It had taken less than five minutes of this for Bryn to stand up with a quick nod to Sabine. Both girls shuttled me out of the dining room and up to my bedroom. Bryn had been trying to amend the hack job I’d done on my locks ever since.

Sabine clicked her tongue, moving to stand in front of me so she could get a better angle on Bryn’s work. “You’re cutting all wrong. It’s going to be uneven.”

“Do you want to do this?” Bryn snapped.

“Yes.” She grabbed for the scissors.

“Wait a sec.” I straightened in the chair and Bryn had to jerk the scissors away to avoid impaling my neck. “Seriously, Sabine? You want to cut my hair?”

I frowned at her, not sure if I trusted her to give me a haircut that was flattering.

“It would be my pleasure, Calla. I always cut Cosette’s hair.” For a moment the skin around her eyes tightened, but in the next instant she smiled again.

“Oh, she had adorable hair.” Bryn beamed. “You should let Sabine take over, Cal. I have no idea what I’m doing. I can style like a pro, but this cutting thing is out of my league.”

I swallowed but nodded. If Sabine was going to be our ally, I had to let old animosities fall away.

Bryn handed Sabine the scissors with a relieved sigh.

There was the sound of a throat clearing behind us. We all turned toward the door.

“Uh, hey.” Shay ruffled his hair, taking in the group of girls before him and looking like he might bolt.

“Hi, Shay,” Bryn said, not quite hiding her giggle as she glanced back and forth between the two of us.

Sabine nodded at him but quickly turned her attention back to my hair.

“What’s going on?” He took a couple of steps into the room, still indecisive about how safe it was to be there.

“We’re trying to fix Calla’s hair. She just hacked it off.” Bryn curled a few strands around her fingers. “What did you use, exactly?”

“Pruning shears.” I was staring at the floor. I shouldn’t have left Shay this morning without talking to him first. Now everything felt awkward and I didn’t know how to fix it.

“No wonder it looks so awful,” Sabine muttered.

“I think it looks good,” Shay protested, inching toward us.

Sabine barked a laugh. “You’d think she looked good if she had leprosy.”

I blushed and Bryn giggled.

Shay smiled sheepishly, clearing his throat again. “Cal, I was hoping we could talk.”

I bit my lip and kept my eyes off his face. “Sure, but I’m a little busy right now.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Well, I’ll be in my room.”

“Okay.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets, but at least he managed not to run from the room.

Bryn beganto laugh. “I think we scared him.”

“It’s a tough room.” Sabine didn’t look up from her deft maneuvering of the scissors. “He’s probably a little thrown.”

I had to fight to keep still in the chair. “Thrown by what?”

“Being our new alpha. Ren’s out, he’s in. It’s a lot to swallow. He’s only been a wolf a few weeks; he’s not used to it like the rest of us.”

“What?!” Bryn and I exclaimed in unison.

“Calla, you can’t jerk around like that; I’ll either stab you or ruin your hair,” Sabine said, unfazed.

I grabbed her wrist, but she continued to gaze calmly at me.

“What are you talking about, Sabine?” I said slowly.

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, as if she were the only one aware of a hilarious, private joke. “You can’t be serious, Calla. Don’t you know?”

I frowned and glanced at Bryn, whose bewildered expression was giving way to one of astonishment.

Sabine’s smile broadened. “See, Bryn knows.”

Bryn nodded. “You’re right—of course, you’re right. I can’t believe I didn’t realize . . .”

She looked at me, guilt painting her cheeks rosy. “I just always thought it would be Ren.”

“But . . . how?” I couldn’t believe I had to throw that pleading question at Sabine.

“It’s simple, really.” Sabine shook my now limp fingers off her wrist and began shearing my locks once again. “We all know that alphas can’t be, well, promoted for lack of a better word. Alphas are born. Shay’s always been an alpha, but he wasn’t a wolf. When you made him one, it put him in the running.”

Sabine was right. Alphas couldn’t be promoted. That was part of the reason the Keepers’ solution to their Guardian troubles in Vail would be such a mess. But I couldn’t make the connection to Shay’s role in all of this.

Bryn smacked her palm against her forehead. “I’m an idiot.”

“Well, I must be too,” I snapped. “Because I’m still not following.”

“You’re not following because you are an alpha, Cal.” She offered me a sympathetic smile. “Shay’s always felt like an equal to you, right? He talks to you on your level, has never backed down if you challenged him?”

I chewed on my lower lip. “I guess I thought that was just a human thing. That he didn’t know any better because he wasn’t one of us.”

“Nope,” Sabine said. “It’s an alpha thing.”

Bryn threaded her fingers through mine. “Ren always saw Shay as a competitor. Even he must have known.”