Page 11 of Fate Awakened

“Have you been able to contact Hudson?” she asks, her voice smaller, less confident than before. Pres and Hudson were friends, and I could tell his betrayal had her mind spinning as much as the rest of us.

Maybe more so.

“You know as well as I do that the mind-link communication’s a two-way street, and both wolves must accept it. At the moment, his wolf has gone rogue, and as such, isn’t letting my messages get to Hudson to try and talk sense to him.” I lean back idly, pulling at the end of my beard, a habit I haven’t been able to shake since taking over as Alpha.

“I’ve known Hudson his whole life. I was only eight when he was born, but I remember his parent's joy when they introduced him to the pack. His mom lost several pups before she had him.” I shake away the memory as I try to understand why he would’ve turned on us.

His parents had migrated to a Florida pack just after he graduated high school, but Hudson chose to stay and work with our security firm. He had the choice to go with them.

It reminded me that I should contact Elijah and see if we could reach them. There had to be a reason for him to change his alliance from us to our Reno pack.

Presley clears her throat, pulling my attention back to her.

“So the SUV is a dead end. He pulled the GPS before taking it from the lot, so we can’t track it. I think it’s safe to assume he’s headed north toward Reno. Since he’s the one who gave them the information on the tech shipment, it isn’t a leap to believe he’s bringing her to them. What I can’t seem to gather is why he chose her. Yes, she witnessed the tech debacle, but he doesn’t know she’s Unawakened.” Pres rambles while sliding through information on the tablet in her hand. It’s the first time in a long time that I can see Presley anxious. Her nerves evident as she chews on her lip and bounces her leg under the chair.

“He knows she’s important to us. We’ve had her under pack surveillance for the last few weeks. He knows she’s important to Cain, he's been undercover with her as his tutor, and they’ve gotten more than close. That may be all he needed to use her as a bargaining chip or as leverage to gain favor with that pack to have them take him in—anything Marlo can use against us. The important thing now is trying to get her back before we have an all-out war. Not that we can’t handle them, but going to war over a human won’t look good to the surrounding packs,” I finish, turning away from her, and pull up my system.

“What if we don’t get her back?” I barely hear her question, feeling the guilt she’s emitting and throwing my doubt on top of it.

“We have to.” It’s all I can say. There’s no winning solution besides getting her back unharmed. The alternative is too dark to even consider. I don’t believe we would survive the spiral Cain would enter or the hit the pack would take.

Who knew Cain’s Mate would be the crux that could destroy a lifetime of loyalty?

I ignore Pres long enough for her to take the hint and leave my office. My mind spins with questions, scenarios, and alternatives which play out on repeat.

If she dies, we lose Cain.

If Deacon Awakens her, Cain will snap, war will start, we will lose many lives, and we lose Cain.

If she survives but finds out about us, she could reject Cain, and we lose Cain.

If she survives and sides with Marlo, we lose Cain.

Scenario after scenario rolls through my head, and in the end, all I can think is that I’m on the verge of losing not only my best friend but my pack, my family. I steel my resolve. I need to focus on the things I can control. I send a mind-link message to Elijah.

Dante: I need you to contact the Healys with Bronson’s Pack in South Florida. I need them on a call with me within the hour.

Elijah: Bronson is at the LLC regulation trial for the next few weeks. I’ll reach out to their Second, Amari. She should be able to get us in contact.

Dante: Whatever it takes.

Finally, a bright spot. If Bronson was away at an LLC meeting, then that means that Deacon, too, will be otherwise unavailable.

Maybe we can get ourselves out of this mess yet.

Looking at the surveillance feeds that cover four of my monitors. I see that Cain is still unconscious, Kole is back to his human self, and, according to my calculations, we have less than five hours before our witness falls into enemy hands.

Dante: Council, we meet at noon.Tell no one outside the circle.

Chapter 6

Keith

Errrrrrrrrrrr.Errrrrrrrrrrr.Errrrrrrrrrrr.

The distinctive buzzing pattern emanating from my brand-new iPhone pulls me out of a deep, alcohol-induced sleep. I slide my hand across the sheets, searching for the device, only to graze my fingers down the supple smoothness of warm bare skin.

A feminine moan sounds next to me as the bed shifts slightly, followed by a tumbling of arms and legs that fall onto my chest and thigh in a possessive bear hug that dances very close to my ready-for-round-three morning wood.

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