Page 63 of Betrayed By the Alpha Wolf

“Yeah, you’re not the only one who went three rounds with a goddamn weedwhacker. Get me out of here.”

Alder walked up to the bars, and I reached through, clapping my arm against his gently.

I smiled. “Actually, with Jet, Kaiden, and me, but it’s fine.”

“Well, look at that. The Scot is impossible to get rid of.” Rowan’s silky, midnight-deep voice rumbled from my right, and he handed me the keys to the cells that he’d been keeping a hold of for me.

As I got Alder out, I handed the keys back to Rowan and he took care of opening Brooks’ cell. We got the two ofthem caught up regarding our recent unfortunate events, but I stopped short when Alder cocked his brow, sniffing the air.

“I could smell them. Even though I was mostly unconscious, I could smell the humans. They were hunters. The stench of gunpowder clinging to them. They tried to come up to the bars, but Brooks and I were still…well, a bit rabid. They backed off rather than lose a finger.”

“Hunters?” My stomach dropped, and I looked over my shoulder at Jet. “Senna’s vision.”

He stepped up toward Alder, putting a hand on his shoulder, and almost without thinking, I moved past everyone to Kenzie. I pulled her close, not caring in the slightest that it might “look like” something to them. I needed to touch her, to ground myself with her presence.

“It has to be related. That’s too much of a coincidence. Still,” Jet glanced down at the floor, and Kaiden was quickly at his side, lending his adoptive father his support, “I can’t imagine this was it. One unwanted wolf dead? That’s hardly threatening wolfkind.”

“Unfortunately, I have to agree with him,” Cade offered. “That was barely a genuine threat. We didn’t even run into them. It’s like they just got in, did what they wanted to do—namely, killing Leon—and then got out. It…it makes me think that Leon was possibly more valuable than we realized.”

Rowan nodded, trading glances between Cade and me. “Definitely. Leon clearly knew something about the hunters that they didn’t want to get out. With him off the board, they believe they’re safer. It’s something to investigate for certain.”

“We need to find out why they wanted him so badly.” I scanned my gaze across the Alphas—my friends. “And I don’tfucking like that they had the gall to come into my home. I want them eliminated.”

“Grayson,” Kenzie cut in, “we’re lucky they didn’t do more. They obviously have significant resources. If we go in there without the right preparation—”

“I understand, Kenz. I do. But we can’t let them think they can just pull this shit. It sets the wrong precedence, and I have a pack to look after. What if they all think that this kind of thing is just going to happen around here? I can’t let them believe they’re not safe.”

As if on cue, a commotion started upstairs, and I could hear several raised voices shouting about what was going on.

“Tomorrow, after we’ve rested, we go after them. They might be hunters, but nothing can track like a wolf.”

The Alpha growled in agreement, and I nodded. Humans had come into my home looking to terrify us, and I would not stand for that.

***

A small team of volunteers went with the Alphas to track down the hunters. It had rained last night, and the wet earth dampened the scents around us. It had all but eliminated footprints as well. Thankfully, tire tracks sunk in much deeper, especially when they were weighed down by several men.

We stalked through the woods, trusting our noses and impeccable eyesight to navigate the trail of clues left for us. After about thirty or so minutes, it became impractical to do this on foot. We all needed to be faster.

“We can’t keep going in this form. Shift and stash your belongings for afterward. We’ll be faster in wolf form.”

A few of the men hesitated, but eventually, we all shifted and began to sprint through the forest, tracking our quarry. Cade was thrilled to change into wolf form. Hell, he’d done it before I even suggested it, and he was now acting as our scout, keeping an eye out down the road for threats.

When he returned from checking out the area around the bend in the trail, Cade shifted into his human form again to speak. Which was a delight considering the guy was naked and didn’t seem to give a single fuck.

“The woods get thicker up ahead, but I can still smell that burn of gasoline. They definitely went this way. Even more, I think this is a common route. There are older scents and several tire treads from different vehicles. We’re getting close to a base or something.”

I snuffled at him, acknowledging that I knew what he was getting at. Grumbling at the other wolves, I indicated the threat and pawed at the ground softly to emphasize how we needed to tread lightly. As Cade shifted back, Rowan’s massive wolf form stalked up to me, his black fur nearly absorbing all the light that hit it.

He stuck to the shadows; his mild sunlight allergy was always worse when he was in wolf form. Rowan grumbled, though, which bled into a low growl as he scanned the forest with blood-red eyes. Shaking his head, it looked like he didn’t want to sit still, and I could sense the concern wafting off him.

What’s up, huh? What can you sense that we can’t?

Over the past few years, working closer and closer with the other Alphas, I’d learned—like we all had—that Rowan was different. He sensed things quicker, better, than the rest of us,and he was vicious in a fight, not as primal as Cade but equally as ruthless when he wanted to be.

I projected my question to him through the Alpha magic. It was getting easier to manipulate it, and while I couldn’t communicate telepathically with the other wolves since none of us could, this was a very close second in usefulness.

Rowan turned to me, sinking into his haunches and growling. We weren’t alone, but I still couldn’t smell or hear anything. As I regarded Jet, Kaiden, Alder, and even Brooks, none of them could tell what was going on with Rowan, but we all knew it wasn’t good.

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