“In that case, hold me one more time,” Tristan said, and Colby folded his arms around him, wanting more than anything to keep him safe.
Tristan’s face was turned against his neck, as he breathed in Colby, like he was sealing his scent deep inside him. And then he pulled back with a slightly shaky smile and headed for the shower.
* **
The pack was assembling in the kitchen as Tristan and Colby went through. Some had breakfast, but most made do with coffee while Matt went over the plans. And then, with one last, long look over his shoulder at Colby, Tristan followed Matt into the darkness outside.
Colby stood at the front door, unmoving. He’d wrapped his arms around himself, as if he could hold himself together. The trucks disappeared down the driveway, one by one, the last of the tail lights blinking out like dying fireflies.
Riley turned to him. “Coffee?”
“Yeah,” Colby said, and it came out hoarsely.
“Unless you happen to know where Matt stashes his bourbon,” Riley said, and for the first time, Colby realized he wasn’t alone in this. Riley must be just as worried about Jason.
They retreated to the kitchen, where Colby tried not to watch out the window for the moment when the sky started to lighten. He needed a distraction. Riley was playing with the sugar and obviously not about to volunteer anything.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how does a non-shifter end up as part of a pack?” he asked.
Riley gave him a faint, crooked smile. “Let’s just say, it wasn’t exactly my finest hour.”
It figured Colby would put his foot in it. “At least you weren’t an enemy pack member,” he offered.
That got a small huff of laughter. They sipped their coffee in silence, and Colby refused to look at the window or think of Tristan approaching Cale’s compound in the early morning mist.
TRISTAN
Tristan was teamed with Matt and Jesse, in Matt’s truck. Tension thrummed through him, every nerve in his body alight. From the way Jesse was fidgeting in the front seat, Tristan knew he wasn’t the only one to feel it. Matt, though—Matt was steady as a rock, just the way he always was. Calm, focused, and deadly.
Tristan turned to look behind them as Bryce’s truck pulled off the road about ten miles from Cale’s compound. He was heading for the back of the camp. Tristan had made sure to go to Bryce before they left. Things might be strained between them now, but he lovedBryce and knew he was loved in return, and he’d wanted that moment of connection and reassurance. To know that, when he had to face Cale’s pack again, he wasn’t alone.
In a half-forgotten ritual they’d had when Tristan was younger, Bryce had opened his arms and swept Tristan into them. He’d clung to Bryce for a moment, feeling the strength of feeling behind the hug he received, before he’d let go of that familiar security and stepped back. They had things to do.
They paused on the highway about six miles out, engine idling. The sky was growing lighter, and Tristan stared out the window, imagining he could see big gray wolves ghosting through the mist that lay low across the ground. He shook himself. Hehadbeen scared of Nico and the others, but that was when he’d been alone. Now, he was with his pack.
He should be thinking about their strategy and the terrain. But all he could think about was Colby. What this place had done to him. What it had taken from him.
Minutes crawled by before Matt’s phone finally sounded. He’d long ago bought satellite phones for anyone working the far reaches of the ranch, not trusting cell reception. That farsightedness was paying off.
Tristan expected it to be Karl reporting that he’d cleared the perimeter for them, and he thought Matt would just give a tight nod and drive on. Instead, Matt’s voice was sharp and surprised as he questioned Karl. “The others?”
Jesse was leaning in to Matt, practically flapping his ears trying to hear Karl’s side of the conversation.
“Be careful,” Matt warned Karl. “I’m going in the front door in ten minutes, unless I hear back from you.”
He killed the call and turned to face Jesse, glancing swiftly at where Tristan was hanging over the seat, eager to know what was going on.
“It seems the perimeter’s currently unguarded,” he said. “Karl’s found two bodies, both shot.”
A million and one questions rose to Tristan’s lips, but he bit them all back. It wasn’t like Matt would know the answers, and he sure as hell wouldn’t welcome the distraction.
“Well, that ain’t precisely what we expected,” Jesse said, and the understatement in his gravelly voice had Tristan wanting to laugh all of a sudden. He knew it was just the release of tension, but he had to bite at his hand to keep it in, the edge of hysteria far too close.
When Matt made no reply but simply sat looking at his watch, the urge to laugh died. The second hand ticked, impossibly slow. Tristan held his breath as long as he could, lungs tight and burning.
Redness was reflecting off the snow on the mountain peaks when Matt put the truck into drive. They knew the plan—Matt was going to drop them at the edge of the trees, where they’d shift and be ready to run interference with Cale’s pack if necessary, while Matt walked in there alone to challenge Cale.
Jesse had practically had a hissy fit on hearing Matt’s plan, but Matt had been unshakeable. Tristan thought the only thing that had kept Jesse from losing it was knowing that this time, he wasallowed to be there. “Because this time, I’m ending it,” Matt had said.
