With a heavy heart and a reeling mind, Trevor carefully packed all of Peyton’s belongings to transport back to London. He dreaded making this call nearly as much as the one he’d eventually have with Geir Haugen.
Sitting on Peyton’s bed, he finally pulled out his own mobile and rang Trent.
The man barely sounded awake when he answered. “Trent Bleacke.”
“Hello. So sorry to call this early. It’s Trevor Clarke.”
That seemed to roust Trent. “Trevor! Hold on a minute.” Trevor heard the man moving around, the faint sound of a door opening and closing, then another. “Okay. Sorry, had to go outside. Didn’t want to disturb Asia and the baby or our other kids. Give me some good news, buddy. What’s going on? I haven’t heard from Peyton since you guys arrived in Norway.”
Trevor cleared his throat. “Ah, unfortunately, I cannot give you good news.” Without preamble, he launched into the meat of the situation, knowing he couldn’t sugar-coat it.
Not that there was any way to sugar-coat the events.
Ten minutes later, Trent sounded grimly somber. “No clue who’s behind it or where they took him?”
“No. This region is not simply rural but desolate. We’re regrouping and contemplating our next move. Their use of a helicopter means they were prepared. We cannot rule out any option at this point.”
“‘Contemplating your next move’? We need to fucking find him!”
“Yes, but we have no idea who abducted him or where they took him.”
“Do you think Faegan Lewis is behind this?”
“Unknown. It could be another party capitalizing upon the situation. Considering we were baited here by reports of a Faegan Lewis sighting, at the very least, whoever planned it knows about our search. And there’s likely not a shifter with a mobile or access to the internet who doesn’t know about the bounty on that man’s head.”
Trent’s weighty sigh settled onto Trevor’s shoulders through the phone connection. “Meaning we don’t know if Peyton was the intended target, or they were planning to grab whoever took the bait and showed up looking for Faegan.”
“Exactly,” Trevor said. “I suspect if more of our men had appeared with Peyton that they all would’ve been taken. They certainly looked prepared to deal with more than one subject.”
“I’ll start working the phones on my end,” Trent said. “See what information I can shake out. I’ll book a flight and head over?—”
“Shouldn’t you remain there to run pack operations? I’m certainly not trying to tell you how to run the pack,” Trevor added, “but until we know who is behind this and have more information, I don’t think we should risk your safety, or your sister’s safety. And I’m certain revealing information about Peyton’s abduction isn’t the most prudent move, either. They might not know who they have in their possession. He didn’t have ID on him. It’s also possible he might liberate himself at his first opportunity, if they don’t know he’s a Prime. Regardless, advertising the Targhee Pack Alpha has been abducted could open us to additional problems.”
“I refuse to sit around with my thumb up my ass waiting for my brother—our Pack Alpha—to get vivisected while stupidly wishing he can get free without help!”
Trevor pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing it, trying to stay calm while remaining sympathetic to Trent’s current state of mind. “I’m not saying we don’t work behind the scenes to locate and rescue him. Not at all.” Trevor resisted playing the age card on the much younger shifter. “But the fewer people who know Peyton is missing, the better. We don’t want it to become common knowledge that one of the most powerful wolves on the planet was taken prisoner. The last thing we need is fear spreading amongst the packs. Not just ours, but other shifter races. And we certainly don’t need any of them possibly aligning themselves with others out of fear they can’t be protected by the Targhee Pack. I’m certain your brother would agree with me on this point. Also, if Peyton does quickly free himself, he can easily spin it that he deliberately let himself be captured to learn more information. We can’t do that if people know he was abducted. My men are sworn to secrecy.”
Trevor also knew damned well there were other facts Peyton hadn’t yet shared with his older brother. Trevor didn’t want to cross any lines if he didn’t have to.
Figuring into Trevor’s mental calculations was the fact that there were other Primes in the Targhee Pack who could step into Peyton’s position and take over, even temporarily, to protect the continuity of power.
He wasn’t sure Trent would agree to remain in the States until the other man finally sighed again. “When are you returning to London?”
“As soon as possible. I also must talk with Geir Haugen and inform him about his family.”
“What do I tell my people here?” Trent asked. “Dewi’s going to chew me up and spit me out if I can’t give her any definitive answers. And I have to tell Gillian something. Hell, she might chew me up and spit me out.”
“Tell them the truth—to keep this quiet, and that we’re working on it. As soon as we have any news, we’ll update them. Let’s hope that, by the time I reach London, Peyton’s already made contact.”
“All right. Keep your phone on and make sure I have digits for all your top guys.”
“Affirmative.” Trevor ended the call and heavily lowered himself to the bed.
Trevor had awakened that morning with unwarranted hope that they’d be toasting their success on the train ride south.
Now?
Now he wasn’t even sure if they’d all survive the next few months.
