Hours since Morgan and the others left.
Depending on traffic, they should easily be there by now. We’ve booked Morgan into a local B&B for a few nights while he gets his bearings. And since it’s my fault he has to go away at all, I also made a substantial deposit into his bank account thatshould last him a while. I doubt as a student he has the means to support himself, especially if he’s not working right now.
Beth has the unenviable task of breaking that news to him. I almost smile thinking of his face as she tells him. It’s fleeting though, because Morgan might be my main concern, but he’s not the club’s or the pack’s, and that’s what I need to focus on right now.
There’s a barbecue happening around the side of the house, the enticing aroma of cooked meat carrying on the breeze. I’m fucking starving, and I’m already heading that way when Cal bursts out of the front door, phone pressed to his ear.
Jet freezes beside me as we catch the tail end of the conversation.
“Fuck,” Cal spits, eyes meeting mine, rage replaces the warmth I’m used to seeing. “We’ll meet you there as soon as we can.”
He ends the call and stalks over to us, my blood already turning to ice in my veins because I fuckingknow. “They didn’t make it to Trenton territory.”
“It’s still early,” I grit out. Every single part of me rebels at the way his gaze softens because I don’t want to fucking hear it.
“They found bikes,” Cal says quietly, but there’s a steel edge to his voice. “About halfway along the main road into Trenton. Some of the Trenton pack were returning from a road trip, and they spotted what’s left of Beth’s Ninja in the undergrowth.”
“How do they know it’s hers?” The words are automatic. My mouth’s moving, but the rest of me is falling fast into a bottomless black pit and I can’t stop it.
“Because her fucking blood is all over it,” Cal snarls, grabbing me by the shoulders.
I snarl back, my wolf racing to the surface as my body reacts. Rage threatens to consume me, and I want nothing more than to give in and let it.
“Iknow,” he hisses, grip tightening. “I know how you’re feeling right now, but I need you to fight it, Lynx.” He presses his forehead to mine, his familiar scent enveloping me. “It’s not just Morgan that’s missing. It’sBeth,Flint, andMal, and they all need their alpha right now.”
“He’smine,” I growl around teeth that are lengthening by the second. “And someone fucking took him.”
Cal swears and then the tang of magic fills the air. Razor-edged claws pierce my clothing and break the skin underneath. He doesn’t stop until they’re buried deep in my shoulders.
Pain.
It’s the one thing that cuts through everything else.
I tip my head back, howling as it barrels through me, hot and sharp, pulling me back from the edge with a force that has me gasping for breath.
Blood coats my T-shirt, running down my arms and dripping onto the ground.
But my mind is clear.
Clear enough to roar and shove Cal backwards so hard he lands on his arse.
“You with us?” he snaps, brown eyes blazing.
I crack my neck from side to side, a cold fury filling me up inside. “Yes.” I hold out a hand and pull him up.
“Good.” He grins, lethal and terrifying. “Let’s fucking go.”
I don’t have the patience to call for backup, so it’s just the three of us that roar out of the compound, dust filling the air in our wake and one thought going round and round in my head.
Whoever took them is fucking dead.
19
MORGAN
“Morgan.”
A sharp elbow in my ribs has me hissing and flinching backwards, but there’s nowhere to go except into a fucking wall. I groan as my shoulder protests the contact.
