The Rift (36 page)

Jed growled at him over my head, but Jeremiah
didn’t even flinch. I looked around at the rest of the group.
“Seriously? Are we seriously just letting this psychopath go along
with us?”

“I say we take a vote,” Thad said. “And I say
we kill the fucker and burn his body. All in favor?”

Thad raised his hand and Holly joined him,
but I wasn’t ready to commit outright murder. Jed decided it for
me. “Leave us, now, brother. I’ve only tolerated you for this long
because I trusted Wraith to keep you in line, but I’m done. Leave,
and if Varius tracks us down we’ll come after you and we will kill
you. I’m only letting you live, now, because we were brothers
once.”

Jeremiah looked uncertain for the first time.
“Jed, I’ve changed. I can help you fight. I can—”

Jed eased himself from under me and stood. I
could tell from the tension in his shoulders that he didn’t like
being away from me, but he wasn’t backing down. Wraith stood
shoulder to shoulder with Jed and faced down Jeremiah. “You haven’t
changed, and you never will. You threatened to take Kelsey from me
when I was sitting right there. You think I’m just going to let
that go?”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. She
just made me angry. You know how it is with women, they have to be
reminded of their place once in a while.”

While Jeremiah was speaking, Thad moved to
stand beside Wraith, and Holly next to Thad. I would’ve joined
their united front, but I was too tired and the ground felt too
damn good. “Kelsey’s place is with me, as long as she chooses it to
be. She is stronger, and kinder, and saner than you’ll ever be.
I’ll choose her over you every time,
brother
,” Jed said.

Jeremiah’s frown was ugly, but he wasn’t
defeated. “Wraith? We’re a pack.”

“I took you on at Yvonne’s request,” Wraith
said. “She thought being a wolf and being part of a pack would
ground you and make you feel useful. I hoped you being with me
would give her another reason to stay away from me. She’s still
trying to help you, but I’m done. I’m not sure you aren’t the
reason Lorelei turned on me. Leave now, without another word to me
or anyone else here.”

Given a direct command by his Alpha, Jeremiah
didn’t argue. He walked off and, when he was almost out of sight,
he stopped and shifted into a wolf. He bounded into the trees and
we all watched him until he was gone. Jed took his seat behind me
again and rubbed my arms.

“It was a mistake letting him live,” Holly
said.

Wraith grunted his assent. “Maybe so, but
today it was Jed’s call. Next time, he dies.”

“So about Thad’s safe house,” I said, wanting
to end the conversation about Jeremiah. “How are we going to get
there?”

“We’ll walk,” Thad said. “We’ll stick to the
woods as much as we can, then Wraith and Hugh will help us to erase
our trail. I’ve got a GPS and I know where we’re going. It’ll take
us at least two weeks to get there and we’ve got no camping gear,
no food, and no water. It will be an interesting ride.”

“My pack and I can hunt for food,” Wraith
said. “We’re at least wolf enough for that.” There was a dark tone
to Wraith’s words that I didn’t understand, but that moment wasn’t
the time to question it.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“You’ll know when we get there,” Thad said.
“Henry knows and that’s enough. If any of us get snatched I don’t
want them to be able to lead anyone to us.”

“And what if you and Henry get snatched?”

“Then you’ll have to find somewhere else to
go,” Thad said.

I let Jed wrap his arms around me and
snuggled against him. For that moment, I tried to enjoy his warmth
and his love, and not to think about the future. Fear nipped at the
corners of my mind, but I pushed it down and breathed in the sweet
spring air.

Katharine Sadler lives with her husband in
North Carolina. She’s been writing since she was ten and has wanted
to be a writer even longer. When she’s not writing or otherwise
gainfully occupied, she reads like it’s an addiction, exercises,
skis whenever she gets the chance, and adds more books to her
Amazon wish list.

Learn more about the author at:
http://www.KatharineSadler.com
.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this
book what it is. Thank you to my beta readers, Angela Harwood and
Natasha Soderberg. Your insights helped me to see what I couldn’t,
when I was too close to the book. Thank you also to Gabrielle
Prendergast for a fantastic cover.

Thank you to my husband and my family for
always supporting me in my writing and for giving me the space and
time I need to write. My husband I also thank for taking the time
to help me format this and all of my books for print.

THE REAPING (Book 1 of The Reapers
Series)

ON A WHITE HORSE (1.5 of The Reapers
Series)

THE REVOLT (Book 2 of The Reapers Series)