Lori’s rock split down the middle, and I gasped. Inside the rough and ugly stone was a treasure, a real live treasure. Purple crystals filled the inside and sparkled like a thousand whispered secrets.

She’d done it again. Lori broke the rules. Lori went where she shouldn’t, did what she oughtn’t, and still got rewarded. Instead of one rock she now had two, and both halves glittered with gems that a princess might wear on her fingers or her gown.

Envy burned cold in my heart. One day I would be the risk taker, and Lori would be the one left behind.

“—doing here?”

I blinked up at Dell, aware a question had been asked but unsure what it had been. “What?”

She frowned at the nest and the rock. “What’s the deal with those?”

“I’m not sure.” I scooped up the fistful of grass and its contents. “But I’m going to find out.” A chill dappled my skin. “I wasn’t sure the first time—the rabbit, remember? Then the scrunchie.” Which I had tossed in an empty plastic shoebox and left on the kitchen table. “I found the nest last night and the geode this morning. This isn’t random. Someone is leaving them here.”

“Do these mean anything to you?” She touched the geode’s gleaming interior.

“They represent memories from my childhood.” I turned the rock over with my finger. “My mother. My dad. My sister.”

“It couldn’t be bad, could it?” Her bare toes curled against the grass. “The wards protect you, right?”

That was the sticking point, wasn’t it? “No one with ill intent could get close enough to reach the first step. Whatever this means, whoever is leaving the items, I don’t think they want to hurt me.” My brow puckered. “Which leaves the question of—what do they want? Why leave these items?” I checked the eggs, but there was nothing more to them. “I’ll ask Isaac if he can set up surveillance.” He kept his door locked during what he considered normal business hours except in case of emergency. Since I wasn’t sure this qualified, I shot him a quick text with my concerns and my request. “I want to know what this is about, and if it’s linked to the selection or something else.”

The something else being Bessemer, but I needed hard evidence before calling out the alpha.

“I wish Cord was here.” Her face scrunched. “I mean, really here. Not just wolf here.”

“Me too,” I admitted.

Dell’s arms were around me, squishing me with her warg strength, before it registered she meant to hug me.

“I miss him.” The admission left my throat tight. “I want him back.”

I worried that his being furry was permanent. I’d never owned a pet, and I wouldn’t own him, but he might as well be one if he never rose off four legs again.