Ryder drifted the drone sideways, keeping the same height. The camera found the porch, the front steps, the side wall, the propane tank, and the tree line pressed close around the clearing. One window glowed at the front of the cabin.
Ryder eased the drone sideways and a little lower. He kept it off to the side of the clearing, using the angle of the porch and the dark trees behind it to keep the drone from hanging in front of the glass.
The first view gave them nothing. The lit window threw back a pale smear, lamp glare and reflected branches washing the room into shapes without edges. Ryder adjusted the camera, then the drone, small movements that changed the angle by inches on the screen.
“Hold there,” Axel said.
The glare thinned, and the inside of the cabin slowly came into focus. Part of the kitchen counter. The edge of a table. A chair back. Movement crossed the frame, and Axel’s whole body locked.
Wade stepped into view. His face was clearer than the plate had been. A red mark cut across one cheek. He moved through the room holding a mug, calm as if this were his cabin.
Axel’s hand tightened around the edge of the controller.
“That’s Wade,” he said.
Ryder adjusted the angle again, lower by inches, then farther to the side. Wade moved out of frame. For a moment, the window showed only the kitchen table and the edge of a chair. Then the drone drifted another foot, and the couch came into view.
Reese was sitting there.
Axel stopped breathing.
She was turned partly away from the window, shoulders rounded, one hand against her stomach. Her hair was loose around her face. Even through the glass and glare on the small screen, he could tell she was terrified.
“It’s her,” Axel breathed.
His wolf surged inside him so hard Axel’s vision sharpened and narrowed. His skin pulled tight. His bones ached with the first violent pressure of the shift. The wolf demanded he run straight to the cabin and rip Wade’s skin and muscles from his bones. He forced himself to breathe and calm down.
Ryder kept the drone steady on the window.
“I’m calling it in.” Axel took the sat phone from the open gear case and kept his eyes on the controller screen while it connected. Dom answered on the second ring.
“We’ve got visual confirmation,” Axel said. His voice sounded controlled. It didn’t feel connected to the rest of him. “Reese and Wade are both inside the cabin. Reese has no visible injuries and seems alert.”
“Any surprises at the location?”
“No,” Axel said. “It matches the map. We found the dead-end turnout and parked there. Closest residence is five miles south of the cabin. The tree cover is tight around the clearing.”
“Hold position,” Dom said. “We’re rolling now. The whole team is on approach. Reynolds has been notified. We’ll be there by 2100. Hold your location. Do not act.”
Axel closed his hand around the sat phone until the plastic creaked.
“Copy.”
The line clicked off. Axel lowered the phone and turned back to the screen.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Dusk felloutside the cabin windows while Wade cooked dinner. Reese sat on the couch where he’d put her, with the mug of cold tea untouched on the coffee table. The room smelled like propane, old woodsmoke, and food she didn’t want to want.
Wade moved between the stove and the counter with his sleeves pushed to his forearms, opening cabinets, setting cans beside the sink, and putting a cutting board on the counter.
She kept both hands folded low over her belly and made herself stay still. Fighting every second had never helped with Wade. It made him tighten control. She’d lived with him long enough to know exactly how it went.
“You cold?” he asked.
“No.”
