So why isn’t he doing that? Does he want to be found? Hope blooms inside my heart. Gods, I’m being completely ridiculous. It’s embarrassing. Maybe hating him is better, if this is what liking him does to me.
The scent of strange shifters tickles my nose and I stop in my tracks. To human eyes, the woods all around us all look the same. But to our shifter senses, it’s clear. This is the border of another pack’s territory. I had known we were getting close to it but I had been ignoring that fact in frantic denial.
But I can’t deny it any longer. Fitz’s trail leads right up to the boundary. All evidence indicates that he has crossed it. The little fucking shit.
Callum and I look at each other. We know each other well enough that words aren’t needed.
“Could he have got through their wards without alerting them?” he asks.
“Possibly.” I shrug. He is possibly their prisoner right now. I bite back my whimper.
Callum sighs and crosses his arms as he stares at the boundary as if it can give him answers.
“I can get through unnoticed, but I can’t get you and Dave through,” I offer.
Alpha shakes his head. “That would be rude.”
I stare at the woods a mere few steps away but all so frustratingly out of reach. It’s that pack that moved in recently, I realize. I had been so fixated on Fitz’s scent, I hadn’t been paying any attention to where I was heading.
He has run onto Brightsky lands. He knew that us following him onto another pack’s territory would be tricky. The little fucking shit. He is an unmated omega, does he have any idea how much danger he has put himself in? My heart thuds. He is a capable badass, but still. I can’t stand the thought of him being in any danger.
“Do you know much about them?” I ask Callum.
He shakes his head. “Their Alpha, Alex, came to introduce himself when they first moved in. But there is a fair distance between our boundaries and this was just human land before.”
I’d been away the day the Alpha came over and we haven’t had any reason to interact since. They are our nearest neighbors to the east, but as Callum says, we don’t actually share a boundary. There is a fair bit of unclaimed land between us. There has been no drama, no beef, which is good. But there has also been no friendship or socializing. Our packs have been ignoring each other.
All I know about them is that their Alpha is young, and that billionaire omega Eli King, now Eli Brightsky, is a member. Their pack house is a huge fancy mansion and they farm sheep.
None of that tells me what they will do to Fitz when they catch him trespassing. Which surely they will do, even if he has snuck past their wards and avoided the Brightskys so far.
My mind rapidly fills with a multitude of awful scenarios. Including an alpha liking what he sees. Or Fitz attacking pack members when they approach him and them understandably being less than impressed. I have to find him. Now. Before something awful happens. I can feel my heartbeat in my throat. My hands are shaking. My wolf is frantic. I refuse to think about the fact that something could already have happened. Fitz is a couple of hours ahead of us.
I stare at Callum. I know he can see everything that is going through my mind. Alpha has always been able to read me like a book.
Callum gives me a tense smile, stretches out a foot and drags it through the leaves in front of him. Drawing a deep line right through the invisible boundary. Setting off all their wards.
“Let’s ask for permission to enter,” he says calmly.
I take a deep breath and wait for the Brightsky pack to come see what the fuck we want.
Chapter twenty-seven
Itdoesn’ttakelongfor the Brightskys to appear. Two alphas and two omegas. It’s a diplomatic approach. They seem cautious and wary, but not hostile. It’s a good start. I ease my shoulders and try to appear as non threatening as possible.
Both alphas look equally young, but the darker haired one steps forward. He looks genuinely curious. I don’t think they have caught Fitz. Otherwise, he would know why we are here.
“Greetings,” he says calmly.
“Greetings,” answers Callum. “Apologies for the intrusion.”
The Brightsky Alpha nods and waits for Callum to explain himself. I’m waiting too, but he is not saying anything. I take a step forward and turn my head to look at him. He is staring with a completely dumbfounded expression on his face. Puzzled, I follow his gaze. He is staring at the blond omega.
For fuck’s sake Callum, there is a time and a place to get the hots. The Brightskys have all noticed his interest and they are all looking mighty pissed off. Except for the object of his desire who is meeting Callum’s gaze evenly. The young omega is cute but I really don’t see Callum’s problem. The man can usually control himself better.
“We are looking for one of our pack members who may have run onto your land,” I say, snapping the Brightskys attention to me.
“Why are they running?” asks their Alpha with a frown.
