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My wolf grumbles in my mind, not liking being told what to do. But this is important. Some battles are worth fighting. Some just waste time. He needs to know Aerin is gone.

I tell him about last night.

About the animal sounds that Sara Meacham, owner and manager of the Winter Lake Hotel, heard at 2 a.m., asked Bennett to check out.

I tell Douglas about how I, Bennett, Tina, Warren, Colton, and Penny, went to investigate, knowing it was trouble from Sara saying that an animal rammed the patio glass like it was trying to get in.

And about how Aerin didn’t want me to go, sensing a trap.

I don’t hold back about falling into a pit with wooden stakes, a trap set for us. And about Lester Raleigh, the shifter that Bennett killed who said the Raleigh Pack isn’t just back, they never left at all.

I tell him that the former packmates I thought were long dead are behind the omegas being hunted and kidnapped across the country. That they took Aerin, and that Shane Dacre, the mate who abused her and who she rejected, wasn’t just involved, he set fire to my home and nearly killed Chris.

I talk until my throat is hoarse and my mouth is dry.

A door opens behind me at some point as I speak. One sniff and I know it’s Bennett, though I don’t turn to look. Then the door closes again as he reenters the house without speaking.

Douglas doesn’t interrupt. He doesn’t ask a single question, and his steady breaths never change.

He just listens.

It must be fifteen minutes later when I’ve finished telling him everything there is to know.

Click.

I pull the phone from my ear, and I stare down at it, not sure what to think.

“He hung up,” I breathe. “The bastard hung up on me.”

The door swings open and Bennett steps out. “Are you really surprised?”

He must have been waiting for me to finish my call.

I glance at him.

He looks as well-rested as me. Which is to say, not at all. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“Everyone else is. Someone had to stay awake.”

“Iwas awake,” I remind him.

“Someone else.” He crosses his arms and leans against the wall as I tuck the cell phone into my pocket. I’d call Douglas again, but I have a feeling I’d have nothing to say but a litany of curses about him hanging up instead of helping figure out a way to get Aerin back.

“He really doesn’t give a shit about Aerin, does he?”

There were times I’d thought he did. But maybe I was wrong and his priority will always be the Boone Pack, not Aerin.

Bennett shrugs. “He came to help rescue Aerin when Nolan Lonergan grabbed her. Maybe he figures he’s done enough.”

“Help in limited supply,” I mutter, my gaze once again snagging on the broken lounger. “Some dad he is.”

“We’ll figure this out on our own.”

“I’m surprised about Moses,” I say.

“Moses couldn’t help even if he wanted to. If Douglas isn’t interested in helping, then he has a choice to make. Do what Douglas wants or leave the pack. And they were having issues with the Dacres. Remember?”

I quietly curse.

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