Page 18 of Howling With Wolves

I saw everything connect in Michael’s mind.

“This might have been a setup from the start.”

“Get to Bas and Cyan. Call in the pack. Tell them to keep reaching out to Nico. I’ll get Anthony and Emma and head over. No one goes anywhere alone.”

“I’m grabbing Piper. Reaching out to Bas now,” Michael yelled as he headed back to his house at a run. I was doing the same.

I shoved the door open just as Anthony stepped out of the kitchen, coffee cups in hand.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, immediately going on alert.

I merely motioned for him to follow me as I barreled down the hallway toward the bedroom. The door hit the wall as I pushed in. Emma, who was just waking up, startled, her eyes going wide as she took in me then Anthony as he slammed into my back.

“What is it?” She nearly tripped on the covers as she jumped out of bed. My gaze automatically slid over her naked body. The woman fired my blood. She was pure temptation even with her clothes on. Naked, she was a man’s ultimate fantasy. No, not a man. Only two men. Me and Anthony.

“We need to head out. Now. Get dressed. Quickly.” My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I saw West’s name when I pulled it out. “I need to get this. Trust me. I’ll tell you everything on the way to join the rest of the pack. Just hurry.”

Anthony stared at me as I stepped back out of the room. My phone stopped, but West called again before I had the chance to call him back.

He didn’t even wait for me to say anything. “It’s not her.”

“Claire?”

“Yes. It’s not her body. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like her. It’s not. Something’s off here.”

“Fuck. Listen to me. You three need to be on your guard. In fact, you need to get out of there. Soon. The sooner the better,” I warned.

“Rowan said the same when I spoke to him. Scott’s heading to get the car now.”

“No!” I warned. “Stay together. This feels like a setup, West.”

West was quick, connecting all the dots immediately. “Emma was bait. They’re after Cyan. Cody!”

I heard West shuffle the phone away as he spoke to the male with him, telling him to call Scott and get him back. “We’re heading to meet up with Scott. I’ll make sure we check for any tails as we head back, but if it was planned, that means Wallace was part of the plan.”

“To get my mate here, create chaos and draw out Cyan.”

Wallace had done a dump and run. Hell, he’d clipped Emma with the car as he’d left. As far as I was concerned, he deserved our wrath for that alone.

“None of them could have guessed Emma would find her mate in the James Pack,” West said.

“Mates,” I corrected.

“Do you think they mean to try to trade Claire Richards for Cyan?”

I nodded even though West couldn’t see me. He whistled on the other end of the connection.

“Cyan would have never gone after their pack,” West stated.

We all knew the truth of that. He was our beta. He was family. He’d never leave this pack, but a man like Clayton Richards would never understand loyalty. Or maybe, he understood it just enough to use it to finish what he’d startedall those years ago. He’d killed his brother for the alpha title, but he’d allowed his nephew to escape. He’d used his wife and daughter. Manipulated them into what? Calling out Cyan? All so he could take out a threat that never existed.

“Scott’s here. We’re leaving now,” West said, pulling my mind back to him.

“Be safe.”

“Always. We’ve kept Rowan safe for a long time,” he reminded me. “We’ll be fine. Catch you as soon as we’re back.”

I hung up and turned to see both Emma and Anthony watching me. Anthony had his arm around her waist, holding our mate tight to his side.

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