Page 15 of Wolves in Lust

“No.” Misti gasped. Jason was one of their best trackers. He had only been five months older than her. Dead at twenty-five. “How?” she growled.

“Beheaded. And that’s not the worst of it.”

She bristled. What could be worse?

“Gerald was taken hostage.”

“Taken hostage?” She bit back her surprise.

Gerald was her father’s second. He was too strong to be taken easily.

But Shadowed Stars didn’t take prisoners. They left a trail of bodies in their wake.

Anders hadn’t.

She really must stop thinking about him.

“How do you know that he wasn’t also killed?” she asked.

“Because Rob saw it go down. It happened too far away for Rob to be able to stop it.”

“Why would a werewolf kill Jason but kidnap Gerald?”

“We do not know. There is nothing else to say on the matter.”

His coldness unnerved her. She eyed him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“That’s all there is to tell.”

Her cousin was more a robot than a wolf. He hadn’t even shown any rage, or any other emotion for that matter, when he told her such devastating news.

“There’s more, isn’t there? Father doesn’t want me to know,” she guessed bitterly.

“That is not the case. It’s just a rumor, that’s all.”

“Tell it to me,” she demanded.

“Rob is convinced he recognized the werewolf who knocked out and dragged Gerald off, but it’s been so long since anyone has seen him that even he can’t be one hundred percent certain.”

Goosebumps swept across her arms and legs, and it had nothing to do with her being naked. “Who did he think was behind it?”

“A Shadowed Star named Anders.”

“Anders Kraus,” she murmured. “You’re certain it was him?”

“No. Rob is, but the werewolf was a good distance away, despite his enhanced vision, and Anders hasn’t been seen around these parts in years.”

Almost a decade. She knew.

“When did this occur?” she asked. Before or after she and Anders had shared their bodies?

“Roughly two hours ago.”

Her eyes narrowed. How could her cousin have found her so quickly to inform her of this? But at least the time frame meant Anders had attacked her people after they had shared relations. Although would it have been much worse had he killed and kidnapped beforehand?

She fought the urge to double over as if punched in the stomach. Anders had done this in retaliation for her denying him. Because she hadn’t allowed him to claim her.

“Come home, Misti,” Xavier urged. “Your father wants you by his side.”

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