Page 56 of Hunted

“Just drifters. I know the type. I don’t know if someone paid them to do this, or promised to reward them in other ways, but they were loyal. I’ll give them that,” my dad says.

“But why would they be trying to grab omegas? What is the point?” Tina frowns. “Do they have an end goal we’re just not seeing?”

“They either don’t know or haven’t been told,” my dad says.

Still holding Aerin, I think out loud. “So someone paid or found drifters to snatch omegas, told them just enough to do what they want, but nothing about what their actual purpose is in taking them. That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does,” Aerin says softly. “It makes sense if whoever in charge knew you would recognize them, so they sent someone you wouldn’t recognize. Like drifters.”

“Someone like who?” Bennett asks, though he doesn’t tell her she’s wrong.

“I don’t know. We’ve not had an attack in a while now, and there’s been no sign of them. But if they know about us…” Ivy’s voice trails off.

“They might know about Aerin,” Warren finishes.

“We had a shifter here marking a tree,” Chris says.

“You had what?” my dad repeats.

We fill him and Ivy in on everything that’s been happening in Winter Lake. The tourist wandering into our forest and wandering off it just as suddenly. The territorial shifter from the hotel who marked a tree and disappeared. And the three calls I received.

“Strange,” my dad mutters. “Something is definitely happening there.”

“But what? If they’re linked with what’s going on with you, then why haven’t they tried to grab Aerin or Adela? All they’re doing is making us suspicious. What is their end goal?” I ask, getting frustrated.

“I understand Adela,” Bennett says. “She keeps her powers wrapped down tight. It would be easy to overlook and underestimate her.”

Adela nods. “That’s right. But Aerin?”

Aerin snorts. “Well, they’re going to get a surprise when they try to snatch me and realize I’m broken.”

“You are not broken, love. You’re growing a human. Your powers will sort themselves out,” I tell her.

“Broken?” Ivy frowns. “What do you mean?”

Aerin sighs. “My gift—and honestly, there are times I hesitate to call it a gift—is broken. It’s barely even there now. I can’t heal or see auras. Please tell me this is something that happens to pregnant omegas.”

Ivy sighs. “I really wish I could, Aerin, but no. I’ve never heard of an omega losing her powers like that.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that,” Aerin says, sounding so despondent and more hopeless than I’ve heard her before.

“Have you been worried all this time? Why didn’t you ask me?” Ivy asks.

“You were busy, and I didn’t want to add more to your plate.”

“I’ll ask some of the other women,” Ivy says briskly. “And you are not adding anything to my plate. If there’s ever a problem, tell me, and I’ll do anything I can to help. We’ll get to the bottom of this together, okay?”

“Okay,” Aerin says softly, but I get the sense that she doesn’t really believe it. That she’s already mourning the loss of her powers forever.

“Whatever is happening here cannot be what’s happening there,” Tina says. “I mean, if it was, then someone would have just grabbed Aerin or Adela. Right? They wouldn’t do anything to give us a chance to prepare. This must be something else.”

Warren nods. “This strange behavior is just making us more alert and wary. We’re spending more time together than apart, so how is this helping them?”

“So what the hell is going on, then?” Colton asks.

I look at him, and I don’t have an answer for him. From the silence around the table, neither does anyone else.

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