Beck fell into step beside him without question. That was the thing about having a beta for twenty years—words became unnecessary. Beck grabbed his jacket from the hook by the door, tossed Theo the keys, and they were out in the cool eveningair before the brewery’s other patrons had finished exchanging worried glances.
The truck ate up the distance between the harbor and cliffs, Theo’s hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. The surge still thrummed through him, a drumbeat in his blood that wouldn’t quiet.
“So.” Beck dropped into the passenger seat with the casual ease of a man who’d spent half his life in this exact position. “On a scale of ‘mildly concerning’ to ‘apocalypse,’ where are we?”
“Unknown.”
“Helpful.” Beck’s tone was dry, but his gaze was sharp, tracking Theo’s body language with the practiced attention of a man who’d learned to read his alpha’s moods before they became problems. “You’re going to break the steering wheel, by the way. And I’m not explaining that to your insurance.”
Theo forced his grip to loosen. Fractionally.
“Your wolf hasn’t reacted like this in…” Beck paused, considering. “Ever, actually. What’s going on?”
Theo didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. Because the truth was impossible, and he wasn’t ready to face impossible.
“Right.” Beck nodded slowly, that infuriating knowing look taking over his face. “Thatkind of silence. Got it.”
The radio crackled. Theo grabbed it, grateful for the distraction.
“Alpha.” Malcolm’s voice, steady as the lighthouse he kept. “The wards on the eastern bluff went active. All of them. At once.”
“I know. I’m en route.” Theo’s jaw tightened. “Status on the rest of the pack?”
“Everyone registered it. Ulna’s pups are spooked but settling. Danny’s with the teens at the community center—they’re secure. No hostile incursion detected, but the wards are responding to a trigger.”
“How’s Ulna’s little one? The cough better?”
A pause on the line. When Malcolm spoke again, gratitude softened the formality. “Getting there. She’ll appreciate you asking, Alpha.”
“Keep me updated. Theo out.”
He set the radio down. Beck was watching him with a look that might have been a smile.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Beck shrugged. “Noting that you remembered to ask about the kid even while your wolf is apparently having an existential crisis.”
“My wolf is fine.”
“Sure, it is.”
The truck crested the hill, and there was the Siren's Rest Inn, perched on the cliff edge like a Gothic novel come to life.
And on the porch?—
Theo’s foot hit the brake harder than necessary.
A woman stood on the wraparound porch, arms crossed, chin lifted. Backlit by the inn’s glow, she looked fierce and tired and defiant. Dark hair escaping from a clip, casual clothes that suggested she’d been interrupted mid-unpacking. She was watching them approach with the wariness of a predator prepared to defend her territory.
Not beautiful in any conventional way. But arresting. The kind of face that caught your attention and held it. The kind of presence that made you look twice, then a third time, then wonder why you couldn’t stop looking.
His wolf went completely, utterly still.
Then instinct roared through him like wildfire.
Her. Her. HER.
“Theo.” Beck’s voice came from very far away. “You need to breathe.”
