“And you’re my mate,” Knox added. “Fussing is in the job description.”
I bit into the cupcake and tried to ignore the warmth spreading through my chest. These two idiots were keeping secrets from me. I knew they were. But they were also taking care of me in a way that made it hard to stay suspicious.
Knox’s thumbs worked into the arch of my foot and I melted back into the couch cushions. Noah handed me another cupcake without me having to ask. The baby kicked against my ribs, probably protesting the amount of sugar I was consuming.
This was life. Complicated and messy and full of secrets we kept from each other. But also full of moments when the people I loved made sure I was comfortable and fed and cared for.
Even if they were definitely hiding something.
I’d figure it out eventually. For now, I had cupcakes and a foot massage and two men who would probably do just about anything to keep me happy.
I could work with that.
4
— • —
Knox
“What’s the update?” I asked, leaning back in my chair with my phone on speaker between me and Noah on the desk.
The office felt too quiet. Too still. I’d been up half the night going over maps and contingency plans, and the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me. But I couldn’t rest with Mary out there, Thomas missing, and Cole losing his goddamn mind trying to find his son.
Static crackled for a second before James, leader of team two, answered. “We followed her trail upstate, Alpha. She went through the woods for about twelve miles, moving fast. Faster than I would’ve expected for someone carrying an infant.”
“She’s desperate,” I said. “Desperate people move quick.”
“Yeah, well, she moved quick until she hit the highway. Then her scent just vanishes completely. Nothing. It’s gone.”
Fuck.
“So she got into a car,” Noah grunted, turning to look at the map we’d spread across my desk earlier that morning. His finger traced the highway route heading north, following the twists and turns through the mountains. “What are the closest packs if they follow the highway?”
I leaned over the map, already knowing the answer because I’d memorized it hours ago while staring at the ceiling and trying not to wake my pregnant mate. “Shadowcrest is the closest, about five hours from us if you’re driving the speed limit. Then Moonfang at approximately eight hours, maybe nine depending on traffic and how many times you stop.”
Silence fell over the call. Five hours was a lot of ground to cover, and that was assuming she’d gone north at all. If Mary had gotten into a car last night, she could be anywhere by now. She could’ve blown past both packs and kept going toward the Canadian border. She could’ve turned off at any of the dozen exits between here and there. She could’ve doubled back and headed south while we wasted time looking in the wrong direction.
We had nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing.
“I have to go.” Cole’s voice came through the speaker for the first time, rough and exhausted in a way that made my chest tight. He’d been running all night. I could hear it in every word, in the rasp of his breathing, in the way his voice cracked slightly at the edges.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to think through the exhaustion clouding my own brain. Part of me wanted to tell Cole to come home. To rest. To let the teams handle this while he recovered and got his head on straight. Running himself into the ground wasn’t going to help Thomas.
But I knew if it were my kid out there, nothing in this world would stop me from searching. If someone had taken Rowan or Thea, I would’ve burned down every pack territory between here and the coast. I would’ve torn apart anyone who got in my way. I would’ve kept going until I found them or died trying.
Cole deserved the same chance.
“Cole, meet with team two and wait by the highway,” I said, making a decision. “I’ll send a car to pick your asses up and drive you to Shadowcrest. No need for you to tire yourselves out for nothing by running there when you could be resting and conserving energy for when it actually matters.”
“Knox...”
“I’ll inform their alpha about the situation before you arrive so you’re not walking into hostile territory without warning. You can rest there, sniff around, ask questions, and then move on to Moonfang. Same routine. I’ll have Frank print up some pictures of Mary and send them with you. Leave copies at both packs in case anyone sees her. We can put up some signs along the highway too, make sure every wolf between here and the border knows what she looks like.”
Cole was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was thick with gratitude. “Thank you. I don’t... thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We haven’t found them.” I straightened up in my chair, rolling my shoulders to work out some of the tension that had settled there overnight. “Team one and three, return to the pack. Get some rest. I’ll need you fresh if we have to expand the search.”
A chorus of affirmatives came through the speaker before the call ended, leaving the office in silence again.
