AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oops. Maybe I shouldn’t have snapped my question out like that.
I get it. I do. Me being a female alpha makes him nervous; between my dominance level being much higher than his, and his promise to serve as my guard even though I don’t actuallyneedone, the big shifter is still pretty skittish around me. I just really hope he’ll get over it soon. His strength is a bonus, and Ryker’s assured me that he’s loyal to the bone.
To me, loyalty is what counts. So, instead of poking at him some more, I wait.
Ryker’s not as patient as I am. I can feel him bristling next to me, and when he snaps his teeth at Duke, I’m kind of expecting it.
Duke obviously hadn’t. Either way, the sharp sound does what Ryker intended for it to do: it compels the lower-ranked wolf to spit it out.
“It’s Aidan. Aidan Barrow.”
Am I supposed to know who that is? I thought I met every packmate leading up to the Luna Ceremony, but I obviously missed one.
“Who?” I ask again.
“Young pup,” explains Ryker. “Nineteen. Maybe twenty. Delta. He worked with Shane, taking care of the pack vehicles.”
Duke frowns. “He stole one, too. But not before he attacked and made off with one of our own. And, believe me, she didn’t want to go with him.” His hazel eyes flash as he dares a look right at us. He might not be the same status as me and Ryker, but he’s still a shifter and, as he gets over his nerves, anger takes over. “We found this where the truck he took should’ve been parked.”
My nostrils flare. I can’t help it. “I smell blood.”
Ryker nods, taking the paper from Duke. “Trish’s blood.”
“That’s what caught Bobby’s attention during patrol about a couple of hours ago. He scented his cousin in trouble and tracked her to the open garage. The whole place stinks of oil and blood. Mostly hers, but she got a few slashes in before Barrow subdued her since his blood marks the place, too. Jace’s got the best nose of all of us and he’s sure that Barrow only has about a six-hour head start on us. The rest of the council is checking that the two of them are really gone, and that they’re the only ones. I came right here to see what you want us to do next.”
Ryker unfolds the note, scanning it quickly before handing it to me.
There’s no hesitation as he immediately goes into Alpha mode, giving Duke orders.
“Send a tracking team in three directions. Don’t worry about the Fang City. I’ll talk to Zakharov myself. Have Warren get in touch with the Alpha of the River Run Pack. See if Barrow’s gone through their territory. If not, have him spread the word. We want him before he gets across the country. The Western Pack is days away by car, but if Jack Walker’s set up base nearby”—and he must have, considering I’m almost positive I saw him in Muncie not too long ago—“someone knows about it. If they do, I want to. Understand?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Good. I also want you to—”
As Ryker continues to give directions to Duke, I run my eyes over the sheet. I notice a few rust-colored dots on the back. Obviously blood and, yeah, most of it belongs to Trish. Not enough for me to worry about her having a fatal injury, but just enough to be a little bit concerned regardless.
Because Duke is right. Trish risked a lot to be allowed to rejoin the pack and she’ll never willingly abandon us. The note the members of the pack council found just about proves that she didn’t.
In the center of the page, there’s a single line printed in a heavy hand:
You have my girl, now I have yours.
I clench my teeth, tightening my jaw as I read it again. Nope. The words don’t change, and neither does their meaning.
It doesn’t matter that I’m Ryker’s mate. Once upon a time, Trish told too many people to count that she would eventually be his. Even after she knew she’d never be, she announced to the Cadre that she was his intendedandthat she had proof. Sure, it was only so she got safe passage into Muncie, but still. It was obviously enough to put a target on her back by someone other than Roman and his vamps.
At the bottom of the page, there are twelve crisscrossing lines. Peering closely at it, I realize it’s a triple W scrawled there. A signature? It has to be. And considering the three W’s I’m staring at, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they stand for—or who orchestrated the abduction of one of our packmates.
Especiallythatone.
“Wicked Wolf Walker,” I say dully. “He’s behind this.”
Ryker’s dark gold eyes turn molten with barely suppressed rage. “I guess we finally know what his next move is, sweetheart.”
Luna damn it, I guess we do.
