Page 13 of Stolen

She leaned against him, finally, as if submitting to what they already knew was true. “What are we going to do?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” Hawk said. “But I know someone who might.”

Half an hour later, they were driving up the mountain to Outlaw Ridge, the local pack territory, and the headquarters of the organization he and Gunn both worked for.

Hawk knew he was taking a chance, bringing Ariana here, but the man they were going to see—Gregor, the alpha of the Outlaw Ridge pack—was elderly, and rarely came down off the mountain anymore.

But he’d spent years taking in broken wolves, saving them from going rogue.

Outlaw Ridge was a sanctuary for ex-military and ex-special ops wolves, ex-intelligence operatives, even ex-criminals.

For those who wanted to and still could, it offered a chance to use their skills for the greater good—secretly and unsanctioned by anyone.

That part of the operation was run by a mysterious benefactor known only by the code name Thanatos. No one knew who he was or where he came from; no one ever even saw his face. He seemed to have unlimited resources—both in his connections, and his finances.

Thanatos was the brains of the operation, and the bankroll. Gregor was its heart. He had a gift for healing broken minds and broken shifter animals, helping men reconcile with things they’d done and seen, things they didn’t think they could live with.

Men, though. Always men, never women. There were no women at Outlaw Ridge, and as far as Hawk knew, there never had been.

So he didn’t know how Gregor would react to Ariana.

But Gregor was not only a healer, he was a seer—a man who received visions of what had been, what was, and what was to come. He of all people might know how to break the bond between Ariana and her brother.

They didn’t talk much on the way. Ariana was staring into the distance again, and this time Hawk had no idea what she was thinking. He reached over and took her hand; it was cold.

But she squeezed his hand, meeting his eyes briefly.

He wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing, telling her how he felt. But he knew, and his wolf knew, that they were stronger together.

Chapter 7

There was a wooden gate across the road at the entrance to Outlaw Ridge, with a guard stationed there—a former black ops operative named Sanchez. He and Hawk knew each other, although they were by no means friends.

“Gregor’s expecting me,” Hawk said. He didn’t mention that Gregor was not expecting Ariana.

“I heard. He’s meeting you at the command center, like you asked.” Sanchez gave Hawk a baleful look, and ignored Ariana as if she wasn’t there. “You shouldn’t have asked. It’s hard for his wolf to come down off the mountain.”

Hawk had asked because he knew Thanatos and Gregor wouldn’t want Ariana wandering around Outlaw Ridge. Thanatos would probably be pissed he brought her here at all.

But Sanchez’s words gave Hawk a pang of unease. Was Gregor really in that bad a shape? And if he was—if he died—what would happen to the wolves at Outlaw Ridge? For years, Gregor had been the one to take in new wolves, gradually soothe their damaged souls.

But none of them were really whole, and his quietly powerful influence was only thing holding most of them together.

In fact, Sanchez didn’t look that together right now. His eyes were feral and there was a near-constant growl in his throat, as if his wolf was constantly fighting with him for control.

Hawk’s wolf wanted to rise to that challenge, but Hawk held him down. The last thing Ariana needed was to watch him get into a bloody brawl over nothing. He just thanked Sanchez and drove through the gate, his senses on the alert.

The Outlaw Ridge main compound was a shallow bowl of grassy, open ground, surrounded by forest, with the mountain stretching upward at the far end, to the north. In the center of the bowl was a cluster of buildings—including the command center, the medical center, a commander’s residence, a barracks and a rarely-used mess hall.

In among the trees were cabins and trailers, none of them in especially good repair. Hawk knew that there was another cluster of cabins further up the mountain, where Gregor lived, as well as Sanchez and his cousins, and some of the other long-time and less civilized residents.

Outlaw Ridge had never been cheerful, but somehow today it looked more desolate than usual. Maybe it was the overcast weather.

There weren’t many people around. A few raised a hand in greeting.

Hawk pulled his truck up outside the command center and parked. Inside, two men were on duty. One of them ignored him and Ariana completely; the other said, “Gregor’s in the back office.”

There was an empty desk and chair near the entrance to the hallway that led to the office. He pulled the chair out for Ariana. “Do you mind waiting here for a minute?” he asked. “I think it’s better if I see Gregor alone first.”