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“No, Jessie, trust me on this,” Benny said as firmly as he knew how. “I’ve seen this before. You have to be strong and not get sucked into Ryder’s wound and pain, or you’ll not be able to help him. Youhaveto control the flow of power. Keep it steady, and make sure you’re in control! You cannot take risks with yourself. If you die because you send him too much of your energy, he dies too. Got that? You need to monitor it and shut down the energy transfer before you lose consciousness or lose control. If you don’t? You risk your life, his life, and the whole pack as well.”
He didn’t even want to think what would happen then. He’d watched helplessly when Abby had reached through her mate bond with Tanaka and risked her life for his. Back then, they hadn’t known what she could do —or what she’d risked. But he’d seen her heart go erratic. Felt....
He shook his head. They could have lost her, lost Tanaka, had both packs in disarray. They’d risked much that night. Maybe there was a reason packs prized stability above all else.
“Promise me, Jessie,” Benny said. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought her into it. But he hadn’t been sure she’d survive Ryder’s death, and this might be Ryder’s only chance. “Promise you’ll protect your own life.”
“All right,” she said reluctantly. “I promise. I’ll send him all the power and energy I can, but I won’t do it to the point that I lose consciousness. But you’ve got some explaining to do when you two get back.”
She gulped back a sob. “And you bring him back to me, you hear?”
“He’s coming back to you, I promise,” Benny said firmly. Please don’t let me be lying, he thought. “You just have to help him without harming yourself. Because he’d be pissed as hell if you do.”
She laughed at that. “OK,” she agreed. “So, I send him power and energy through the mate bond.” She paused. “Benny? Did you know I have two bonds with him? A mate bond, and the pack Second bond?”
“You do?” Benny asked. It made him smile. Life was weird, and all this change traditionalists wanted to block in the name of that much-touted stability was so interesting. It was worth the risks. “That’s so cool,” he added to Jessie. “Try sending a bit of power through them both. But your mate bond is the most powerful.” He thought it was anyway — how the hell would he know? He was making this shit up as fast as he could.
“Got it,” she said. “Now let me get off the phone so I can give this a try.”
“Let me talk to Duncan first,” he said.
“Hello.” Duncan’s voice came through.
“Take it off speaker,” Benny directed, and waited.
“Go ahead.”
“Look, I’m serious about this. It will be tempting to let her do whatever it takes to save the Alpha,” Benny said, desperate to convince him. “You can probably feel the desire yourself through the pack bonds. But it’s one of those cases where moderation wins. If she risks herself? Everyone dies.” And he did mean everyone.
“Got it,” Duncan said, and it sounded like he really did. “Yes, I can feel that something’s wrong. That means the rest of the pack can feel it too. You realize that, don’t you?”
Benny did. “Do the best you can,” he said. What else was there to say?
“Jason wants to speak to you, too,” Duncan said.
“How bad?” Jason asked.
“He’s still alive,” Benny answered grimly, with a quick look to make sure that was true. Someone had brought a haunch of a deer over to Titus who was using a knife — probably Benny’s knife that he’d given Ryder earlier — to cut it into small digestible pieces. “We’re pushing food at him now. If he can eat, he’ll live.”
“Good,” Jason said. “Indigo Barnaby and Timothy O’Brien said we’ve got watchers. They saw them and called to let me know. We’re under siege effectively. And I think more are joining them. It’s affecting the recruits outside. Increased fights, that kind of thing.”
“Use Miles,” Benny suggested. “Just for a short walk, because he needs to be by Jessie’s side. But you’ve probably got 30 minutes, before it gets risky. Have him walk through the recruits. They’ll find his very presence calming.”
“OK,” Jason said, accepting it without question. Well, there was a reason he liked to work with the man. “Any ideas about who we’re facing or how many?”
“No,” Benny said. “But there were a lot fewer men here than we expected. We thought it was deserted at first. And then Ryder sensed shifters in the basement of the lodge. Eight of them. They were bait. They’d been locked up without food and were almost feral. Ryder was able to subdue them and lead them out. But as soon as he came out of the lodge, a sniper was waiting. And they shot him. But, Jason, I think thereweremore wolves here. And I think they’re headed your way.”
“Also feral?” Jason asked.
Benny looked at the men huddled by the bonfire. They were eating, so that was good. “Or nearly so,” he agreed. “That fits with what we’ve picked up so far. As soon as I get the chance, I’ll talk to the men we rescued, see what they know. You might also talk to Sharon Campbell. She may know more than she realizes. Ryder was pretty sympathetic, by the way, so reassure her that she’s not in trouble.” She was 15, after all. After running the boarding school, he had a new appreciation for what that meant. She would need reassurance or she’d do something drastic. And that was exactly what they didn’t need.
“Got it,” Jason said.
A thought occurred to Benny. “Jason? Have Sharon reach out to the Girls Who Howl TikTok group. Give her questions to ask them. Let Sarah Johannsen send out for information. What she did last weekend was amazing.”
“I’ll have her try,” Jason promised. “OK, I’m going to take Miles for a walk.”
Benny snickered at the phrasing, and he could hear Jason’s amusement in his voice.
