Page 63 of Knot Dead Yet

Maddox tracked Kienna’s scent to the garage. The smell of exhaust was strong even though the zambonis sat silent. Every movement or sound made my head snap in that direction. Was it Kienna? We had to find her.

“She went outside.” Maddox stood in the open service door and breathed in deep.

I still didn’t believe she left the arena willingly. Fucking Ewan might have scared her from her spot by the locker room, but she wouldn’t have left.

“She might have gone back to her nest. She’d feel safe there,” Tiergan suggested.

“No. I don’t think she would because Ewan might go back to the house.” Alderic looked angrier than Maddox, and that was something I’d thought impossible. Yet Ewan was his cousin, and to be betrayed by not only your chosen pack but by family as well, that was brutal.

“We’re wasting time. I don’t think she left on her own.” Casimir’s voice sounded sharp, on the edge. We all were. And his instincts were the same as mine. He hadn’t claimed her yet, but he was bonded to her as much as Maddox and I.

If Kienna was taken, they could be long gone by now. That stalker had known she was at our house. Likely knew she was here tonight. What else did he know?

“Let’s get to the SUV.” I led them, but I wasn’t certain where we would go yet. Winnipeg was a rougher city than most folks expected, but while the gangs were trouble, it should be more those who were part of the Omega black market. Yet why would a person who was involved in that send her flowers? It was something else.

Big flakes of late spring snow pelted us as we rounded the arena and ran across the street to the parking garage. My protective instincts clawed at my chest as if they wanted to rip out. I needed to find Kienna and make sure she was safe.

Inside the garage, Tiergan clicked open the doors and we all piled in. Our chests heaved from the run, and he turned on the engine. “Where to?”

That was the question. If this was Kienna’s stalker, where would he take her? It could be anywhere. I hit the dashboard and growled. We had to start somewhere. “The flowers. Anyone pay attention to where they were sent from?”

My pack shook their heads. But dammit, would it even matter if we knew? It was nighttime. All the florists would be closed.

“What kind of flowers were they?” Casimir asked. “She had flowers in her hotel room too. Before she was attacked. Lilies.”

“They were lilies.” Maddox seethed, flexing his hand and curling them up like a caged beast.

So the bastard had sent them to her before. All this time someone was stalking my Omega and we never knew. I was going to rip his head from his shoulders.

“That’s… That’s what they found with the Hangman’s victims.” Alderic’s words were barely audible. He looked up from his phone with wide scared eyes. “Every victim has lilies in her home.”

No. I scowled at him.

“It’s the first thing at the top of the page when I looked up lilies.” Alderic turned his phone around so we could see. I didn’t doubt that it was there. Fuck, I didn’t want it to be true.

But if it was…

“Go to the hotel.” That was the closest thing Kienna had to a home in Winnipeg. The Hangman wouldn’t take her to thepack house. There would be too much of a chance for us to walk in. At the hotel, he’d have privacy as long as Birk was gone, and with the chaos at the game tonight, Birk would be at the arena for a while.

Tiergan tore out of the parking garage and zipped as fast as he could go downtown Winnipeg. He pulled off on a side street where it was less congested, but with so many people leaving the arena, it was crazy.

“Faster,” Maddox barked from behind the driver’s seat.

“I can only go so fast.” Tiergan snapped back, and then took a sharp turn over a sidewalk to avoid a red light at an intersection.

The Fort Garry loomed ahead. My heart drummed a beat for battle. Kienna needed me. I felt it to my very bones as if she called me herself. I’d just claimed her. I wasn’t losing her now.

The hotel had to be only a kilometer away, but each second felt like minutes. Kienna was new in my life, but she had so quickly become the center of my world. I refused to imagine a life without her. If I never stepped on the ice again, I would be okay if I had Kienna by my side.

Tiergan pulled up in front of the hotel and we all bolted out of the SUV. He grabbed a ticket from the shocked valet as we ran up the steps and into the lobby.

I turned toward the stairs that went up to the next floor, but Casimir headed right to the front desk. Stopping, I turned to follow him.

“Good evening, Mr. Velky. Welcome back after your big win tonight.” The lady behind the desk smiled at all of us. Her name tag informed us she was Belinda.

“There’s an emergency in the Grand Suite. We need you to let us inside to see if Miss Birk is alright.” Casimir spoke smoothly and seemingly in control, but his knuckles were white where they were gripping the edge of the counter.

“Oh, what’s wrong?” Belinda came around the front desk with a key card in hand. “Is your girlfriend hurt?”

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