Page 3 of Mated in Darkness

That meant I would have to leave the den soon to help find a certain rogue, and one of our Packmates that had gone after him.

A Packmate we hadn’t heard from in far too long.

I felt the itch between my shoulder blades. I knew I would have to leave soon.

Only, something told me I wasn’t ready. Or maybe that was me telling myself I couldn’t be prepared.

Conner helped me subdue the man and ensure he wouldn’t wake up soon and hurt someone, and we covered him with my jacket.

I looked up into the tree line as Parker walked through, a couple of our fellow enforcers with him.

“Another one,” Parker whispered, his wolf in his gaze as the gold rim around his irises glowed.

I cringed. “Another one.”

“We’re running out of time, Kaylee.”

“Stop ordering her around,” Conner growled.

I rolled my eyes. “I can take care of myself, numbnuts.”

“Love the attitude, sister of mine,” he mumbled, and I let go of the rogue as the other enforcers took him from me.

Parker helped me up, frowning. “Come on. Kade wants to meet with us.”

My wolf stood at attention, keening for their Alpha.

Kade was my uncle, our Alpha, and a man that I truly loved. I loved our huge family, the way that we took care of one another, and were always there for each other no matter what.

I did not want to leave the den.

Only, I knew I was running out of time, and so were the rogues taking over the country.

Parker needed me to find our Packmate, to ensure that they weren’t one of the rogues out there. I knew that once I met with Kade, I would be under an Alpha’s orders, and there would be no going back.

I killed two rogues this month alone, and nearly had to kill a third. If the man unconscious in the truck in front of me didn’t wake sane, our Pack would have to kill him too.

A darkness was coming. I could feel it in my bones.

My Pack had been through hell and back, and all I wanted was peace, only I didn’t think it was coming.

My wolf was antsy, tired of staying here, needing to be free, needing to find a resolution that I was afraid would never come.

So I stood on the precipice of two choices, both paths I wasn’t ready to take.

Yet, I knew one would be laid before me, and I wouldn’t have a choice. I was the Tracker of the Redwood Pack, and it was my turn to protect those I loved.

No matter the cost.

Chapter 2

Kaylee

I stoodin front of my Alpha, my Uncle Kade, who was shaking his head. My wolf bowed, my gaze not directly meeting Kade’s. It wasn’t out of anger or fear. It was because, while I was a dominant wolf, Kade’s dominance was out of this world. It was why he was Alpha, and I didn’t even have a title within the Pack hierarchy. Oh yes, I was a dominant, and I was an enforcer, but I wasn’ttheEnforcer. I wasn’t the Beta, or Heir, or Healer. Those went to my other cousins, the ones the Moon Goddess had blessed with their powers.

I was a Tracker, though, and while most Packs had more than one Tracker, my place had been given to me not because of the Moon Goddess, but because of my genetic disposition. While I understood that, it was always odd not to be the blessed one from the Moon Goddess herself.

“We can’t find Spencer. It’s been nearly a week since we’ve heard from him,” Kade growled, and the others in the room nodded along. “We need to search for him, though, because something’s wrong. I can still feel his connection to the Pack, so he’s alive, but he’s not returning to us. That means something has him. I’m afraid he’ll go rogue if he’s out of touch for too long.”

---