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The sound of scurrying feet became louder and louder, and suddenly, it stopped. I came to a pause and growled underneath my breath, warning them to come out because I wasn’t in the fucking mood right now.

Sniffing the air, I followed the faint, unfamiliar scent to a large oak tree. I stalked around it to see two baby foxes cuddling together and staring up at me through wide, terrified eyes, their bodies both trembling uncontrollably.

Fuck!

I moved closer to them, sniffing their tiny bodies. They stayed completely still, hugging closer to each other. Then I shifted back into my human form, eyeing the small animals who faintly smelled like Ember.

“Do you know where she is?” I asked.

They didn’t move.

“Did Bronzetail take her?”

Nothing.

“Show me where she is, and I’ll make sure you’re protected from the rogues in Black Hollows,” I offered, though I wasn’t sure they understood anything I was saying. They didn’t smell like shifters, just regular animals.

I waited a moment, then another, and just when I thought that this was useless, both of the foxes turned toward the direction of the Bronzetail Pack. After thanking them, I shifted into my wolf once more and sprinted into the direction of Davix’s pack.

That fucker was going to pay.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ember

“You’re leaving now,” Davix growled, snapping his hand around my wrist and tugging me away from Hazel and toward the woods.

An hour after raiding the kitchen for banana bread, Hazel and I were in the backyard, hanging with some of his pack, and this asshole had to ruin it.

Like always.

“Let up.” I tried to tug my hand free. “You’re hurting me.”

To my surprise, Davix loosened his grip and muttered an apology.

Yes, an apology from the big bad alphahole. What a surprise.

“Did you just apologize?” I asked, smirking.

“Don’t get used to it,” he snarled. “It’s the last time you’ll ever hear it.”

“Oh, yeah? And why’s that?”

Davix stopped right before entering the woods. “Because you’re never allowed here again. I’m bringing you home, and you’re going to stay there. You’re not going to be allowed at Java Junction or in the rest of the town. Find someone else to bother because⁠—”

Suddenly, Davix stopped talking and shoved me behind him.

“How the fuck did you get onto my property?” Davix growled.

I peered around his muscular body. My eyes widened at Cade approaching angrily through the woods, followed by several men I recognized as people from Davix’s pack. They looked pissed and … bloody.

“Cade.” I stepped beside Davix. “What are you doing here?”

“Ember, you’re coming home with me,” Cade said, still approaching. “Now.”

When Cade reached Davix, Davix shoved him backward, yet Cade barely moved a few inches. I had seen how powerful Davix was before, so for Cade barely to move …

Warmth spread through my body, and I pressed my thighs together discreetly.