Derek’s gaze shot to me for backup. I did nothing. Maya got his attention and mouthed Just work with us. Please? I suspected she found it equally hard to believe that Rae had been fooled twice, but making her feel bad about it would only get her back up, and, right now, we really needed Rae on our side.

“I won’t say it couldn’t happen,” Derek finally allowed. “If it did, though, I’d hope that I’d have the sense to shape up and help out the person I nearly betrayed a second time.”

Maya winced at the heavy-handedness of that. Clearly werewolves did not have the gift of persuasion.

“Badger Lake isn’t perfect,” I said. “We know exactly what it is, and we’ll be happy to explain it to you, but, I can guarantee, we aren’t prisoners there, and we aren’t brainwashed. We’ve all been through that sort of thing before, and we’re never going to let it happen again. Ask us anything you like, but quickly because we really need to get out of here, before your new friends find us.”

“I’d suggest we get out of here anyway,” Daniel said. “We can talk as we walk.”

We gave Rae the proof she seemed to need that our story was legit. Derek contributed nothing beyond the suggestion that we tie her to the nearest tree and leave her there. While I was the first to defend her, it wasn’t with the same conviction as a year ago. I didn’t suspect her of treachery this time, but, well, I struggled more now, with the same exasperation and frustration Derek felt.

More than that, having her here thrust me back into those memories, and I looked at them with fresh eyes. She had been tricked. I knew that beyond a doubt. Yet she’d refused to listen to reason, and while I understood where that came from—the seemingly orphaned girl who desperately needed to belong, needed to feel as if someone cared—I look back now, and I’m angrier than I was then. I have less patience with her than I did then.