Page 40 of Hunted

“Because of what’s happening in the Dacres?” I guess. “Is Shane causing trouble?”

It’s been months since I last saw Shane.

Back then, he was furious with his mate Bree for killing his dad and for trying to kill me. Bree had shoved me off a mountain, worried that Shane’s wolf, who still viewed me as his mate, would want me back, especially since my baby is, biologically at least, his.

Shane had called my baby ‘it’, and treated me so badly that I’d run from him. He’s shown no interest in this child. But Shane’s wolf had saved me and then sniffed my throat as if I was still his mate, so Bree had been right in thinking Shane’s wolf still wanted me, even if Shane loved Bree.

Could he come back to Winter Lake and cause trouble? I’d warned Bree away, but what if Shane’s wolf decides he wants to force me back anyway?

I don’t realize I’m frowning so hard until Mack kisses my forehead. “We’ll be okay, Aerin. Shane won’t get close enough to cause any trouble here.”

“I don’t think trouble will wind up in Winter Lake, but it might. And if it does, it won’t be from the Dacre Pack,” Moses adds.

“You sound pretty sure of that.” Mack sits back in his seat, though he keeps hold of my hand, and I’m grateful for his touch.

“Thing is, they seem to be having some kind of civil war.”

Pack Dacre and Pack Boone—my former pack—share borders. They are close neighbors. For one pack to be fighting is dangerous to the other because it can so easily spill over.

“Has it spread?” I ask.

“No, and it won’t.” As my dad’s second in command, Moses is in charge of training the enforcers who guard Dad and the rest of the pack.

His confidence reassures me that my former pack won’t go the same way the Raleighs did years ago. The Raleigh Pack, violent, aggressive, but held together by Mack’s dad, Connall, imploded when Connall turned his back on the pack.

They serve as a powerful lesson to all shifters about what can happen to a pack without a strong Alpha to hold it together. Fortunately, something like that has never happened again.

“What has Dad said?” I ask.

If Moses is calling to tell us about this, the order must have come from my dad. This is internal pack business and he would never talk about things like that—even to me—without express permission from Dad.

Moses is naturally quiet and serious. Not only did he treat me more like his daughter than my dad, who prioritized leading thepack over spending time with me, he’s good at his job. There’s no one else my dad trusts more, and I understand why.

“That it was important that you know,” he says.

“Because trouble might come here?” I ask, frowning.

“Because Shane was your mate, and everyone knows that. We believe the Dacres worked out that Bree was responsible for Iain’s death and they turned on Bree and Shane,” Moses says.

Mack nods as if he isn’t the least bit surprised. “It would have put Shane in a tough position. Defend his new mate, or side with his outraged pack.”

I once asked Mack what would happen, and he seemed to think this would affect Shane more than it would Bree. His nickname was once Perfect Shane. Everyone viewed him as the Alpha who could do no wrong. This would have shattered that perception in his pack, and no one would look at him the same way again.

“So you think they forced Shane and Bree out?” I ask.

“We don’t know,” Moses says. “It would be too dangerous to send an enforcer to check, but it stands to reason things will get worse before it gets better. If it even gets better.”

“And if they force Shane and Bree out, there’s nothing to stop them from coming here to cause trouble and maybe even blaming us for what happened?” I guess.

Bree wouldn’t have accepted the blame for it. She was angry at Iain for not accepting her as Shane’s new mate. There’s every reason she’ll blame me for what’s happening to the Dacres.

“That’s right,” Moses says quietly.

I realize why else he’s calling.

He had planned to visit us and see me before the baby came, just like Ivy and Connall, but that won’t happen now. I’d hoped to see Moses and Lucy, his mate, because the baby is going to keep me tied to the house and to Winter Lake for a while. Now it’s looking like it could be weeks or even months before I seethem. It feels like the world is suddenly going crazy. Ivy can’t leave her pack to see me, and now neither can Moses.

“So you can’t leave Minnesota until things settle down,” I say, trying not to be disappointed. “You can’t afford to, in case the fighting spreads while you’re with me.”

---