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“Where?”

“Awfully close to your old pack,” Daphne answered. “Right out in the open again. In broad daylight. It’s like they want to get caught.”

“But it wasn’t⁠—”

“It wasn’t Knox,” Amie confirmed with a gentle shake of her head.

“Highlanders. Again.” Rafe growled.

It had to have something to do with Rafe killing those wolves, but as a revenge plan it made zero sense to Theo. He had to be missing something.

And how did Lena fit into any of this?

And where the hell was she?

“Anyway, it’s got the humans all keyed up,” Runa was saying, cutting herself another slice of cake.

“Good point, Runa. Theo, you and Rafe should stay in human form. You know what happens when humans feel threatened,” Daphne said.

Theo huffed. He knew alright. They armed themselves and then took out their fear on wolves. He’d seen it happen before. When his father was still alive, he’d send out a wolf or two to stir up trouble. To remind the humans who was really in charge around here, he would say. But it would always come back to bite them on the ass. Fear would turn into anger, and anger would turn into justice for the victims. Suddenly, the rules about whether or not you could hunt wolves loosened. Suddenly, it was imperative to get rid of the threat.

More of his fellow packmates were killed by human bullets than anything else. Human bullets combined with his father’s arrogance. But now it was happening and his father was dead. Why the fuck did these Highlanders think it was a good idea to go stirring up the humans?

A growl of frustration pushed its way into his throat. His wolf was prowling so close to the surface after kissing Fee, he felt like he might burst. Now was the worst possible time to not be able to shift.

Wait, that was it.

“They’re framing us,” he said, turning to Rafe.

“What do you mean?”

“They’re framing the County pack. Killing humans in our territory. When the humans retaliate, it will be us they come after.”

“Holy shit. You might be right.”

“Don’t look so surprised,” Theo said, even as pride trickled in behind Rafe’s impressed admission.

“That is brilliant,” Fee said. “Instead of attacking you directly they’re going after easier prey.”

“And what about the grove?” Daphne asked. “What if Ruby’s right?”

“Gert says developers are looking at the land,” Fee said. “That’s probably what Ruby saw. I don’t think anything is official yet. We have time before it comes true.”

“So, what are you saying, Fee? One epically bad problem at a time?” Theo said with a smirk, swiping a bite of cake.

“Basically, yeah.”

“Find Lena,” Ruby said.

“Stop the Highlanders,” growled Rafe.

“Save the grove,” the nymphs finished.

Theo nodded. “Right. So, where are we looking today?”

Phoebe fidgeted in her seat, her glance flicking to the window before landing back on him.

“I’m going back to the pack. To wait for Knox,” Rafe said. “He has to be back soon, and I know he has more to do with this than we want to believe.”