Then Bryce speaks. “I don’t know either, but we need to warn the other packs.”
“And tell them what?” I ask.
Bryce’s glowing eyes meet mine. “That one of our wolves just vamped out and killed one of my most powerful wolves.”
None of us says a word as Bryce pulls out his phone and drops it onto the table. The phone rings, and I don’t have to wonder long who he’s calling first. “Bryce,” the other voice says.
“Garrett,” Bryce says in return. “I’m calling with bad news on multiple fronts. Things went sideways with Hunter and Sherese’s mission. Hunter had to get a healer out, but Sherese stayed behind.” He glances at me. “He thinks she’s working with them.”
“So, no Ajax,” Garrett pieces together.
“Yeah.”
Garrett doesn’t let it faze him. “We’ll figure out another way in. Thanks for letting me know.” He pauses a moment. “Tell Hunter I’m sorry.”
I don’t acknowledge the alpha’s words. “There’s more,” Bryce adds. Garrett waits silently. “You remember Alicia, one of the wolves on my security team?”
“Yes.”
Bryce pauses again, and Ava reaches out and takes his hand. “She vamped out and killed Cody. She’s currently in the wind.”
There’s absolute silence on Garrett’s end for a moment. “Come again?”
“She’s a vampire, and she just took out one of my strongest wolves.”
“How?” Garrett demands, but he can demand all he wants. We have no answers.
“I don’t know. We’re trying to deal with the fallout of this right now. I’m just giving you a courtesy call.”
It’s silent for a moment. “You had no idea?”
“No.”
It’s quiet again, and then Garrett says, “This changes everything.”
Bryce’s reply is equally soft. “Yes. It does.”
“Thank you for letting me know. We will need to let other packs know.”
“Yeah, I’ll let Maverick’s pack and Wyatt’s know,” Bryce says.
“I'll pass on the word to a few other packs.”
“Thanks.”
Bryce hangs up and doesn’t waste a second calling Maverick. “Bryce,” the alpha answers.
“Maverick,” Bryce starts. “I’m calling with bad news.” He doesn’t give Maverick time to respond; he just gets right into it. “One of my pack members just vamped out and killed one of the strongest males in my pack.” He says nothing, and Bryce continues. “She escaped off pack property. Our guess is that she’ll run back to vampire territory. I’m calling to warn you. I don’t know when it happened or how, but she’s a full vampire.”
I suddenly remember the body we’d found drained on the pack property before Sherese and I went to vampire territory. I look up and meet Bryce’s gaze. I’m pretty sure it hits him about the same time it hit me. A sick look crosses his face, and I get it. I’m pretty sure I look about the same. There’s nothing but silence on the other end. “Thank you for letting me know.” That’s all Maverick says, but he’s a calculating guy. He’ll already be thinking through the ramifications of this.
Wyatt is the next call, and he’s just as shocked as everybody else, but a little more verbal about the whole thing. When Bryce hangs up, he looks like he aged about ten years. “What happens next?” Ava asks quietly, looking more defeated than I’ve seen from her in a while.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Hunter
She doesn’t wait for either of us to answer. “I think the first order of business is to get Sherese out of there.” She looks across the table at me. “Until she looks me in the eye and tells me she’s with the vampires and not us, I’m not giving up on her.”
