238 Jack–Eye: Something’s Missing
“What happened?” I bark out, my long legs taking only a few strides to make it to her side, shoving Thom out of the way with sheer presence alone.
“Any questions?” I ask the newly arrived four, daring them to waste my time after twenty minutes of running through the situation at hand.
The situation’s dire and yet my hackles rise anyway at the attention he’s giving her.
The woman doesn’t flinch. Even her rainbow–colored hair seems limp. Her chest rises and falls, but too slow for my comfort.
The wizard’s red–faced and panting, his shirt so damp with sweat it’s nearly
transparent, and Lyre’s scent surrounds him. But the scent on him is full and normal, reminiscent of the times she’s given him magic.
“Familiarize yourselves,” I tell them, too distracted now. “Tell me if you need anything. Derek, I’ll introduce you to Owen later.”
So my eyes focus on the trembling wizard, realizing some of the sweat running down his face is actually his tears. “Explain.”
Fiddleback’s turned into a refugee sort of situation, and we still haven’t figured out the long–term logistics here.
“Sir?”
My focus narrows to the woman’s face, her lips pale and slightly parted and her skin lacking any sort of healthy flush whatsoever. As if she’s bled out, except there’s no apparent injury to be had. you attacked?”
“Were you
Derek is a little older than I am, and while his mustache might make him look like some sort of predator against women, he’s also happily mated with four pups of varying ages.
As a whole, shifters are better known for their physical ability and less for the intellectual side of things. Not that we’re stupid–far from it–but too many of us have learned to rely on instinct and the other half of our souls. And wolves might be intelligent, but their intelligence is uniquely primed to survival, not thrival.
The moment I cross the threshold of our building, my eyes land on Lyre, collapsed onto a sofa and strangely pale. She’s unnaturally still and a human medic has his gloved hands all over her.
I lead them through the make–shift command center we’ve established on the main floor of what used to be Fiddleback’s alpha lodge. It was once decorated with class and flair, but now it’s piled high on every surface with plastic bags from the local grocery store and stacks of cheap throw blankets, along with unorganized clothes from a thrift store haul Owen managed before Lyre went back underground.
My heart kicks against my ribs, an unfamiliar panic rising. 1
doesn’t seem like she would faint like Thom. If I had But I’ve seen Lyre work before; sho to guess, she has enough magic in her to be unfathomably powerful. So why would she…?
My jaw tightens. Lyre hasn’t been using her magic at all, brushing us off whenever we try to ask questions. We all know she can’t use her magic, but not why.
“Understood, Beta,” the other three say in unison.
But it’s a little wrong.
JACK–EYE
Thom bites at his lip, probably sensing the darkness in my eyes, and continues with a calmer pace, “She said she found three more groups of survivors and marked the way, but then when we were on our way back, she fell. And now she won’t wake up.”



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Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Grace of a Wolf (by Lenaleia)
Ferris 🥰🥰 always the best! Smarter and sensitive...
Grace needs to get a grip of herself and starts acting like a responsible adult if she wants Caine to treat her as his equal and trust her being a strong capable woman...
All the things she is thinking in her head, she should just tell him like that. Nothing wrong in saying she wants to be treated as equal, have responsibilities....
Well... i "acquired" as you say this child a couple of hours ago! Obviously I didn't make her overnight! 😅🤣...
Ferris 😍😍 Caine is definitely not the brightest bulb in the pack! 😅Thanks God Jack-Eye is smarter! 😉...
This girl is really slow to understand despite living with wolf for so many years.🙄 Caine is a caveman 🤦🏼♀️...
Yet again the wolf is smarter than the man.... Caine is missing really missing interactions skills!...
Fighting the obvious! I love 😍 Fenris! The escape plan is a dead one, completely...
So his wolf can separate and they speak together? Interesting 🤔😊 that's new...