Page 56 of Wolf Tamer

“We’ve either got to sacrifice a witch soon or find another source of power because there are thin areas where the magic is fading, and there’s evidence of—” He grabs my elbow to get me to stop, halting my steps. “Someone has been trying to force their way through, and in another few days, they’ll be inside the territory.”

“Someone has been trying to break through the wards?”

“Not just break them.Erasethem, Reid. And they’re getting closer to actually being able to do it. I’m not sure what kind of firepower these witches are using, but they’re about to shatter our defenses,” Bullet adds.

“Witches?” I roll the word over in my mouth. “Are you sure?”

He shakes his head. “It’s not another pack. I’m sure of that.”

“And has there been any evidence of wolves trying to get in?” I press.

Bullet stares at me for a long moment, considering me, and for the first time in a long time I have to admit one terrifying truth: he looks nervous. My second has never shied away from a fight. He is always the first one ready to jump into the fray wearing a smirk and laughing. This time, there isn’t a hint of a grin anywhere in his expression.

For some reason, that scares me more than the news he imparted.

“They haven’t left anything outside of footprints and a sour stench I can’t identify.” Bullet’s voice is nearly a whisper. “They haven’t tried to get in today, so far, but it’s only a matter of time until they come back.”

I rear back from him, considering. A sour smell? It can mean anything, though I’m shocked Bullet wasn’t able to identify it.

“Are the footprints male or female?”

Bullet groans and shifts until our shoulders touch. “It can go either way at this point. Which makes no sense.”

“So it could be Emily,” I rationalize.

“You don’t know Emily the way I do. I’ve spent years with her since marrying Darcy. She’s not going to just tuck her tail between her legs and sulk off like a defeated pup. We can’t deny the possibility that she is off finding others like her. Those who have been banished from their packs.”

He makes sense, and I’ve given it consideration myself.

When I try to scoot away, he buries his fingers in the fabric of my shirt to keep me in place. “Let me go after her. Let me take some of our people and hunt her for you.”

I groan. “I know you want to—”

“More than that,” he insists. “I want to make this right.”

“And we’ll get to it. Right now, I’ve got other priorities to consider,” I tell him.

Bullet’s face twists in a glower. “That woman.”

“My mate,” I correct him. There is no sense trying to hide the truth from him. Despite Tasha’s insistence that Bullet is not to be trusted, he’s been the only one I could confide in during my darkest times. “She’s my mate and that must count for something.”

He pauses at the admission, letting it sink in. Then, after a moment, he draws in a deep breath and says the words I very much expect from him, “She’s aproblem, Reid.”

“She’s helping us. Believe me when I tell you. Tasha has been helping the pack behind the scenes. We need her.”

I need her.

His gaze searches my face, knowing my thoughts without me having to say them out loud.

I can see the words he wants to say hovering on his lips, the ones I’m sure about this being forbidden and dangerous to take a witch for a mate, and that he’s worried for me. But he doesn’t speak any of them.

Instead, he sighs heavily. “If you say it’s so, then I trust you enough to trust her. But we have to get ahead of the situation with Emily for now. I’m telling you, she’s too strong for us to just put off for any length of time.”

“Trust me when I tell you, old friend, that I’m handling it in time.” I clap him on the shoulder. “There are just a few other things for me to do first. Okay?”

It takes him awhile to answer, but at last, Bullet nods.

He’s worried, and I don’t blame him. But I have to show that I have all of this well in hand. Otherwise, my people really will lose faith in me, and then it will all be for nothing. I leave Bullet behind and stalk toward my room, wanting to sit for five minutes without feeling like the world is crashing down on me.

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