Distantly, I hear a truck start, Kendrick following along. I reach the heart in minutes, skidding to a stop in front of the last building before the road splits off down the mountain.
Shifting mid-leap, bones cracking, fur receding, I tackle Andrea to the ground in human form. My fingers dig into her shoulders as I pin her against the dirt, my face inches from hers.
“Where is she!?” My desperation tears from my throat.
Strong hands yank me up as Grayson steps in, hauling Andrea upright by her collar. She’s covered in blood, her shirt is filthy, but she appears unharmed.
Stepping back, I notice faint, recent scars coloring her wrists and neck. It’s my alpha who pulls me back, always calm and in control, noting things I’m too emotional to see. Like the slight tremor in her hands despite the steady beat of her heart. Would she have waltzed right back here if she were guilty?
“Grayson,” I start, forcing my voice to level out. “Put her down. We need to talk to her.”
The crunch of gravel pulls him back. Kendrick parks the truck and hops out. He stands aside, quietly assessing. A few feet away, Eli waits with silver cuffs dangling from gloved fingers.
“Andrea, is it?”
She snarls, but the sound dies in her throat when she realizes who’s asking. Her eyes drop in submission. “Máni.”
Kendrick nods. Then, to Grayson, “Let her go.”
He does, but not without hissing and shoving her back. “If you had anything to do with—“
“Look at her wrists, kid.”
Andrea self-consciously rubs at her wrists, then straightens her spine, squares her shoulders. Tiredly, she holds her hands behind her back, at attention. Filthy, bruised, a little broken, and she’s still a model soldier.
“What happened?” I ask. “Please, if you know anything.”
She doesn’t even hesitate. “The witches were taking her to a secondary location just past the border into Canada. They dumped me in Jackman a few hours ago. I was bound in silver, there’s no way I could have—”
She doesn’t choke up, but takes a second to recompose. And when she does, she’s all business again. “It was one witch, male, low-level. Of average intelligence, too, if his inability to notice we were talking the whole time says anything. I overheard Stance—”
“Stance?”
She nods. “The witches hired him after he was exiled to help them sneak onto our lands. He—I don’t know the specifics, but they were bringing her to a safe house, and they zip-tied her, not in silver, so that tells me they want her unharmed.”
“What do they want with her, exactly?”
Andrea presses her lips together, shaking her head. She doesn’t know. How could I expect her to, when the witches have been planning this for nearly twenty-five years? They kept Mona safely tucked away, raised in ignorance amongst the humans. A rare omega, born of one of the most powerful, ancient bloodlines in existence… I can’t imagine what Deidre has planned.
I glance over at Kendrick. His face remains passive. It’s almost eerie.
“The Ghost is with her, I’m sure of it,” Kendrick says. “She’ll be safe enough for now.”
“I thought you lost contact?” Grayson asks.
He nods, scratching his neck. “I did.” He turns away, then looks up at the sky. “They stole Desi from me, kept her power hidden from her. But then she came into her true omega form before they were ready. Now they’ve stolen her again. Ghost was with Deidre, and she’s behind all this.” He looks back at the three of us. He’s a few inches shorter than me and Gray, only a bit taller than Andrea. But he commands all of us without effort.
“While we wait to hear from him and check in, let’s look at the trail from Jackman into Canada. Maybe we can get some idea of where they’re headed, meet them halfway.”
“You’re putting an awful lot of trust in a man that’s barely older than Mona. He doesn’t have the experience to—”
“He may be young, Grayson, but he’s smart. Quick. I don’t need to hold his hand and tell him what to do. If that were the case, we’d have met up with him at the compound after the attack. No, he left with Deidre. He’s following the trail. He’ll get to Desi.”
I nod, but Grayson doesn’t trust it. Which brings his wrath back to Andrea.
“Lock her up for now, just in case.” He tilts his chin toward the she-wolf.
Eli starts for Andrea, but she protests, “What! Why? Grayson, I can help—”
