Page 41 of Bound to the Dragon
“I already know what your late mate did with the pack, so cut the shit, Lynelle. I also know you knew about this all along. Save the tears and innocence. I want to know what you know.”
Abruptly, her tears stop, and she gawks at me like a switch flips in her.
“Nothing!” She’s determined to maintain her innocence, and I don’t believe her for a second.
“You’re staying here until I find Madison and Vigo,” I warn her. “You’ll have an enforcer with you at all times.”
She gawks at me. “I have to get home?—”
“You’ll get home when all my pack members are home. And not a second before.”
Tears pool in her eyes.
I scowl. “That might work on Madison, Lynelle, but it won’t work on me. If you have any way of contacting her, or if you know where she might be, you’d better tell me immediately.”
“I don’t!”
Fighting with her is useless. There’s nothing I can do but wait and see where Lynelle and the shifters in the cells might lead. My hopes aren’t high, but it’s all I have now.
It’s going to be a long wait, and I’m not sure I have the patience to sit still.
The hours tick by agonizingly, and there’s still no word from anyone. I check in with Lynelle frequently, but she’s still useless, as are the shifters in the cells. I’m at my wits’ end.
“Boots on the ground,” I finally order the enforcers. “Spread far and wide. I want ears everywhere. Someone knows where they are.”
They stare at me like I’ve sprouted a second head.
“But Alpha,” one mumbles meekly. “We don’t even know what territory they’re stationed in.”
“Start in Silver Glade and work out from there.”
They’re aghast at the idea. “Silver Glade is our ally.”
“Not when they’re acting like the enemy.” I stare at them steadfastly, daring them to challenge me, but I won’t yield where Vigo is involved. My number one priority is finding him.
But my enforcers aren’t shy about voicing their objections. Enough blood has been spilled.
“They’re not all involved,” one says.
“I have no fucking idea who’s involved, so as far as I’m concerned, they’re all suspects.”
The enforcers hang their heads and nod in consensus, hearing the ire in my tone. “Yes, Alpha.”
They disperse except for the ones who watch over Lynelle. I have a mind to watch over Madison’s mother myself, but I’m far too wired to stand in one place. I need to get out and fly.
Shifting into my dragon body, I let it overtake the airways and cover as many of the territories as I can in my rage. It’s not easy to get a vantage point from that height, but the flight is helping to cool me down somewhat.
Where could they be? Did Madison take off to join them? It crushes me to think that I might have driven her away, but could that be the solution to saving the pack? Could I accept the idea knowing that I pushed away my mate? Most shifters go their whole lives without ever meeting their fated mates, and I am going to cast mine out over something she had no control over?
But that’s not true. She could have told me. We could have handled it together.
I’m so conflicted by it all, shamed and furious simultaneously. Was I that difficult to talk to that she felt she needed to hide it from me?
My wings swoop lower to get a better view of Silver Glade territory, my mind whirling. Could they have taken the captives to the Silver Glade packhouse? There were enough members of the pack in the rogue faction to believe that they could have.
It’s a good place as any to start.
I change direction abruptly, my tail sweeping into a gust of wind and rustling the tree branches as I move, a newfound sense of justice sweeping through me. No, not justice. Vengeance. I just hope I’m not too late to save them.
