“Kaine—”
Forest’s warning is too late.
The crack echoes in my bones—water collapsing, air leaving lungs. Her body slumps. Dead. Something in me tears loose with her. I can’t look at her anymore. Bile rises in my throat.
I want to tear Kaine apart, but my paws are frozen in place. This wasn’t an interrogation. This was murder.
Grant shifts and slams Kaine against the wall, pressing his forearm into his throat. “You idiot! We could’ve gotten more information!”
“She didn’t have any.”
“You don’t know that!”
Kane bares his fangs, raising his hands as two cords of water twine around Grant’s arms.
“Enough, Grant. It’s done.” Forest pulls him off.
Grant shoves Kaine one last time.
Kaine shakes it off, stepping out of the shed without another word. I hear him call to Willow outside. “Let’s go.”
Grant points after him, cheeks red with anger. “He’s going to kill one of us next. Markmy words.”
“Enough!” Forest’s alpha power makes my fur bristle.“We have other things to worry about now. Sage, go find Jericho. Tell him we need him to burn one more body.”
Sage doesn’t look at the body as he leaves the room, head bowed.
Grant punches the wall one more time, gaze locked on the dead woman. “All that for fucking nothing.”
“It wasn’t nothing,” Forest says. “We know what they’re doing.”
“Yeah, shadow bond? What the hell is that?” Grant snaps.
“Taren might know. We also know there’s another bonded human somewhere.”
“Yeah, but to who?”
Forest hesitates, shaking his head at the dead woman. “My guess? Foxx.”
My gaze returns to Trivanka. She doesn’t look like a monster anymore. Just a broken thing that finally stopped fighting.
I turn and leave the room, my shoulder still burning from the cut. I need to shift again to heal, but I’m too damn tired. I wanted answers, and all I got was more questions.
When I see my sister and the others behind a building, I hobble over to them. We make our way to the car to wait for Jericho. It takes five minutes for him to dry the woman’s body enough to burn her. Each second feels like an eternity.
Exhausted and heavy with unanswered questions, my mind drifts back to Tobias. All I want to do is get home to him now.
Get home and never leave him ever again.
25
TOBIAS
My bedroom is nearly pitch black now, too dark for me to see anything. The only sound is the howling wind outside. It makes my heart twist painfully. It’s been half a day since Rowen left, and his absence feels like it’s suffocating me.
The whispers in my head stopped after an hour, but fear has held me captive. I haven’t been able to leave my bed.Where are they? What if something happened?
The sound of footsteps near my door makes me snap my head up. When the bedroom door creaks, I hold my breath.
