I was still struggling with myself and in a way I used him as a defense mechanism.

Emory looked at me, his dark eyes blinking a few times and then sighed that he was glad that I was okay now. I nodded back in agreement.

I suddenly noticed how Emory was taking a protective stance in front of me. He looked over his shoulder, squinting as he told the others to not touch me because I was his.

Frowning, I looked at Iota who narrowed her eyes and looked from Emory to me and then back again. She raised her gaze to mine before something lit up, like a realization.

I was about to ask her about it but then I stopped and frowned, tilting my head at an odd sound. Turning toward my bedroom window, my eyes narrowed and ears picked up the low rumbling growls… the thunderous pounding of paws on the ground… and distant snarls. It was so odd… They were miles away—still not close enough—but I could still hear them. And they were heading in our direction.

I looked down at Emory who looked up at me puzzled before my attention went to Iota and the others. Iota frowned, stepping forward. She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes after studying me for a brief moment.

“You can hear them… Can’t you…”

My family’s faces turned puzzled, switching between Iota and me.

“Hear who?” Vicky asked, angrily swiping her bloodied arms on her shirt.

Iota shook her head with a growled, “Damn Madilynn!”

She looked at her sister, telling the younger that Madilynn was on her way. That she was coming for Emory and me.

“Gigi’s finally in control with her wolf. Gigi has convinced her wolf of her own worth to be balanced with. With such a balanced connection between human and wolf comes the heightened abilities normal Weres don’t have. And Gigi just heard our sister’s army headed our way,” Iota looked at me. “Even with them being a few miles from here.”

My family looked stunned, and Wade frowned, “How is that possible?!”

“Your sister is a Quail Wolf, Wade.” Iota stated, her frown on my family. “One meant to rule the others. She can sense danger now. Gigi doesn’t have to be right next to it to know. Now Gigi can sense when danger is coming, and that’s not the only thing…”

Iota looked at me as my calm look stared back at her, even if I was dreading it on the inside.

“Gigi’s time is running out. And with that other Quail Wolf so near… Gigi’s going to go Dark.”