Stephen was still gaping at me when I was done filling him in. He’d been paying such attention to me, he hadn’t really registered Mack and Natalie’s matebond.
“And they’ve known this… for years?”
I nodded. “I know, it’s crazy—”
The door opened behind me and every hair on the back of my neck stood up because I hadn’t heard anyone approach, but as soon as I was on my feet and turning, the air from outside flowed in, bringing with it the scents of the girls.
Relief washed over me.
Stephen and I both hurried towards the door.
‘You okay?’
~ RIG ~Harmony looked relieved.I turned to Cara. “Stephen won’t fight my father. But he’s agreed to let other wolves come help us if they want to. So they’ll come as… free agents. They’re there to help, but they aren’t my wolves.”Cara frowned harder. “But wasn’t the whole point to bring in more wolves to increase your power so that you could beat your dad? Do they still help you if they aren’t yours?”“Not the same way, but they shift the numbers in an outright battle.”“But you don’t want it to come to that, right?”“Right.”
~ CARA ~“What?” Me and Rig both gasped at the same time. I could vaguely hear Charlie in Rig’s headphones, swearing. Rig stood up and started towards me, but the headphones yanked him back. He was going to rip them off, but then he must have remembered Charlie.“Just hang on, Charlie. This is news for me too.” Then he glared at Stephen, who was striding towards him from the kitchen. “What the fuck are you talking about?”“That thing—you called it the Night Walker. That’s the thing hanging around town, right?”“Yeah—it’s attacked like five different girls now.”Stephen shook his head. “It’s done a lot more than that, but I
~ RIG ~“A pack that can kill wolves,” Stephen breathed.A bolt of adrenaline speared through me as I caught his point. A creature that was specifically equipped to kill people, and wolves? And it was loose in our territory?But Cara spluttered and flapped a hand. “No. No. I couldn’t kill a wolf.”I looked at her sharply, and she caught my gaze, her eyes widening.She licked her lips. “Rig, you can’t seriously think—”“You haven’t been trained, but your instincts, Cara, if those were honed. If he’s thinking he’ll make a bunch of you and then teach you… if my dad was using this guy to get ri
~ NATALIE ~We stood in a circle, deep in the forest because Stephen said that was how we could be sure no one overheard us and I gaped while Rig and Mack were scheming.What the fuck?What the actual fuck?Stephen still alive and in some kind of deal with the devil that was their father.The Night Walker was an agent on the Asshole King’s side.Which meant daddy dearest likely knew about Cara.But no one was talking about the fact that that meant daddy dearest also knew the truth about Mack.
~ MACK ~My mate was stunning and fiery and my entire body applauded when she stepped up in my defense.Fuck, she was beautiful.Cara caught Rig’s arm when the two of them bore down on each other. But I already had a hold on Natalie. Both of us watched our mates get protective and possessive, and I didn’t know about Cara, but most of my heart was singing just watching her give a fuck.I was scared, sure. But I was also hopeful—and a lot of that was because my mate was so fucking smart and set us up with so much support to get this done.I knew she was scared. I also knew if anyone could win this, it was Rig. I was sure of it. And I knew deep down Natalie knew that too. But that’s why she was so scar
~ RIG ~We were all headed back to the center of the rogue’s camp when Stephen leaned in. ‘Can we talk. Alone?’I nodded. I wanted to have some time with him before we left, too.We both sent to our mates to let them know we were going to disappear for a few minutes. I asked Mack and Natalie to watch out for Cara. But since she was with Harmony, I doubted there’d be any trouble.Natalie was still sullen, but Mack told me not to worry.Then I followed the tip of Stephen’s head off to the west as he drew me away from the others before we made it to that central gathering area.A few minutes later, i
~ CARA ~The drive home was tense. I struggled to sit still because I kept having that urge to get out of the closed space and run and hunt and… and it was just the tension getting to me. Getting to my cat… or whatever this thing was inside me.Everything was incredibly strained. Natalie was worried about Mack and mad as hell at Rig for it. While Rig was half-mad at his brother, and half-terrified to take these steps without him. And worried about me.He kept his mind open so I kept getting the flashes, seeing how his mind looped on the whole situation—his father’s subterfuge and the confusion there, about his motives and how much he knew. What it was going to be like to go back, and what danger that placed all of us in.His pride about his broth
~ CARA ~I’d been surprised how solid Rig felt in the car. How sure. Even the things we discussed that he couldn’t know ahead of time, he was clear about what to do about them. What the options were. He’d been encouraging Mack and reassuring Natalie, keeping me from getting too scared, and even made a joke or two.I think all of us took a breath when we got back to the property, and when we passed the main cabin, and there was no sign of intruders. He’d opened the windows so we could all track for scents while we drove, and there was nothing. Everything we smelled was us and our vehicle and the cold.It didn’t mean someone wasn’t in the property at all, but Rig was confident if the perimeter was breached, the system would tell us.A tri