“I just heard about Luca Cross,” Taryn said, eyes wide. “Is it true?”
“Yeah,” Nadia said quietly. “He was stabbed with a lot of silver. Caidrik got him to the doctor right away, but it didn’t look good.”
Taryn leaned against the doorframe, as immaculate as ever in winter white pants and a blue sweater. “That is unfortunate. Who do you think stabbed him?”
“I don’t know,” Nadia said. “Bulwark’s our only guess. I don’t really know the guy, but he doesn’t seem like he’d use silver. It feels like he would’ve just cut off his head.”
Solomon cleared his throat. “Could be some sort of offering?”
Nadia swallowed. “Maybe. But Bulwark’s no longer in the running for Alpha.”
“Well,” Taryn said carefully, “he might not understand that. When you get a pure Alpha like that, they want to win.”
The far outside door opened again.
“Who is here now?” Paco muttered. “We haven’t had this much activity in the main lodge in forever.”
“This will be normal in the lodge,” Nadia said, gesturing to the map, “once we start planting and harvesting all of the planned farms.”
Helena McGregor stepped inside and looked around with open interest. “Hello, everybody.”
Paco instantly stood. “Hello. I’m Paco.”
“Helena McGregor,” she said with a smile.
Wow, the female really knew how to get male attention. Nadia had never seen Paco move that quickly. “How was breakfast?”
“It was excellent.” Helena leaned over the map, studying it with open approval. “Oh, good. You’re planning.” She straightened and glanced around the room. “However, I really need to talk to my son. Does anybody know where he is?”
“I think he went out scouting,” Nadia said.
The door opened, and heavy footsteps echoed across the stone floor. Enforcers shifted subtly, hands moving closer to weapons, eyes tracking the entrance.
“My goodness,” Paco muttered. “I’ve had enough of all these people.” He smiled at Helena. “I was thinking about getting some coffee. Would you like to join me, ma’am?”
“I would,” Helena said lightly, “but I need to speak with my son.”
Nadia knew those footsteps. Awareness rushed through her body so fast it almost knocked the breath out of her. She angled her head. “Caidrik. Hi.”
He walked inside, gaze sweeping the room, clocking everyone in seconds. “What’s all this?”
Nadia looked around. “Farming plans. Any news about Luca?”
Caidrik’s jaw flexed. “Margaret said he didn’t make it, and she was trying to contact his people for instructions as to burial.”
Oh no. Nadia fought nausea. That was so sad.
“Do you think Bulwark did it?” Helena asked.
“I don’t know,” Caidrik said. “I scouted and couldn’t find any scent of him around the house.”
Helena swallowed. “That’s why I wanted to get ahold of you. One of my enforcers called.”
Caidrik’s head snapped up. “Yeah? How are the Nightveins?”
“They’re good. I’ve had them stay out of the territory until an Alpha is chosen, but they’re over on the east side. They say the Ravencalls are making moves. They’re edging closer to the pack territory.”
Caidrik glanced at Nadia. “That’s not good,” he said, rubbing a hand through his thick hair. Man, he looked devastatingly handsome. Focused and dangerous. She wished she could let the scent of him flow freely, but she didn’t want to cause more problems.
