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He hesitates for a moment, and I wonder if he’s going to do it anyway, but then he stands. “Don’t leave the cabin.”
He heads to the door, pausing to slip his feet into his boots and to pull on his jacket. There is a moment of doubt as he glances back at me, and I can tell he wants to say something, but decides to shake his head and drags open the door, stepping through it instead.
The cold blast of air chokes the back of my throat for a moment, but when he closes the door behind him, I want to follow him into the frozen dusk. I would follow him anywhere.
I have to break free of whatever this magic is. My power doesn’t seem to work against this thing blocking me, and whatever the girls did only heightened its potency.
But I do know that I will keep trying, because there is no life for me trapped inside this husk of a body. I have to get back to Jackson, no matter what it takes.
Chapter 4
Jackson
Idon’t like leaving Dove on her own, but I also know she is too unstable to be around the boy we captured. If she kills him, we lose whatever advantage he can give us.
But I don’t trust the others not to hurt this kid. Hester seems especially hell-bent on making him talk, no matter what.
I don’t know why I’m defending him. He’s our enemy, and yet when I look at him, I see Dove and her situation. If we hadn’t been the ones to find her, would she have been tortured, hurt, pressed for information?
As I approach the main house, a strange feeling prickles down my spine, and I turn back toward the cabin. I’m not sure what I expect to see, but nothing moves. The Black Mountain rises into the gray sky behind the cabins and the lake, the snow-capped peaks a stark reminder that although spring is on the horizon, winter is still upon us on higher ground. The lake shimmers in the low afternoon sun, casting silvery ripples across the surface. The dark will creep in soon, and for some reason, its approach feels ominous.
As does the unease in my chest.
Dove…
I almost run back toward the cabin before I get myself under control. She’s fine, and she’s safe. I need to find out if there are more tau, more hunters coming for her.
Just in case, I lift my nose, drawing in air, but I don’t scent anything unusual. It doesn’t make the uncomfortable feeling go away, but I shove it aside anyway. No wonder I’m so on edge with all the shit going on.
Our lives have been a nonstop battle since we crossed paths with Halle. I don’t blame her for this. She didn’t ask to be on the most wanted list, and I don’t think the girls are the only ones at risk either. That vision—memory—had me in a room that could have been inside the Order’s facility.
I haven’t told anyone what I saw, or the fact that I’m sure Dove was the one who showed it to me. A snippet of our lives. But there is already so much suspicion toward her, and I don’t want to give my brothers more ammunition.
I wish I could just ask her about it and that she could answer me. No one else here was ever taken by the Order, and that vision suggests Dove and I were captives together. That we met before. That we’re connected, like I’ve been saying all along.
What would the Order want with a vargr wolf? Their sole purpose is to kill tau, not collect our kind.
And yet they’re not doing that either.
I ignore the unease swirling within me as I walk up the steps onto the porch of the main house. We’ll get answers. We have to. Stabbing wildly in the dark is a dangerous game to keep playing.
When I push the door open into the kitchen, I find Tessa standing at the sink, her eyes distant, her hand pressed over her slightly rounded stomach. She’s not far along in her pregnancy, and for a moment, it’s not Tessa I see, but Dove.
What would she look like swollen with my baby?
The protective urge that swirls through me takes me by surprise. I usually already feel that way about Dove, but I would die to keep her and any child we might have safe.
I shake myself, pushing that dream aside. Pups are not on the cards for us. I don’t know if it would even be possible without a mating bond.
Tension clings to the air, and although I know she does not trust me, I pause before heading out of the room. Tessa seems troubled, not that I blame her. Everything is a fucking mess.
“You… You okay?”
She blinks, as if coming back to herself, before she turns to me. The smile on her face is forced, and I wonder if I’m missing something. “Just taking a breather.”
“They’ve already started?” I can’t stop myself from snapping at her. It's bad enough they all think I’ve lost my mind, but now they’re trying to exclude me from things I need to be involved in.
She shakes her head. “They wanted to wait for you. It’s just… He nearly killed you, and we need answers in case there are more coming, but if they find out I’m pregnant…” She breaks off, paling as she fiddles absently with a leather bracelet around her wrist. “I’m scared, Jackson.”
