Free Cursed (Howl, #6) by Jody Morse, Jayme Morse

that there was a fire burning in the distance. Darren was holding what appeared to be a pack meeting by campfire light, and judging from the amount of people who were gathered around, it was easy to see that there was more than one pack there. Darren must have conquered another pack—or maybe even two—to get so many more members.
    Luke glanced over at Samara and said, through mind-speak: Should we go any closer to them? They might notice we’re here.
    True, but we need to know what they’re saying, Samara replied. It took her a few moments to come to a decision, but she knew right away what she needed to do.
    She used her Alpha abilities to allow her other pack members to hear her. Guys, I want all of you to stay here. I’m going to go listen to Darren’s conversation with his pack. Make sure you’re all covered by the trees and bushes, so none of their pack members spot you. Don’t, under any circumstances, change into your wolf forms, unless they’ve already seen you. I don’t want you to draw attention to our purple smoke.
    But you can’t go listen to them! Kyle protested urgently. They might notice you.
    I’ll be fine. I promise, Samara replied. She glanced around at her pack members, and she couldn’t help but notice that they all had nervous looks on their faces. Silas looked like he was going to break down in tears, and Emma did not look happy. The only one who didn’t look too upset was Luke.
    You can do this, Samara. I know you can , Luke told her through mind-speak. If something bad happens, we have your back.
    I know, but that won’t help too much if they try to use black fighting against us , Samara replied. We can’t even try to conjure the Trusted Ones because we don’t even have any white candles with us.
    Actually, Colby packed some, Luke told her. They’re in the car, so we’d have to go get them, but we can do that if we need to.
    Samara breathed a slight sigh of relief. She only hoped that if it did come to that—that they really did need to conjure the Trusted Ones—someone would be able to act quickly. For some reason, she had a feeling that Darren Jackson made more sacrifices with the dark spirits than Jason ever had, which would mean that they were stronger when they worked for Darren—which scared her because the Trusted Ones had barely been able to defeat the spirits when Jason had conjured them.
    Exhaling before she sucked in a deep breath, Samara tiptoed to the edge of the field, following a line of pine trees. She was lucky that she was wearing dark clothing, unlike the bright colors that Emma had been sporting, because it helped her blend in wit h the shadows better.
    As she inched closer to the area where Darren was talking to the rest of his pack, she felt her heart thump rapidly within her chest. Her heart beat so loud that she was positive just the sound of it was what was going to give her away to Darren and his pack, but once she was close enough to hear what they were saying, none of them seemed to notice her. She continued to hold her breath, terrified that just breathing t oo loudly would blow her spot.
    “It’s been a long time since the Vyka has initiated a youth member into an adult pack, but I feel that we are ready to do this,” Darren w as saying to his pack members.
    Okay, so Darren is definitely a Vyka now, Samara told Luke through mind-speak. It took her a few moments to spot them in the crowd, but she quickly noticed the faces of Alex and Melody, a werewolf couple from the adult Ima pack. When she looked closely enough, she also noticed that Steve’s mom was sitting in the crowd, too, staring at Darren intently as he spoke. Except the Ima pack is also here. I think they combined packs, but they’re all Vyka now.
    What else are they saying? Luke pressed her for more information.
    Be quiet so I can listen , Samara replied. She struggled to hear Darren’s voice over the loud wind, which was beginning to roar all around them. Of all the times for it to