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“Since then, packs have kept their healers close, and none have risked a revival.” Korren sat back in his chair, legs spreading wide. “Can I ask you something, love?”
“Yes, anything,” I said, my mind still working through the tragedy of the unnamed healers’ deaths.
“When you spoke to the Alpha about the Hunt facility, you mentioned Councilman Raza choosing certain Omegas. What did you mean?”
A chill ran up my spine. The horrified faces of those girls as they were dragged from their rooms in the middle of the night still haunted me. Everyone knew what he was doing—and what all the guards did once he finished.
“They called them leftovers.” I met Korren’s steady blue gaze. “The councilmen and their guards aren’t supposed to touch the Omegas, but they do. Councilman Raza looks through the newest charges and chooses the ones he likes. They’re usually the meekest—the ones who cry and are too scared to fight back. They’re taken in the middle of the night, and he has his way with them. After he’s done, he passes them to his men. Sometimes for hours, but occasionally for days. Either way, the end is always the same. After they’re . . . used, they’re put down.”
Anger rolled off Korren. “How do you know?”
I wrung my fingers, and he reached across the table and took my hands. The touch spoke for him, saying, I’m right here.
“They made us listen. There are speakers installed in each cell, and they play the audio when it happens. It’s a threat to toe the line, or else.”
“Fuck,” Korren hissed. “I’ll let Ezra know so he can look out for it on the feeds.”
Silence fell as we retreated into our own thoughts.
“Do you think we’ll be able to do it?” I finally asked.
Korren held my stare, emotions flaring like fireworks in his eyes.
Fury. Determination. Contempt.
“I think there’s nothing the Council could do to stop us.”
Chapter 22
Ezra
“I don’t want to lie to her,” Korren reminded us.
“We won’t. We’re just making sure we have a concrete lead. The last thing I want to do is get her hopes up for nothing.”
“Agreed.” Valor leaned against my chair, looking at the screen over my shoulder. “She’s been searching for her sister all her life. It would be cruel to promise her something that may be out of our power.”
Korren’s exasperated huff was followed by a muttered, “Goddess.”
“Okay, walk me through the plan. How are you going to track a girl who disappeared seven years ago?” Korren asked.
I kept my eyes on the screen in front of me. “I’m going to use road security footage. Traffic cams, stoplights—anything that records is fair game. Once I’m in, I’ll plug Brielle’s picture and a rough estimate of the date into my search engine. The computer does the work from there. We just have to wait for a match.”
Code filled the screen. Several firewalls were up in arms, ready to protect the network. I took a sip of my coffee and cracked my knuckles.
“And once we have the match?” Korren pressed.
“We’ll follow the footage and look for markers or signs of the direction they could have gone. That’s where Valor and Brielle come in. If she has something that belonged to her sister, Valor can track her from the last known location.”
“Since she’s her sister, it should be easier to track her—regardless of how long it’s been,” Valor added.
Korren’s comms unit beeped “That’s the healing center. I’ll see you guys at home. Contact me if you have any updates.”
“I have to head out, too.” Valor checked his watch. “Alaric and I need to go over the progress reports from the pack training sessions.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll check in.”
I nodded as they retreated from the room. Once alone, I worked on disabling the firewalls and layers of encryption. Then, after successfully removing those obstacles, I plugged in my laptop with the tracking software and got to work.
The memory of Brielle’s face when she told us about her sister was agonizing.
