Charlie stared at me, half the house still between us. His eyes were pleading and I could feel the ache, the tearing inside him. He opened his mind, begging for me to see…
Mate. Meg was his mate.
He couldn’t deny it. But he was conflicted.
He’d ached for me to come back from our trip, to remove the order, to give him the freedom to give himself to her, then last night I’d been nothing but suspicious. Unwilling to hear anything except that we keep watching her, because in my mind she was now connected to the Night Walker, and he was my father’s man. Or thing.
And for the first time, Charlie had fought his own loyalty. Wrestled with it—and overnight secretly determined that he wou
~ MACK ~I was standing in my room, holding Natalie, when we heard the front door go.At first I panicked, pulling her behind me and rushing out with a snarl because instinctively it seemed like it had to be an attack from Rig’s dad, or the Night Walker and…But it wasn’t. The person striding through the door was Rig—when had Rig left? And then, head down and face pale, Charlie followed in his wake.A beaten male. If he’d been in wolf form, he would have had his tail tucked around his balls.I stopped dead in the doorway from the hall to the living room and stared at both of them, feeling the tension in the room.“What happened?”
~ MACK ~Surprisingly, the next he approached was Natalie. I held my breath, uncertain if he was naming her to something or challenging her—this Rite could be used to remove threats, too.“Sister, I stand today for freedom, for unity, and a new dawn. I will take down our Alpha, or die trying. Will you stand with me?”“Yes.” She didn’t even hesitate.Rig nodded. “I stand in my mate’s stead. And she Names you Second. Beta for her power. If she is… is harmed, will you step in for her and call the packs to safety?”Natalie sucked in. We hadn’t expected Cara’s Naming since she wasn’t here. It was the role of the Luna to call retreat at the loss of th
~ RIG ~The weirdest thing happened when I named Natalie as Cara’s second.We’d discussed it. I knew Cara trusted her—and had hoped to bring Tessa in as Advisor well. There was nothing we could do about that at this point.But when I officially stood for her and Named Natalie, I felt something shift, and even with everything else going on, it washed me in joy and hope.Something went out from me to Cara.She was still out there, somewhere. Even if we were too far away to link. Even if I couldn’t speak to her, or bring her in on this… the power knew.She was alive, and she was still my mate.It
SOUNDTRACK: “How Soon is Now” by AG & Dresage*****~ RIG ~‘The packs are moving. You can’t leave it too much longer, Rig. They’re trying to be casual, but the numbers are too big. Someone’s going to catch wind of this pretty soon. It’s time.’Natalie’s sending was both reassuring, and horrific.It had been hours. Meanwhile, neither of us had heard from Mack yet. He’d had time to get to Stephen, to make the call, and should have been on his way back by now. Even if he was out of range of the link, he should have been in cell coverage by now.
~ RIG ~“It’s not like you to show up at home, Rig,” my father said quietly, starting to jog down the stairs. He was in suit slacks and a white shirt, but he’d opened the top button and rolled up the sleeves.The knuckles of his right hand were red.Fury washed through me in such a tidal wave I almost lost it. Almost went straight for his throat. But I couldn’t, I reminded myself. I had to do this right. All the formalities. All the witnesses.All the prayers that Cara was with the Night Walker and not directly in my father’s hands.“How was your trip?” he asked and anyone who didn’t know him would have thought the question was entirely casual. Just a dad asking his kid
~ MACK ~I swore loudly as I yanked the steering wheel so the car tires squealed, sliding around the corner, then careened up the street.I’d driven like a devil to try and get back, but those fucking rogues followed and I’d had to evade them more than once—and now I was hours past when I was supposed to be back.At least my wolf reflexes were still good when I was in human form—I could feel the weight of the car and even in a slide, know how to adjust. But I couldn’t take the time to appreciate the fun of it in that moment. I kept reaching out for the others, searching the link for them, but even though I was finally back in town, they were still out of range.Fuck.I glanced in the rearview
~ CARA ~I lay slack in the Night Walker’s arms, praying that I looked truly unconscious and that Rig’s Dad was too distracted to notice how fast my heart was beating for an unconscious person.My skin crawled. The Night Walker—he had told me his name was Troy, which seemed way too normal to fit him, but there were too many other details to figure out. I didn’t have time to worry about this killer sounding like a frat boy—was holding me tightly, but everything walked such a tightrope, I just had to keep reminding myself of the plan.Troy was done with David. And he wanted my help to free him from his own deal with the devil.I’d convinced him that helping Rig beat his father was the fastest way to freedom.
~ RIG ~When my father touched Cara, I didn’t even think. I just leaped towards him.Cara screamed through the link, obviously thinking I’d lost control. But she underestimated me. I knew him even better than she did. I knew he didn’t have any attraction to her. He was baiting me, alright. And even though I was a little calmer knowing she wasn’t unconscious, it still freaked me out. The only thing that stopped me shifting to take his throat on the spot was the knowledge that I needed to do this right. If I didn’t take him in a formal challenge, with witnesses, he was going to weasel out of submitting to me. I knew it.I had to do this right.So, I leaped for him—and his enforcers came for me—but I drew up short, right in front of