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I look behind me once more to find Mad still hasn’t returned. Outside, the truck that drove us here is gone. I leap down onto the gravelly ground, my knees wobbling, but I manage to not fall over with my wrists restrained. Yay for me. Then I dart down the landing strip behind the aircraft.Swift and silent.I don’t dare stop, and hope the pilot doesn’t see me.
Running full tilt with my hands tied is harder than I expected, my shoulders swinging wildly back and forth in a see-saw manner.
Around me, pines stand tall and silent, the only witnesses to the direction I take. My pulse thumps in my ears. A quick look behind, and I’m far enough from the airplane to now slip into the dense woods and vanish from sight.
I don’t know how long I’ve run, but I don’t stop. The hill I’m scaling leaves my thighs burning. Ignoring the ache, I push forward.
The mistake is mine for going anywhere near a wolf pack in the first place. I’ve met enough females on my travels who have helped me out and told me whom to steer clear of.
Ash Wolves are at the top of this list in Romania. Their Alpha, Dušan, is a controlling shifter who rules the biggest pack in the surrounding countries, and he gained that position for a reason. He takes what he wants without mercy.
Other smaller packs exist here and there in Transylvania, along with rogue wolves. Most small towns that once existed in the mountains have been overrun by the undead. Fewer safe zones exist now for free women.
I grew up terrified of these woods made of teeth and claws. Except now, it’s my home. The Shadow Monsters leave me alone for a reason I don’t understand, and I accept the universe’s fate. Now, I just need to navigate around the wolves who also call this land home.
At the crest of the hill, I stop to catch my breath and stare out over the ocean of pines as far as the eye can see. Across the horizon, a small craft ascends. Mad and Caspian taking those women to their new home, stolen from freedom. Guilt flares that I couldn’t do more for them. Except as I watch them fly away, I know I made the right decision. I made the only possible decision.
Dušan
“Well, only eight arrived on the transport,” Ander Cain states through the comm unit, the flare of anger narrowing his eyes. His golden irises glint on the screen with frustration.
I’m seething, but I don’t show it to the X-Clan Alpha of Andorra Sector. We are business partners, and it took me a goddamn long time to build this relationship, to gain his trust. Until I get to the bottom of this, I’ll keep my cards close to my chest. I am the Alpha of Shadowlands Sector, and I don’t back down, but I also won’t jump into a fight unprepared.
“Your Second is here to confirm,” Ander continues before turning the screen on his end to face Mad.
My Second stares at me with a stoic expression and rattles off his explanation. “Meira wasn’t part of the transport.”
Anger flares over my chest, and I clench my fists by my side. He’d given me a list of all the female wolves we captured last week, all nine of them destined for the X-Clan Wolves.
“How is that possible?” I roar, then I school my reaction in front of Ander.
“You’ll need to check with Mihai. He was the last one seen with the cargo before we took off,” he retorts, and he’s pissing me off, passing the blame off to someone else. My pulse rages through my veins to remind him of his place.
“I thought I chargedyouwith that task, Stefan?” I rarely use his given name, but he’s testing my patience. As my Second, I have to trust him, and he needs to be fucking on top of everything we do.
Mad explains he was busy with Caspian in the cockpit, which only has me grinding my jaw. I can almost see the cogs turning, which tells me he’s hiding something. He speaks with confidence, smooth and believable. But today, something’s off.
“I expected you to manage the shipment,” I hissed. “Which clearly did not happen. Put Cain back on,” I snap, sick of seeing his face.
Ander reappears on the screen. Running my hand through my short, dark hair, I have no choice but to return the cargo he sent me as payment for the girls. While the X-Clan pack have power, technology, and advanced medicine to trade, what they lack are Omegas. Their Alphas can only mate and impregnate Omegas. And that is one thing I have in my territory. Female wolves with a good number of them being Omegas. Their scent gives them away. So our exchange benefits both our packs.
The X-Clan and Ash Wolves are both shifters, but genetically, we’re different. My understanding is that the X-Clan’s incredibly secretive technologies make them immune to the undead through a serum they developed. It’s given to the Omegas I send Ander to help bring out their Omega side even more and make them compatible with X-Clan Wolves. In turn, the serum benefits them with immunity to the infected. It’s a technology we have not yet discussed for trading, but it’s definitely on my mind.
Now, when it comes Ash Wolves, we need to find fated mates for our wolves to connect through marking and sex. But with all the shit going on and a growing pack to protect from the zombies trying to break into our home, I don’t have time for that kind of involvement.
To maintain our relationship with Ander, I reluctantly say, “You can hold back one of my cargos while I locate our missing Omega.” This isn’t what I want.
Ander studies me cautiously. Thick, black hair sits cropped short to his ears without a strand out of place. I visited his compound for negotiations. They lived in penthouses in high security buildings, while we made our homes among old ruins and wilderness.
We are wolves, one with nature, and the wild is where we belong. I wouldn’t exchange that for anything.
After more back and forth with Ander on how we’ll do this, considering he’s already sent the shipment—adding complications to the situation—Mad interrupts, stepping into view on the comm screen. “I have a suggestion.”
“And that suggestion is?”
“Caspian and I will stay here as collateral while you find the girl. Once found, Cain can send his own pilot to retrieve her, and then we’ll make our way back to you afterward.”
I don’t miss the tightness around Ander’s eyes at Mad’s offer. Such a suggestion would leave me uncomfortable too, considering Mad just invited himself to stay in the Andorra Sector. What doesn’t sit well with me is Mad not consulting with me first. I won’t forget this when he returns home, along with the chaos he just caused with the missing girl.
