Page 4 of Rivers and Roads

My eyes widened. I didn’t know the human well. I had made an effort to avoid him, but I knew enough about him that I figured he was entirely on his mate’s side. “But let me guess, Kor’s not relenting.”

“He’s made a few good points in his own defense,” Orion admitted. “But he doesn’t seem as scared as he should be, considering the situation. Even after this shit with Sanderson, he trusts too easily.”

I tried not to wince but failed miserably, and I caught the sympathy in Orion’s gaze before my eyes dropped to his shoulder. My heart softened a little, and not for the first time, I wished he wasn’t a Beta. Or maybe I wished that I was one, because if we had the freedom to be together without burdening him with the Wolf I was, I would have pursued him with a singular focus.

I was just not as brave as other Alphas. I freely admitted that knowing Francisco and Theo were bonded set my heart racing at the possibilities, but I knew I’d never be brave enough to cross that line.

“What do you think we should do?” Orion asked, cutting into my thoughts.

I shook my head and tore my gaze away from the curve in his neck where a bond bite would go. “I have no idea. I want to find another way but…” I trailed off, thinking of the Wolves we had yet to rescue and the ones going missing every day. “We’ve reached the point we can’t afford to wait. Too many have already been taken, and they’re getting bolder. The reports…” I trailed off, knowing I didn’t need to repeat the numbers to him.

He gave me a stiff nod, his gaze meeting mine and holding it. He had always been difficult to get a read on, but there were moments I desperately wished he’d open up. He had no reason to trust me, of course. At least, not the way he trusted Kor. I had been little more to him than a military commander and then an Alpha who had worked to bring Kor home.

But I couldn’t deny the connection between us. Late nights following reports, waiting on edge for any news about Kor had been our reality for months. And he and I had seen each other in vulnerable states that neither of us had showed anyone else. I desperately wanted it to mean something, but I wasn’t sure I had the right to ask for that.

“If you ever need to vent,” he said after a beat, and my heart gave a single, painful thud, “you can come find me.”

I felt the corners of my mouth rising—a slow, simple little twitch that was almost a mockery of a smile. But I had a feeling if anyone understood, it was him. I wasn’t dead inside, but there was so little joy left in me.

“Same goes for you. I—” My words cut off when my phone began to buzz, and I glanced down to see it was Kor. I gave Orion one more curt nod, then took my coffee and stepped back from the door. I watched him turn and walk a few paces down the pavement where Cameron was waiting, and then I answered the Alpha’s call. “Zane, here.”

“I just got a call about some issue on the edge of town where those powerlines kept going down. Do you think you could swing by and check that out?”

In all honesty, it sounded far better than locking myself in the Council office, making plans for things that turned my stomach. “You know I’m not an electrician,” I reminded him, patting my pocket to make sure my keys were still there.

He laughed softly. “I know. It would just make me feel better if one of us could go check it out, and I’ve got a meeting later with Nadya.”

Nadya was an Omega who had secured a surprisingly high-level position at ComTech in DC. She’d been quietly feeding Kor information for the last six months, and though I hadn’t been entirely on board trusting her, so far, it had worked out well. She’d managed to keep us up to date on the current numbers of both Wolves and humans who were reported missing, and though she’d yet to actually crack the database, she knew how to get into it. In fact, sending a Beta in to retrieve the information had been her idea.

I wasn’t sure she was the sort of person I wanted to be in bed with, but I couldn’t deny she got shit done. Kor had been arguing his case about her since we left the tunnels and settled in Corland, saying we needed Wolves like her who were willing to make the morally grey decisions we desperately needed to win. I hated that he was right, but the rest of the Council agreed with him a lot more enthusiastically than I did, so it took some of the pressure off.

“It’s no problem,” I told him after a beat, not thrilled about driving to the edge of town, but happy to spend the afternoon outside. “If I’m delayed, go ahead and start the meeting without me. You or Orion can fill me in later.”

Kor let out a soft sigh. “I know this isn’t a meeting you want to have, Zane. I spoke with Danyal this morning and…”

“It’s fine. I don’t have to like it to have your back on this,” I told him, my voice a little short and clipped. I was tired of being put in the position to go against my brother’s method of combat. I never thought I’d be standing opposite him on anything, but then again, I suppose I had spent so much time at war, I’d never gotten the chance to know him as well as I should have.

“We can talk more about this later,” he said. “Give me a call when you’re on your way.”

“Alright.” I hung up before he could drag me into another conversation about the philosophy of winning wars by playing as dirty as the enemy.

I wondered when I had turned into that sort of person—that sort of soldier. I had stayed alive through underhanded means more than fighting fairly. My claws were coated in blood that would never wash off. But it felt wrong to me now, and I didn’t understand why.

I was able to put it out of my mind though, when Kor’s text came through with the location of the failure in the grid. I could only hope there was a team out there with someone who knew what the hell they were doing, because I had spent my life training to fight—to kill. I had never been given the opportunity for any sort of skill outside of leading Wolves into victory.

It was something that had been weighing on me, but not something I had the luxury of focusing on. Maybe someday. If we did see the end of a second war, if we saw something like peace—maybe I could use that time to discover who the hell I really was. Until then, like so many others, my job was to survive another day.

The drive to the edge of town was nearly empty. It was an unsettling feeling, in spite of knowing everyone was corralled in one section of the town until we had enough Wolves who could get everything back online. But after everything we’d been through, being entirely on my own in the middle of nowhere wasn’t as much of a comfort as I thought it was going to be. It was the strangest feeling, being an island in a sea of so many, but I knew I wasn’t alone in that.

We were all isolated, dealing with the trauma of living, and it would take more than a few months of peaceful running on a full moon to breathe easier again.

I watched the trees whip by as I took the winding roads, and eventually I came to a halt when I saw a couple of men standing by a downed pole. One of them was leaning on a truck, and I didn’t recognize them, but I saw a set of blue eyes that put me a little at ease. At every turn, I expected humans. At every turn, I felt like I was steps away from an ambush.

I offered them a wave as I dropped my phone on the seat of my Jeep, then I shoved one hand into the pocket of my jeans as I made my way over. I did my best to avoid any Alpha posturing, but I met their gazes, and both Betas tilted their head in deference. The wind picked up, and there was a sudden caustic smell on the breeze that set my hackles rising.

“Listen,” I started. It was the only thing I could get out before the sharp sting in my neck.

My body hit the ground, and though my mind was fully aware, I couldn’t get my limbs to move. A scream lodged in my throat, but all I could manage was a muffled groan as hands began to tie me. I felt a rush of fury, facing down the absolute proof that our people—Wolves—would betray us like this.

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