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“Tell Jessie I think she’s amazing, and that she can do this,” Benny said seriously.
“I’ll tell her.”
And then the call was over. Benny pocketed the phone and returned to Ryder’s side. He crouched down. “Listen, bro,” he said. He put his hand on his brother’s neck, touching the small scar of the mate bond. It almost felt too intimate to do it— he didn’t think he’d ever touched someone’s mate-bond scar before. You just didn’t. It was sensitive, highly so; but maybe that would allow Benny to reach him.
“Your mate’s got some energy and power coming your way,” Benny continued softly. You need to watch for it and funnel it to your wolf. Use it to heal. Don’t pull on it! Just let her shower you with her energy. It’ll feel good,sogood. Just luxuriate in it. And heal. That’s all you’ve got to do, is focus all that loving on healing.”
Titus looked at him. “You think he can hear you?”
Benny shrugged. “Worth a try?”
Titus hesitated. “You know he’s still Okanogan pack too. He’s both packs.”
Benny looked at the Okanogan Second. “Something you and Dad cooked up,” he guessed, a bit sourly.
Titus shrugged. “I’d never heard of it,” he said, focusing back on the younger man lying on the ground under his hands. “But he said, I could shove the Alpha link at whichever of you I thought could take it. Or would take it. I’m just to tug on it, and he’ll let go. And then I re-hook it to one of you.”
Benny considered that. Would it help Ryder? It might have if they’d already done it. But he was afraid to try it now. “We’ll keep that in mind,” Benny said. “I don’t know enough. If it takes energy from him, then it might be the last straw. On the other hand, if it gives him another pack to pull on? That would be a good thing. And it’s a pack we can trust actually cares about him.”
Titus nodded. “I heard what you said. It occurs to me a few of his Wolves here are Okanogan pack like me. We might try the same thing you told Duncan to try with Jessie. I think I see how it works.”
“I’ll send them over,” Benny said, getting to his feet. “I’m going to talk to those captives, and then?” He looked up to the hill where the shot had come from. “And then I’m going hunting.”
“Bring him back alive if you can,” Titus growled. “I’d like a piece of him myself.”
Benny thought Titus might mean that literally. And he wasn’t going to argue against it either.
The wolves had gone back out hunting again, and there was a second deer at the bonfire. No one was being fussy about eating raw meat either. They looked up at him as he approached. They all but growled, protecting their meat. He ignored them.
“Is he going to be OK?” one of them asked. The original speaker, Benny thought, recognizing the voice. The one who had warned them.
Benny nodded and tried for a reassuring smile. “He’s tough,” he said. He saw Ryder’s Wolves nod. They agreed. It was a point of pride —their man was tough. He singled out Ken and Kev. “Titus could use your help,” he said. The two stopped cutting up meat immediately and headed toward the lodge, no questions asked.
“Not me?” Mucho said plaintively. Benny smiled at him.
“We’re not Okanogan pack,” he said regretfully. “Titus needs someone he has a link to. We’ve got other work to do. Feeding these guys is just as crucial.”
Mucho nodded and returned to pulling apart the deer he’d been working on. Benny watched for a moment and shook his head. The man was strong, no lie.
“So, you all were part of the shifters who were training out here?” Benny asked. “And they locked you up and left?” Left a sniper, too, he thought grimly. He still hadn’t heard a vehicle leave, so he thought the sniper might still be out there — patiently waiting for another shot. Or waiting to see if the Alpha died. Benny thought about that.
No one said anything. “When did this start?” Benny tried a simpler question.
“Late last night,” Growler said finally. “Centurion Logan came in, and said some would go into town, and a few of us needed to stay. And we’d have dominance fights to see who went and who stayed.”
“You didn’t get into this bad of shape in 24 hours,” Benny observed. He noted the name and the title. “When was the last time you ate?”
“We eat when we’ve earned it,” Growler said. “They said shifter fighters are at their best when they’re hungry and mean.”
Benny stared at him for a moment. “They keep you like this all the time?” he asked, incredulously. Maybe he should have asked more questions of Will and Trevor! As if he’d had time to do any intelligence gathering. He had been running from crisis to crisis.
Growler nodded.
“How many of you were here?” he asked.
There had been three who were capable of speaking in the basement. The one who had warned them, this man who had known about Mosul, and a third who had helped control the others. Benny examined them. Growler and another —the one who warned them, he thought —were standing next to him, food in hand. The others were focused on their food — they were struggling to stay in control. He looked up at Mucho. The big man grimaced and nodded.
OK, if he was aware, that was all Benny could do.
