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Or maybe he was gone —he might have a vehicle miles from here. For a shifter, that would be no issue at all.
And Benny wanted to go and find out. His wolf wanted to hunt the bastard down so badly, Benny wasn’t sure he wouldn’t take over right now. Ryder, he told his wolf. Ryder comes first. And then we hunt.
His wolf hesitated, and Benny waited. Once he would have just asserted his dominance, but now? Partners, he thought at his wolf. Ryder first. Then we hunt. His wolf agreed, and stepped back, leaving Benny in control.
For now.
Titus dropped to his knees beside him and swore softly when he saw where Benny was pressing down. He pulled off his own sweatshirt and pressed it tightly against the wound. “He’s going to need some of that meat,” Titus said tensely, and one of the guards set of at a run for the bonfire. Benny nodded, glad Titus could even think right now. Titus helped raise the boy — Ryder was as much Titus’s son as he was his father’s.
Benny stood back. “Give me your phone,” he said. Titus kept up the pressure with one hand and pulled his phone out of his pocket with the other. He gave him the code and Benny punched it in and hit recents.
He glanced at Mucho who was standing there, looming over Ryder’s body. He was about in tears. The last thing they needed was a 300-pound biker having a meltdown. “He needs meat,” Benny said. “Find out what’s keeping those wolves. Send out another team if necessary. We’re going to need meat for them,” and he gestured toward the men at the bonfire, “and more importantly, for Ryder. He’s going to need every bit of energy we can push at him to heal.”
Mucho nodded, and moved away, grateful for something to do. Benny thought he’d go out hunting with his bare hands if need be.
Benny called the number. “Hello?” Jessie said, sounding frantic. “Titus? What happened? Something’s wrong! I can feel it.”
“It’s me, Benny,” Benny said. It was actually good news that shecouldfeel it. “Ryder’s been shot. He’s going to need a power boost, like you’ve given each other before. But Jessie..... Listen to me!” he ordered and waited for her to calm down. “I need you to do this right, or we could lose you both. Do you hear me?”
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice quavering.
“It’s bad,” he said. “But he’s still alive, and every minute that he lives makes it more likely that hewilllive. So I want you to find anyone who is Penticton pack that you can trust. Is Dennis there?”
“Yes, he and Michel just got back from his office downtown,” Jessie said.
“Good. You need him and Duncan. And Miles, if he’s around.”
She covered the phone and said something to someone else in the room. “Amanda’s gone to get them,” she said. “We’ve got trouble here too.”
Benny sorted through the options rapidly. “Whatever the problem is at Wolf’s Head, turn it over to Jason,” he ordered. “He can handle anything up to, and including, a war.”
“It’s getting there,” she muttered. She turned to speak to someone else. “OK. Cass went after Jason. Benny, you need to tell me what to do! I can feel his pain.”
“That’s a good thing,” Benny assured her. “It means your bond is working in spite of the distance. So put me on speaker when the McKenzies are with you, and I’ll brief you all at once.”
“Jason just came in,” Jessie said. “He wants to speak with you.”
“After I brief you and your team, I’ll talk to him,” Benny promised.
“They’re here,” she said.
“OK,” Benny said, moving away from Titus and Ryder. “Ryder was shot, and it’s bad. Jessie can push power and dominance to Ryder through their mate bond to help him heal. But she’s got to be watched, or she’ll push too much and she’ll be in trouble herself.”
There was a murmuring in the background. “Just accept it,” Benny said impatiently. “I don’t have time to teach a class in mate bonds. So, someone needs to monitor Jessie while she focuses on her mate bond. If her heart gets erratic, Dennis, you’ll need to snap her out of it. And Miles that’s where you come in.”
“Me?” the young man asked.
“Again, I don’t have time to give you the whole story —ask your grandfather —but you’re a rare submissive wolf and you, more than anyone, can help keep Jessie stable. Just like you’ve been doing for the guys out in the yard,” Benny said rapidly. Damn it, they should have told the boy this already.... Well, it had only been 48 hours since Ryder challenged the old Alpha, hard to remember that. “You feel their pain, and you go to them, and it helps. You need to do the same with Jessie.”
“I don’t know how,” Miles said with alarm. “What if I do it wrong?”
“I don’t think there’s any wrong way to do it,” Benny said as gently as he could. “And you know more about it than anyone within 500 miles of here, so you’re the expert. We’re in new territory all around, so do your best.”
“Yes, sir,” Miles said with a gulp.
“Good man,” Benny praised. “Now look. You three are Penticton pack. So you can funnel your own power through your pack bond to Jessie. It’s probably easier to give her energy and have her send it on to Ryder than for you to try to reach him over this distance. But listen to me, because this is important. You cannot let Jessie risk her life for Ryder. Do you hear me?”
“I can risk it if I want to,” Jessie protested. “I’ll be fine. That’s what the Second does, right? Protect the Alpha.”
