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Cole swore as he turned back to me. His gaze caught on Dylan’s face, and when I’d bundled Dylan into the back seat, he stopped with his hand on the door and leaned in. “Is he okay?”
“No,” I said. I didn’t owe him comforting lies. “Yourbossjust beat someone… someone who tried to protect us…. in front of him.” I swallowed the wordsto death,in hopes that Lawson was alive back there. If their pack enforcers hadn’t come along and ended his life, anyway.
Cole stared at me as if he had no answer, then shut the door.
“It’s going to be okay,” I promised Dylan, although my hands were shaking as I reached over and buckled his seatbelt.
Cole jumped in the driver’s seat and navigated carefully around the obstacles their pack had set up in the road.
I looked back to find Stone at the side of the embankment, one foot planted on the road, staring after me. His eyes smoldered, but I couldn’t tell if the emotion in them was rage.
Then we turned the corner, and the scene of bloodshed faded. Dylan leaned into me, his eyes still wide and glazed. I stroked my fingers through his auburn hair, murmuring soothing nothings.
“Who was he?” My voice shook. I needed to know if that was truly Brenna’s beloved little brother. Dylan cuddled into my side.
Cole shot me a look in the rearview mirror that I couldn’t read. But he obviously knew who I meant because he said, “Our alpha. Stone.”
Stone.The perfect name for a man that seemed hard and unyielding and unfeeling as stone.
“What does he want with me?” I demanded.
Cole didn’t answer for a long, chilling moment. Then he asked, “Does he look familiar?”
I didn’t want to lie to him, but my voice grew sharp. “Why? Should he?”
Cole didn’t answer.
He was Brennan’s family . . . Brennan’s brother… and suddenly his callous treatment struck me as hard as a fist. It felt like I couldn’t draw a breath. How could Brennan’s family treat us like that?
“Cole,” I said, and I could’ve sworn he winced at his name. “What’s going on? Please talk to me.”
But he fell silent. After a few moments, he pulled out his cell phone, dialed, and held it up to his ear. “Shaw? Did you make it out of there already?”
I strained my ears but couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.
“He can’t have survived that fall.” Cole raked his hand through his hair, looking exasperated. “They have to get out of there. There’s no time to waste searching for the body.”
His voice dropped, though obviously, I could hear his whole side of the conversation as he added, “Yeah, I’ve got the girl. And her kid. Where do you want me to take them?”
A beat, then, “I’ll tell you later.”
He tossed the phone back into the center console.
“Where do they want you to take us?” I demanded, leaning forward.
“To our pack’s territory.”
“Why? Why didn’t Stone just—” I broke off, needing to keep Dylan calm, to make him feel as safe as possible.
I had to keep playing the same game I had while I was raising Dylan in Nathan’s dark shadow. I had to protect his body and his heart. As much as I wanted to know what was coming next, I couldn’t ask if Nathan was alive or dead. Not yet.
Maybe Stone had at least managed the small favor of killing Nathan for me. He had certainly been on a bloody rampage.
Dylan looked up at me with wide eyes, and I hoped he wouldn’t ask me about Aiden or Lawson.
“What are you going to do with us?”
The silence hung for a few long seconds before Cole replied, “Lady, I’ve got no idea.”
