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“What do you mean?” My mom turns wide eyes on him.
“I mean, Wilde nearly tore the Sheriff’s office apart when he reported her missing.”
I cock my head, not understanding.
My mom gasps. “You mean–”
My dad nods. “Mates. I’d put my money on it.”
Goosebumps rise on my arms although I’m not sure why. Witnessing Fate at work, maybe. Fate matching an alpha like Wilde with the runt of the pack–a girl who’s more defective than I am. She can’t even shift.
Fate threw step siblings together as mates. It’s crazy and wrong and yet also sort of perfect. I mean, there they are, under the same roof with each other. It would be impossible to resist their animal nature. Would Wilde ever have come near a little runt like Rayne otherwise? Hell, he’s supposed to be away at college right now, but he was suspended from playing. Fate orchestrated his return to Wolf Ridge to stay at the house where Rayne now lives.
“Son.” My dad’s tone is serious. “We think Rayne was kidnapped.”
My brows shoot up. “Kidnapped? Why?”
“Her scent disappeared on the sidewalk leaving the stadium. Like someone picked her up.“
“Whoa.”
“Sit down. I’ll heat that up for you,” my mom says.
“No, this is fine.” I wave her back to her chair.
“There’s more,” my dad says. “Word has been spreading about this underground group called the Venators.”
More goosebumps crawl over my arms although this time, it’s an icy chill of foreboding. Like my wolf knows the danger I’m about to hear.
“They’re a secret society of powerful humans who know our secret. They hunt shifters.”
I stop chewing, a dark rage brewing in my belly. “That’s fu–messed up.”
“They go after adolescents who haven’t shifted yet. They keep the young as prisoners until they hit puberty and shift. Then they hunt them before they can control themselves or know their own animals.”
My mom’s eyes well with tears. “It’s awful. I want to hunt every one of them.”
“So do I,” my dad growls.
“But why do you think they took Rayne? Do they know she can’t shift?”
“Maybe. But there is often someone on the inside selling these kids out. So it’s possible they know and hope she’s just a late bloomer.”
A low growl rumbles in my chest. “That’s sick.” I can’t imagine anyone betraying his own kind. I shake my head. “No Wolf Ridge wolf would sell out Rayne Lansing. No way.”
“Maybe not a wolf,” my mom says ominously.
“Someone scented a bear shifter in our territory this week.” My dad looks grim.
The bear. The bear who had Lauren’s letter.
Oh, Fate. I swallow.
I didn’t tell anyone about seeing him because then I would have to explain the situation–something I couldn’t do. But what if I had said something, and it prevented Rayne from being taken?
Guilt gathers in a pit of my stomach like oil in a pothole.
If something happens to her, I will never forgive myself. She may be the runt, but she’s still pack.
