Wordlessly, she nods and slips out the back door without hesitation. She keeps her head low, as if uncomfortable with the guys being here. I can’t exactly blame her.
Something twists in my chest at that, and I take a breath before opening the door further to let them in.
“Alright, then. Talk.”
“We debated not saying anything until you two came back, but we figured you should know,” Luke begins, leaning against the table.
Jack stands respectfully by the door while Dominic aimlessly looks around the cabin, almost like he’s digging for anything he can use against me just to be a jackass. I throw him a warning look.
“Out with it.”
“There have been more Wraith Peak wolves in the area since you came here,” Jack says, getting to the point with his arms crossed. “They’ve been lingering along the border, sometimes straying a little too close to the heart of the grounds.”
My brows furrow. “How many?”
“Enough to cause concern,” Luke adds, absently stroking his chin. “The patrols can’t play it off as wandering strays anymore, and we’ve alerted the others to not move too far from town alone.”
Pulling in a deep breath, I can feel the headache forming. I’ve been Alpha for less than a handful of days, and I already have problems to contend with.
Dominic stops his snooping, eyes flicking to the door Lila walked through. “You know how this looks, right?”
I do, but I don’t want to admit it.
The Wraith Peak wolves weren’t ones to push boundaries without a reason. Of course, they test the territory every once in a while, but they never outright trespass, and not so close to town. They aren’t usually this bold.
I look between them again. “What do they want?”
“We were hoping you might have the answer to that,” Luke says, just barely hiding his own suspicions. “But we have a few guesses.”
I already know what he’s implying.
Lila and Astrid. The timing is too perfect, and their interest far too sudden.
As far as I know, the two of them have been living close to the boundary for years now, and the others have had copious chances to interfere.
But why now?
I can’t say for certain, but the only motive I have is her association with me now. That still doesn’t cover why the Wraith Peak wolves had surrounded them just the other day.
With too many questions and not enough answers, I feel another surge of my protective instincts kick in. “No one touches them.”
Jack nods. “We’re not letting that happen… I’ve been keeping tabs on Astrid and her grandmother at your place, and Zane should be watching them now.”
That makes it easier to breathe, at least. “Good. Lila will want to know she’s safe.”
“But,” Dominic says, testing again despite his serious tone. “I hope you’re prepared for the possibility that they’re pushing because of either one of them. Even when you’re back, they probably won’t stop.”
“She’s not a threat, if that’s what you’re implying,” I say, harsher than I intend.
“Nobody’s saying she is,” Luke steps in. He has always been better at handling sensitive situations than Dominic. “But something’s going on, and it seems to involve her and the kid.”
Even if it’s easy to believe, it still makes my heartbeat spike.
Astrid’s only four. She doesn’t have a wolf form yet, and she’s certainly no threat to anyone. She has no involvement of any kind, so why would they want her?
Regardless of there being no blood between us, the girl matters more than anything else to Lila, and thanks to our connection, her safety is at the forefront of my mind too. The bond pulses in my chest, furious, protective, and terrified all at once.
“We’ll handle it,” I mutter, feeling just how precarious a grasp I have over my own temper, both from the new mate bond and the repressed urges. “And nobody comes near them without going through me first.”
