Page 119 of Wolf's Reckoning
“Most of them were loners,” he said softly. “But they knew what to hit. Fast, clean.”
“Too clean,” I muttered. “Like they knew exactly where to aim.”
He met my eyes. “You think it was someone from the inside?”
I didn’t answer. Because I couldfeelit. There was rot somewhere in the Hollow. A whisper in the wrong ear. A slip of information that had led shifters to their deaths.
“I need the patrol records. Every single one,” I said. “The schedule, the names, who was where—day and night.”
Lewis hesitated. “That’s going to ruffle feathers.”
I turned to him, hard. “Then let them be ruffled.”
He nodded and moved off. I didn’t thank him. I couldn’t afford to.
I stood alone by the tree line, arms crossed over my chest, mind spinning. There were only a few wolves with that kind of access—ones who had reason to move freely, to be trusted implicitly, and that narrowed the list far more than I liked.
Somewhere behind me, I heard Wolfe’s voice again. Low, commanding. The pack still buzzing in his orbit.
I clenched my fists.
He was the alpha. But I still knewmypack.
I would find the traitor. And when I did? They’d pray Wolfe got to them first. Because if I found out who sold out my pack, I wouldn’t need claws.
Just rope. And time.
I turned, intending to head back to the war room—what was left of it—when I saw him behind me. That damnedtether tugging at the base of my spine, warm and steady and impossible to ignore.
“You’re still bleeding,” he said, voice too calm for the aftermath we were wading through.
“Must’ve missed a spot,” I said, brushing past him.
“Rowen.”
I stopped. Turned just enough to let him see the set of my jaw.
“You’re not going to like what I have to say,” he told me.
“Then don’t say it.”
He crossed his arms. His voice dropped. “I’m bringing in more from the Stonefang Pack.”
I stared at him, unblinking. “Excuse me?”
“We need more boots on the ground,” he said. “This attack showed how exposed the Hollow is. We need structure, reinforcements, a pack that’s trained for?—”
“No.”
His head tilted slightly. “No?” He took a deep breath. “We need more eyes on the perimeter,” he said. “More teeth. That ambush was coordinated, and we both know it. I won’t risk this pack again.”
I laughed once, sharp and humorless. “So your answer is to replace them?”
He frowned. “Reinforce them.”
“Same thing.”
“No,” he said, voice hardening. “It’s not. This pack is vulnerable, Rowen. They need training, backup?—”
