Page 37 of Alpha Scorned

He nodded. “You know Selina wouldn’t let me anywhere near him if it upset you. Whether you’re together or not, she’d have my balls.”

I glanced at his profile as we walked. Shit, now I felt like an utter asshole. I hadn’t meant to infer that I didn’t trust him, or want him near Devon. “You know, Lina and I need to learn more about Dev’s gifts. We need to help him manage them...”

“I can help you with that,” he interrupted quickly.

“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.” Tension between us eased and I breathed a sigh of relief before I switched back to the more pressing problem. “Can whoever has Shane hurt Devon through this soul walking thing he does?”

“Sometimes they can. It depends on how powerful they are.”

My gut dropped. That wasn't going to happen. I wouldn’t allow it. “Then we really need to find Shane and figure out who these fucking bastards are.”

“Did Devon say anything else about the monsters?”

“Only that they hurt Shane and made him yell. Oh, and that they had red eyes, long teeth, and smelled bad.”

Zander huffed, his dark brows twitching upwards. “Could be one of any number of supernaturals.”

I tried not to think about that. “Could be, but Shane also left a clue in one of Devon’s story books. He told Dev to show me the book if anything happened to him. Shane isn’t stupid, he knew Connor would likely send me here if he didn’t come back.”

“Okay. So what was the book and the clue?”

“It was a book about a lost vampire boy.”

“Fits. But why would vampires want to come out here? We have a truce with them through the Count.”

“Fuck knows. But I’m not discounting other supernaturals, either. Whatever they are, they had to get into this forest somehow. Walking would be impossible even for supernaturals. They'd risk death in such a wilderness. The remoteness of this place is why Berith and Doherty built the prison out here. That airport is the only way in and out of Shane’s territory. There are no neighbours for hundreds of miles to intrude on their privacy. It would be damn hard to find this place if someone didn’t show you where it was, and even harder to get in unnoticed.”

“You think someone brought them in via the air?”

“I think it’s a possibility, or maybe even a portal.”

“But B’nar and Walker would feel any illegal portals, wouldn't they? The SBI tracks illegal portal activity so Walker would definitely find out, even if he didn’t feel it.”

“Yeah, probably. Though B’nar is in Faerie most of the time now, and Walker is the Overseer of the SBI, so unless someone thought to tell them, they would never know, busy as they are.”

“True.”

“For now, we keep this among ourselves. This whole situation stinks, but whoever has Shane has a plan. Why else would they take him? I’ll let Lina know to keep it quiet as well when I see her later.”

Zander looked at me, a smirk on his lips. “You’re going back there tonight, then?”

“Nothing could keep me away,” I told him, determined to get back to my mate no matter how long it took to organise things. “Not even rogue supernaturals can stop me.”

“Good. I’m glad things are finally working out for you.”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling. “Me too.”

He smacked me on the back and smiled. “It’s about time. It’s taken you too damn long to come back to us, Beta.”

We jogged up the steps and I was still smiling when we walked into Shane's house.

“Hey,” greeted Stone, his silver eyes piercing.

Rawson nodded but stayed quiet, watching me from where he sat at the table with a computer in front of him.

My spine stiffened. I’d seen them both since I’d nearly lost my shit and killed those two young alphas, but I was aware it was on me to prove my self-control was back after all the shit I’d pulled.

“Let’s all sit.” I walked to the table and sat down. Zander took his place to my right. Rawson sat opposite me. Stone looked at my left and seemed undecided. I took pity on him. “Robin and the pack aren’t included in this discussion. Sit,” I said and kicked the chair next to me out for him.

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