Chapter 218

Cara’s POV

The night of the opening ceremony came much quicker than anyone would have liked. Even me. I’d been preparing as best I could for the events, and spending as much time with Alaric whenever possible to help revitalize Lucy.

So far, I mostly just felt tired, not prepared, and Lucy remained as elusive as ever.

It seemed that whatever stroke of luck that had awakened her that day Alaric and I held onto each other was lost to us now, even though he’d been holding me all night and staying close to me during the day.

I was frustrated, both in my lack of physical strength and my inability to rouse my wolf. I was truly starting to feel like the worst kind of failure.

That was a bad feeling to have just before the start of the competition.

As if sensing my distress, Alaric rubbed his hands up and down my arms as if to generate warmth inside of me.

“You are going to do great,” he said with encouragement. “With how confident you’ve been up until now, it seems so out of character for you to give up now.”

“I’m not giving up,” I corrected him quickly. “I’m just having one minute of self-doubt. It will pass quickly.”

“As it should,” Alaric said and kissed me short and sweet on the mouth. “Your brothers will be here any minute. We’ll take you to the venue. You will change into this fantastic dress I keep hearing about. You will perform on stage with the rest of the competitors, and then I will bring you home.”

I was relieved for his list. He made everything sound so simple. We could move step to step, and as long as everything stayed on track, everything would be fine. I would be fine.

Yes. Plans were good.

I could do this. It was far too late to turn back anyway, though giving up was not in my vocabulary.

Closing my eyes, I attempted to rally myself.

I was brave. I was strong. I could do this.

The doorbell rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Alaric kissed me again in comfort. “That is your brothers. I’ll get the door.”

Twenty minutes later, I had quite the escort, as all of my brothers, including Richard escorted me to the venue. We took three SUV’s in a train. Ruby had sneaked in too, and sat beside me. She flashed a grin at Alaric, who sat on the other side of me.

“Bet you are excited to see Cara in her dress tonight, Alaric,” Ruby said.

“I can’t wait,” Alaric said and winked at me.

I blushed a little, feeling like an embarrassed schoolgirl who just flirted with her crush.

Leave it to Eamon, to bring the world back into focus. “I think we should develop some kind of signal,” he said. “Cara, you could give that signal on stage if you need us for any reason.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little over the top, brother?” Landon asked. “I doubt Lilia would be so bold as to –”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Alaric said. “This same woman orchestrated the many attempts on Cara’s life, as well as our daughter’s kidnapping. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do. She has no shame.”

Landon closed his mouth and nodded.

“A signal,” I repeated. I wasn’t against the idea, not if helped my brothers feel some ease. It might give me some too, knowing they would be keeping a careful eye, and if I gave that signal, they would jump to my rescue. “What should I do?”

“It has to be something that is mostly innocent, but not something you would do on accident,” Eamon said.

“Itch your nose,” Ruby suggested. “It’s an innocent enough gesture, but not one you would likely do on purpose during your performance.”

She was right.

“It’s a good idea,” Landon said.

Eamon nodded. “That’s what we’ll look for.”

“Wait for me to do it twice in a row,” I said. “Just in case I do actually get an itchy nose.” I was almost certain to now.

“Twice, then,” Eamon agreed.

When we arrived at the venue, Alaric stepped out of the SUV with me at the contestant side entrance. He pulled me into a tight embrace.

“You are going to do great,” he said once more, then kissed me sweetly on the cheek. “We will be watching. You give the signal, and we will come running. Don’t play around, Cara. You even feel a sense of something off, you let us know.”

“I will, Alaric. I promise.”

That seemed to satisfy him. He leaned in and kissed my mouth then, before pulling away. He went back to the car. All of my brothers and Ruby waved as the SUV’s drove away.

Turning to the door, I heard a voice suddenly behind me.

“Cara.”

I jumped, but was just as quickly filled with relief. I knew that voice, even if I hadn’t heard it in a while.

“Noel,” I said, and found him just behind me. Gods, he must have moved fast to appear there so quickly. Not for the first time, I wondered about his mysterious pack and the nature of his wolf.

He’d been distant since our rejection. Though we’d said we would stay friends, I did not anticipate seeing him again, or so soon. I thought he might have moved on like the nomad he was before, never staying in one place for too long.

Yet here he was. Still in BloodyMoon, keeping an eye on me, perhaps.

“I surprised you,” he said.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” I said. “Especially not tonight.”

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Then of course I would want to support my friend.”

That was a reasonable enough explanation so I nodded. “Thank you.”

He hummed. “Lilia is here.”

“Yes. She joined the competition last minute.”

“So I saw,” he said. “Don’t trust her.”

“I don’t,” I said. “I’m certain she’s going to try something, if not now, then at a future event.”

“You do not have to fear her,” he said and sounded somewhat menacing, his voice dropping low. A bit of red seemed to burn in his eyes. Unlike with a typical werewolf, that would flash when he was nearing shift, this look started dim and burned like a flame, hotter and hotter.

I didn’t fear Noel. We were friends, and I trusted that with my life.

But in that moment, a sort of dread welled up inside of me. It made me wonder about Noel…

What was he?

“Don’t kill anyone,” I said to him. I had no proof he was going to. He hadn’t said as much. But that menace… it seemed to sparkle all around him like an aura of death.

“Very well,” he said.

I could hear the voices of the other contestants from within the dressing rooms. Glancing back at the door, I wondered if I was late.

“I really have to go,” I said, but when I looked back to where Noel had been standing, he was gone.

How strange. But then, so was the entire encounter.

Not knowing what else to do, I turned and entered the contestant area.

After trekking to my dressing room and clicking on the light, I stopped. My heart sank low in my chest.

My dress looked like it had been mauled. It was in shredded ribbons, with no square inch safe from the destruction.

I had been entirely sabotaged.