Brand was the first to speak. “It’s hard when they’re trying to kill us.”
“Agreed,” Rowen said sadly. “We’re worth fighting for,” she told them. “And even if my pack isn’t”—she rubbed her hand over her chest—“the land is. It won’t betray you.”
“Will you?” My glare met Diesel’s indifferent one. “I’m asking what everyone else is thinking,” he said with a shrug.
“We’ve done this before,” I snapped at them all. “Rowen is mymate. If you believe in nothing else, believe in that. In our Goddess.”
I left the cottage, Rowen at my side. We walked to the pack hall, my stride angry and purposeful. I didn’t slow for her, and she didn’t ask me to.
“They’re right, you know,” she said as we rounded the corner before the clearing opened up. “You used your Will,but it wasn’t enough. The traitors are still among us. Solana?” She shook her head in disgust. “She fooled us all.”
“We find the boy,” I told her. “Then we fix this.”
“How?” She saw my glance. “How do we fix any of it? You and Diesel wrestling on my living room floor?”
“They will not lie to me again,” I vowed. “They submit, or they die.”
Her breath caught. “Careful, husband,” she breathed. “You don’t sound like the alpha I know.”
A grunt of displeasure left me as we approached the front entrance to the pack hall.
“This is what you asked for.” I didn’t look at her as I walked into the pack hall. “I’m done being soft.”
Chapter 5
Wolfe
We foundCody tracking not far from the pack hall.
He looked up as we approached. “Where’s everyone gone?” he demanded. “I’ve got a boy missing and hardly anyone cares.”
“We had an incident at the house,” I told him smoothly. “Diesel lost it. I had to take him down. There was an attack on the Grumps—don’t react. Grandfather is fine.”
Cody looked between me and Rowen. “What’s the plan? Sweep and collect?”
“Sweep and search,” I told him. “Collect is coming.” I looked down at the grass. “What have you learned?”
Cody didn’t hesitate. “They have no memory at all of what happened. They were eating with Brand and me in the hall. We left them with some of the women in the kitchen, who said they usually play there so they can keep an eye on them. Then they came out here.” He shook his head. “I think they were getting underfoot or something. The little one, the girl, was scared by something, so she climbed a tree. Then Thalia found them. The boy was gone.”
“Then we start with the kitchen,” Rowen said, already turning back.
“No.” I walked back to the hall, my steps sure and confident. “Tell me about them,” I asked her as I studied the grass they’d been lying on.
Rowen pulled her hair over her shoulder. “Um, Billy’s mother was killed in the first attack. His father was not present in his life. A passing caravan,” she told us, lowering her voice. “A passing fling, a permanent reminder. He’s a good boy. Um, Ciara, her family is different. Mother passed in childbirth. Her father…” Rowen looked away. “We’re not sure. No one stepped forward to claim her when her mother passed. She got taken in by a family, but they’ve since…left.”
“Left how?” I asked her.
“You gave the pack an ultimatum when you came; those who didn’t like it had to go. They chose to go. They chose to leave her behind.”
Cody and I shared a look. “And the other boys?” I asked her. “Fitz? Lake?”
“Lake’s parents were killed several years ago; we think he witnessed it, and the trauma cost him his voice.” She looked around, stepping closer. “He had a grandfather here, and he took him in. He passed two winters ago.” She swallowed past the sadness. “Fitz. He was found on the edge of the borders. Orphaned, we assumed. Alone. He and Oscar, the oldest, became friends quickly.”
“Oscar shadows Axel,” Cody supplied. “He was with him when Thalia found them. Been with him all day.”
I nodded as I studied the ground again, stooping low, my fingers dug into the earth. I felt the swell of the magic of the Hollow in my fingertips. “Oscar and Fitz have had their firstshift. Lake hasn’t. The girl, too young. Billy?” I looked up at my wife.
“Yes, he’s had his first shift, but not his second.”
