Page 4 of Ruthless Moon

He glances briefly to the side, letting me know he’s fine.

I nod to my brother, and we stand off from Joey’s booth a few yards, just in case the out-of-towners plan to cause trouble. We’re here to make sure nothing happens tonight that could put the alliance at risk.

Joey is part of Dave Gallagher’s pack, but he’s a decent man by reputation.

“Do you recognize them?” Bast asks me in a low tone.

I shake my head and keep Joey’s booth in my line of vision. I can’t pin it down, but my gut says these guys don’t belong in Ash Hollow. They reek of military training. “Can you hear what they’re saying to Joey?”

Bast is standing a little closer than I am with his back to the booth. He nods and leans his head to the side, concentrating harder. He parrots back important tidbits worth sharing. “Joey’s askin’ them where they’re from. Oklahoma. Trewitt pack. They’re looking for a woman that Eddie told them Joey could help them find. Joey’s bartering work on his farm for the information. His sister is talking now about a woman named Meredith being held in the Gallagher mansion. Fuck. They’re looking for Meredith Banfield. Why the hell would Meredith be at Oliver’s mansion?”

“I don’t know. But Aiden’s going to lose his shit when he hears Oliver might have her.”

My brother’s mouth flattens into a grimace. “And now Joey’s telling him how he defected from Oliver’s side and went to Dave’s. Yada yada.”

Defecting had come at a price for Joey. I didn’t know him well enough to have heard firsthand, but stories about Dave and Oliver Gallagher had a way of getting around. Oliver had been the one who gave him the scar across his face.

Nobody got away unscathed when it had to do with the Gallaghers.

“When was the last time you were at the coven’s court? Was Meredith there?” My brother scowls. “What do you think that bastard’s up to now?”

I wave away his question. “Keep listening.” I strain to hear the conversation, but there’s a family with a pack of little kids eating right behind me and their voices are too much for me to concentrate through.

“He’s giving him a map to Oliver’s place. Telling him she’s under guard twenty-four-seven.”

It didn’t make sense. Why were there Oklahoma wolves in Colorado snooping around Gallagher business looking for a witch no one outside the O’Conner pack was supposed to know existed?

I roll my neck and growl low. Our alpha and cousin, Aiden, was about to hitch himself to Oliver Gallagher’s princess of a daughter. This marriage would save the pack territory, maybe, but no one from our pack had ever met Imogen Gallagher, and all the gossip said she was a ball-busting bitch who did her father’s bidding without hesitation.

Now these two outsiders are inquiring about our very own Meredith Banfield, who, according to Joey, Oliver is holding hostage? What. The. Actual. Fuck? Why didn’t we notice her go missing?

The two cowboys walk past us. I get a quick suspicious glance from the one who noticed me earlier, but neither speaks. I turn to follow them and my brother trails without a sound. We walk a few dozen yards before I see them veer into an alley.

My brother and I lock eyes, preparing for an ambush. Then we duck into the shadows between several empty vendor booths.

Hands close around my neck, and a powerful body shoves me against a planked wall. “What the fucking hell you following us for?” He’s so close I can almost taste the burger he ate earlier. His wolf rumbles deep in his chest.

“You’re the ones who don’t belong here. Why are you in Ash Hollow?” I don’t fight against his hold. My body is lax, nonaggressive. I wait for him to relax. My brother does the same. Neither of us will cause a scene that could impede the alliance today, but that won’t stop us from finding out why there are so many strange wolves in town today who don’t belong. The air is thick with their scent. “Why are you asking about someone at Oliver Gallagher’s house?”

The stranger loosens his grip on my neck and jacket and takes a step back. “Beau, let him go,” he says to his companion. The man he called Beau releases my brother, and Sebastian moves to stand next to me.

“I’m Jace Trewitt. My brother and I are here on orders from our alpha to find someone—a witch called Meredith Banfield. We need her help to heal a child in our pack. Do you know her?”

I pause. Part of our promise of protection was not to tell anyone about the coven’s court or Meredith, the witch who created it.

My brother is silent as well. She’d had anunderstandingwith Aiden’s father for decades, and that agreement passed to Aiden when he took over. The whole pack protects her secret. Nobody should know she and her coven live in the area, much less some wolf from Oklahoma.

“If there’s a witch here, I’m not surprised Oliver Gallagher is involved. I can’t help you, though,” I say strategically.

I steal a quick glance at my brother. He nods, agreeing with my decision tonotshare more information. These two are well-informed, and they’ll find her if they keep digging. But they aren’t getting anything from me unless Meredith herself okays it.

Jace’s expression is tight with frustration, but he nods. “Understood.” He turns to Beau and jerks his head toward the end of the alleyway.

My brother and I watch until they disappear into the flowing river of people walking up and down Main Street. Bast rubs his hand through the scruff on his face. “You think Oliver really has Meredith locked up in his house? The only thing that would give him leverage over her is—”

“Emma,” we both say at the same time.

Bast leads us back to Main Street. “It would explain why we haven’t seen her recently. But I don’t like these outsiders here asking questions. If they stir up trouble, Oliver will renege on this whole deal for our pack. Whatever happens, this engagement must be protected. Aiden’s orders.”

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