A slow boiling anger filled Dodger’s gut. Their last Alpha had burned Liam’s home as revenge for him taking over the Pack, and now his home had been set on fire again? By the new Alpha of the Coeur d’Alene Lake Pack?
He could smell the scent of the unfamiliar werewolves filtering through the vents of his truck.
The steering wheel creaked as his grip tightened on it.
Across the clearing, Nathan and Delta’s cabin was missing an entire room, and Vic and Tabian were outside assessing the damage. They looked shocked. Tabian was still naked from his Change and was clawed to hell, bleeding from a dozen places. Vic just had sweatpants on, and from here, Dodger could see the chunk that had been bitten on the side of his shoulder.
He should’ve answered the calls tonight. He should’ve responded to the texts from his Pack.
He should’ve been here.
A quick glance at his house closer to the trees, and Dodger didn’t see anything amiss with it. It looked the same as when he’d left this morning. It sat in the dark.
Dodger shoved the door of his truck open and his senses were bombarded. The air stank of smoke and blood, and his ears were full of the sound of Nory crying. Where was she?
“Nory?” he called.
“She’s inside with Delta,” Bridger said from behind him.
“Fuck, man, don’t sneak up on me like that.” Dodger shoved him in the shoulder for standing too close and jogged toward Liam’s house.
He pulled the door open and halted in the entry way. The wall and fireplace on the right side were gone, and black char marks stretched up the edges of the remaining walls. There was a Glock on the table, and bullet casings on the carpet.
Delta was hugging Nory and murmuring nonsensical things to comfort her.
“Where’s Liam?”
“Making sure the woods are clear,” Delta said.
“I’ll help,” he gritted out, needing something to do. Needing some way to help.
“Dodger?” Nory asked in a tear-soaked voice.
“I know,” he gritted out. “I should’ve been here.”
She wasn’t trying to chastise him though. He realized that much when she released Delta and padded across the bullet riddled floor to him and wrapped her little human arms around his middle. “I’m glad you’re okay. We didn’t know where you were, or if they’d gotten to you in town. I’m glad we’re all okay.”
Another wave of anger took him as he hugged her. “Liam needs to Turn you.”
He released her and turned for the door, jogged down the stairs outside and stomped through a huge blood spray across the snow. Dodger shook his head to stop the snarling in his scratchy throat. He couldn’t imagine what that little human had seen and done tonight. Clearly she’d unloaded a couple of clips trying to protect herself, and an awful vision consumedhim. What if Destiny had been here? What if something had happened to her?
What if…Fuck!He couldn’t think about it.
He peeled his shirt off, and glanced over at Vic, who had stepped into line with him.
“Liam?” Vic asked.
“Yeah. What direction?”
Vic shrugged. “He’s been patrolling since they left. His scent will be all over the woods by now. I have no idea where to aim you.”
“How many were there?”
“Seven. Five males, that Arrangement female Liam rejected, and one more female. All dominant.”
“Shit. Big Pack.”
“It’ll get bigger,” Vic rumbled. “This attack was a warning.”
