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Tori had only recently accepted that she was a shifter, not a monster. I worried her brother might try to make her fear her inner wolf and be wary of shifters all over again. The balance between Tori and her wolf was still so tenuous, and she was still at risk of becoming entirely feral.
I scrubbed at my face as I scolded myself. I needed to have more faith in my little wolf. She’d suggested the wolf run last night on her own, and had been so joyous and carefree while doing it. However, everything about shifters was still so new to her that she could still get indecisive. Even more so because of her previous indoctrination.
From the way she spoke about her brother, she clearly still loved him. She was so beautifully expressive that her features betrayed her pain whenever she looked at him. Sure, she’d tried to hide it, said things she thought I’d wanted to hear. He’d hurt her, but I feared she would attempt to seek his approval again and listen to the trash the hunters had been force-fed. Which would only cause her to panic and run off again.
There were too many “what ifs” in this scenario, and my worried mind only exacerbated them. I supported that she needed to talk to him alone, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
I chided myself that I should’ve snuck into the observation room.My wolf agreed with my thought process, but that wouldn’t have ended well for us. No, Tori would’ve been furious, and any trust we’d built between us would have been shattered, putting distance between us again—distance I was fighting to close off permanently if she’d let me. I had to continue playing the waiting game, but I had faith we’d get there eventually.
Shuffling some papers around, I hoped if I pretended to do some work, then maybe I’d be inspired to jump in and get something done. No such luck, though, since this morning’s events refused to let me concentrate.
The visit with my aunt wasn’t what I’d expected or hoped. I hadn’t foreseen her shifting so suddenly and attacking my mate, and it’d been a while since I’d witnessed her shift so drastically.
One minute, she’d been calm and painting. The next, she was feral and snarling. That wasn’t usually like her. In the past, agitation was already brewing by the time she was ready to shift, so we were normally better prepared. Today had thrown me for a loop, and I didn’t understand what it meant.
Being feral, my aunt wasn’t the easiest or the calmest to be around. She often went into feral states and said some of the craziest things, but she’d been completely lucid when she’d cried about Tori’s resemblance to her father. It grated at me that the two most important women in my life were connected somehow, and I couldn’t figure out how.
Wanting to learn everything I could about the Everwood Pack and Jaxon Hyde, I’d decided to send out some feelers in the shifter community. It killed me to rely on others and not just get the answers myself, but with the climate we were in, it wasn’t safe for me to leave my post—especially since I had Tori now. It was imperative I stayed close to her.
Yet, there still wasn’t any evidence of a connection between my aunt and uncle’s disappearance and Jaxon Hyde. Still, this was the first clue to my aunt’s missing history that I’d been dying to get, and I was determined to find out more. The sooner I could figure out this puzzle piece, the better understanding we’d have about what was going on in the shifter community.
We were so separate and disconnected from one pack to the next that the hunters could infiltrate our communities and do whatever they wanted. We were never notified soon enough, if at all, to stop an attack on a different pack. We had no time to devise a defense strategy or implement a search and rescue. Packs didn’t want to coordinate with other packs because alphas struggled to play nice with each other.
We were lucky to have Tori here with us. Without her inside knowledge of the hunters, Clawson would’ve been on his own. The chances that he’d have found us were slim to none, and he himself could’ve been abducted or killed.
The current climate made me think it was time to organize a meeting with the shifters in Blackwood Creek. As alpha, I was responsible for letting the shifters in my pack, and those who lived in town but didn’t submit to my pack, know about the dangers they faced from the hunters. Keeping them in the dark only put them at risk.
However, I was wary of telling them anything before we figured out how to deal with the hunters. What if none of the shifters wanted to hang around town to see if the hunters would strike again? What if they left and went on the run on their own? There weren’t only the usual worries of turning feral; Clawson and I’d gotten too many reports of shifters getting caught, killed, or disappearing from other packs. I didn’t want my pack to splinter and be in considerably more danger because we hadn’t had each other’s backs.
After witnessing the hunters in action, I knew there was no way a couple of shifters could adequately protect themselves. The hunters were organized like an elite military unit. They had too much weaponry, and were far too strong and fast to go head-to-head with a tired, scared wolf who relied only on their natural shifter abilities.
The fear of losing wolves and the responsibility of what was best for everyone weighed heavily on my shoulders. I had no clue what would be the right thing to do.
My phone buzzed on my desk. I hesitated to answer, but once I saw it was the hospital calling, I picked up immediately.
“Hello?”
“Mayor Blackwood?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” Getting a call from a hospital was never a good thing.
“This is Dr. Whitlock. Sir, you need to come to the hospital. As soon as possible.”
Air rushed out of my lungs. My adrenaline skyrocketed, making my heart race.
Tori.
“What happened? Is she okay? Did the pills not work? Did he hurt her?” Every worst-case scenario flashed into my head. Images of her bleeding out on the library floor, her breathing shallow, crushed me as I struggled to get out of my chair so I could reach my car and break every traffic violation possible.
“Oh, no, Mayor. Tori’s fine. She’s not here, and she’s not admitted. This call is about Zander Elkins. This is pack business, and it’s important that you come.”
The instant relief had my bones turning to jelly and my heart slowing to a steadier pace. My mate being in danger again was my worst fear, and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to think straight and not overreact if I was told otherwise.
“Right. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Again, I’m sorry, Mayor. I should’ve started by mentioning Zander Elkins.”
“Yeah.” I chuckled. “I about had a heart attack.”
