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“More fucking magic? I’m getting real damn tired of these witches,” Leven growled, slamming his hand against the dashboard. Thank fuck I didn’t have air bags because of moments just like this. Wolves were prone to outbursts, and I didn’t want anyone to knock themselves out. Plus we could survive a crash when humans might not be able to.
“Yes. But remember what Emma was saying?” I pointed out. “If they’re willing to chain every woman in their pack, I have a feeling they aren’t above enslaving witches too. And that begs the question, just how fucking big is this pack?”
“Did she give anything else?” Nyx asked from behind me. He already sounded more like himself knowing we were headed for our girl.
“The pack she’s with is also missing someone and they identified his scent on Vanya,” I added in. “Their alpha, Zoey, seems pretty well put together. She suggested we chat about an alliance when we get there.”
“We should listen,” Nyx said. “They might be nineteen plus hours away, but it seems locations aren’t a boundary for this fucking pack.”
“That’s why I suspect it’s a bigger pack. I’m just uncertain how it developed into this. Picking off women pack by pack? That’s bold. Even the shittier packs tend to treat their women with some fucking respect,” I said. “Is it just me or has this gone from one lone wolf incident to a huge fucking nationwide issue?”
“It has. But we aren’t fucking backing away now. They involved us the moment they waged a war with Dixon and stalked our mate, then kidnapped her,” Leven said vehemently.
“I’m still blown away he kept Meira in his back pocket to use. We can assume it’s a coincidence all we want, but the fact he confronted Vanya the first night in Dixon and then it escalated to that picture? This was planned, whether it simply escalated because she was a witness, or something more,” Nyx reasoned out. I appreciated that he was working through his anxiety in his own way, but he was just summarizing everything we knew and it was a whole lot of random shit that shouldn’t make sense. Essentially we knew next to nothing, our mate was at risk and likely would be until we solved it, and wolves were missing across the country because if there were two this far apart, there were certainly more.
* * *
The directions Zoeygave us from the airport were pretty straightforward and we reached it right before noon. The farmhouse complex was around the same size as the Bluffs, just a far more humble display.
We were met at the gate by several wolves, but the moment I said my name they waved us in. Zoey told us to park by the big barn and the moment I was in a spot, I shut off the ignition and jumped out.
“Callum!” I’d never heard a shriek sound so fucking amazing. We both ran and she launched herself at me, the momentum knocking me on my ass, but I held onto her, bringing her down with me. “You came.”
“I’ll always find you, Vanya,” I told her simply. “Kiss me, little wolf.” She didn’t hesitate to press her mouth to mine, and it felt like heaven. Her scent wrapped around me, and I held on tighter than I ever have before. Having her back in my arms felt like a fucking dream. I’d been so sick over this it almost didn’t feel real, but touching her was helping to ground me.
“In case I decided to be stubborn before this… you guys are my mates, I’m willing to be exclusive now,” she admitted, tears forming in her eyes. “I was so fucking scared, Callum.”
“I know, so was I,” I admitted. “And you were already ours, little wolf.”
“You are,” Leven thundered, literally yanking her out of my arms and into his. She didn’t complain, simply letting out an off-kilter laugh before she slammed her mouth to his, hands digging into his shoulders and legs wrapped around his waist. We didn’t give a single fuck if the other pack watched or judged us, this was necessary. Leven was harboring his own guilt over her being taken and needed the reassurance just as much as Nyx and I did.
“Leven.” Nyx’s words held a desperation to them even the burly asshole couldn’t ignore, and he reluctantly handed her over. “There you are.”
“I’m okay,” she reassured him, kissing him quickly before wrapping her arms around him and holding on tight. They didn’t pull away for a moment, soft whispers the only sign of life for a solid five minutes. My eyes met a woman at the entrance to the barn, and I knew right away she was Zoey. Her dark hair was pulled into a military-style bun, eyes gentle as she watched us but her stance was rigid, ready for any sign of unrest nearby. The vigilance of an alpha radiated from her.
As soon as Nyx finally let Vanya go, Zoey approached. She walked up to me and held out a hand. Most who meet an alpha lower their gaze out of respect, but we held ours for a few beats, both of us on equal footing. It was refreshing to find another like-minded alpha.
“Thank you for helping our mate,” I told her, bowing my head in thanks. “I hear we aren’t the only ones in need of help.”
“Unfortunately, no,” she agreed. “Do you have time before you head out?”
“We did one-way tickets for this reason,” I reassured her. I wrapped my arm around Vanya and I dragged her with me into the barn.
They had a pretty nice setup here, like a big family compound, more than ours even. People milled around the main area, talking and laughing. It was a sign that we could trust them, because you couldn’t fake the genuine contentment that filled the room.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Vanya asked quietly as she glanced around. “It’s nice to know not all packs are awful out there, ya know?”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I agreed.
Zoey didn’t hesitate to dive into the meeting the moment we were all in. Her team sat across from us, Vanya sat between Leven and me, Nyx on my other side. The tension rose as she pulled out a tablet and folder.
“After we realized it wasn’t just our missing wolf, I reached out to the alphas I knew in the area. Four more are missing,” Zoey said. Her voice was calm but it held every ounce of anger and indignation I felt.
“We talked about it on the way over,” I said with a sigh. Running my hand through my hair, I tried to find a gentle way to say it but went with being blunt instead. This wasn’t the time for sugarcoating anything. “We think it’s the same pack. And by my estimate, they’re enormous. I’d guess if they could pay out bounties as sizable as this tracker likely gets to pursue this long… they’ve earned funds somehow.”
“Plus they’re paying witches,” a blond man added.
“I think you’re wrong, Grant,” Vanya countered. “They don’t respect women. And from the bragging the tracker did, they discard them when they’ve decided their prisoners are useless. So if they have witches, they likely have a way to keep them compliant.”
