“That’s why we’re trying to gather up as many Jedi as possible,” Jase said. “You’ll need backup, an army at your command. Plus, the more people we already have on our side, the fewer Challenges you’ll have to take on. Those who sign on with us will already be willing to follow your lead.”

Jase believed it. I could tell he actually thought I was going to go out there, take on the world, and win. He believed that Liam’s Army would put their faith in the leadership of an eighteen year old girl. I could have corrected him, pointed out how I was, as Liam had said, just a pawn. I could have told him that if destiny existed, mine wasn’t to lead a rebellion but be the catalyst for a revolution. I understood where I fit in to all of this. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, just a realist. But Jase couldn’t see it, because he didn’t want to believe it, and I wasn’t about to be the one to open his eyes.

“What’s your role in all of this?” I asked.

My brother tried to look all haughty. “We’re spies, of course.”

“Of course.”

“We’ve earned Sarvarna’s trust,” Talley said. “We’re able to move about freely with no one tailing us or tapping our phones. We can pass information to Toby, who in turn passes it to other members of the rebellion, without any problems.”

“Are you crazy? What if they catch you?” The idea of what could happen to them was enough to make my stomach hurt. “It’s too dangerous. You have to stop. Like, now.”

Talley leaned against Jase’s arm. “It’s a dangerous world we live in, Scout. We all have to play our parts, do what we can.”

“This is too much,” I said. “We’re kids. Why should we be the ones to save the world? Aren’t there adults much more qualified for this task?”

“The adults have sat around and let the Alphas do whatever in the world they want for way too long. It’s our turn now. Our generation has to be the change we want to see in the world.”

I was a little slack-jawed. “That’s very profound.”

“It’s Ghandi,” Jase admitted. “But it’s true. If we want things to be different, we have to make them different, even if it means sacrificing our own safety for the future.”

“It’s still not fair,” I said. We were supposed to be worrying about what classes to take and our roommate’s lack of hygiene or constant stream of sex partners. Normal college freshmen stuff. Instead we were planning to take down the Alpha Pack and putting our lives on the line. “I want to grow old with you guys. I want to be an aunt to your kids and teach them all the ways to annoy you.”

“You will,” Talley said. “We’ll make it through this.”

“How?”

Jase met my eyes. “You’re the smart one. You figure it out.”

Chapter 12

Heaven smells like bacon. Well, not Alex’s part of heaven - if that is heaven - but the part with the pearly gates and harps and all that jazz? Fried porky goodness wafts through the air. It’s a truth I hold in my heart.

I woke to the most wonderful of all wonderful smells to find Liam standing over the stove, spatula in hand, while Talley sliced a tomato at the counter. Jase was seated at the table, still in his pajama bottoms and UK Wildcats t-shirt. His face was a living testament to my rage the day before, swollen and bruised all over.

“You trust the Alpha’s doctor?” Liam asked.

“We don’t really have much choice,” Jase said, “but I can’t imagine why he would lie. If he wanted to hurt him he would’ve just let him die. He worked too hard to keep him alive to be screwing with us now.”

“Damn. That’s just…” Liam stabbed at the skillet with undue force. “He deserves better.”

“What’s wrong?” Jase and Talley both jumped at the sound of my voice, but Liam just scooped up the bacon and placed it on a plate. “What’s wrong with Charlie?”

“Nothing,” the three of them said in unison.

I sat up on the couch, eyes narrowed. “Yeah. Right.”

“We weren’t talking about Charlie.” Talley’s finger snagged a lock of hair. “It’s Stefan. He’s not doing well.”

Liar-Liar, pants on fire.

“So Charlie is fine and dandy?”

“Since I’m a guy and his cousin,” Jase said, “I can’t really comment on the ‘fine’ assessment, but the guy’s kind of a slouch when it comes to grooming. I don’t think ‘dandy’ really applies.”

I wasn’t completely awake, and therefore couldn’t come up with a witty reply, so I extended my middle finger in his direction. Talley scowled at the profanity, but soothed me with, “He’s fine. Really. You heard him for yourself.”

True, he sounded like Charlie on the phone yesterday, which was way more than I was expecting. My overactive imagination had him lying in a hospital bed with tubes sticking out everywhere, his face gaunt, the light gone from his eyes. But I still felt like something was off, that there was something they were keeping from me. Again.

“Do you swear it, Talley? In front of me, God, and everybody, that Charlie is okay?”

Talley looked to Jase, who held out a hand to her.

“No! No hand holding.” I looked Talley in the eyes. Yes, I was being a bully, but this was the only way I would get any real information. Jase and Liam could both lie with aplomb, but as long as Talley wasn’t plugged into Jase’s brain, I knew she wouldn’t be able to fib, especially since I’d invoked the name of God. She was really paranoid about that sort of thing, thanks to her mother.

I inwardly flinched at the thought of Mrs. Matthews.

Talley took a deep breath and raised her left hand while the right one rested over her heart. “I swear that Charlie is getting better every day, and we fully expect him to almost completely heal.”

“Almost completely?”

“We didn’t want to you to worry,” Jase said, “but there have been some complications. He’s never going to be back to where he was before.”

“But when he Changes…” A realization struck me. “He should already be completely healed. We’ve had two full moons since he was injured.”

Liam, who was scrambling up at least a dozen eggs, answered. “Changing can’t fix everything, and sometimes injuries prevent you from Changing at all while you heal.”