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Tim snorts, giving me another look that makes me want to knock his teeth out. “Okay…and?”

The old lady looks confused by his words. Or maybe she’s confusedby his attitude. She glances at the old man beside her, and he’s frowning, too. This must not be how this asshole usually behaves. Which means he probably has an issue with Greenbriars.

Something isn’t right.

I take a threatening step forward, bracing my hands on the bar. Behind me, the restaurant falls dead silent.

Tim has the decency to swallow nervously. He’s obviously not Alpha material. Barely a Beta on a good day. No, this is the kind of shifter who talks a big game but has nothing to back it up with.

“I’ll ask one more time,” I tell him, keeping my voice calm and conversational. “Where is Alina?”

Tim sneers at me. “Sent her out to Sweet Kettle Farm to pick up a delivery.”

The old lady cuts in again. “Sweet Kettle? Since when are y’all getting your ingredients from them? They’re all the way out west, Tim.”

Tim merely shrugs, looking down at the bar he’s needlessly polishing with a dirty rag. “Things change. Change is good.”

There’s an eerie undertone to his words.

I don’t have time to dwell on it, or to kick his ass. I turn to the nice old lady, who is still looking at Tim like she barely recognizes him.

“Where is the farm?” I ask her.

“Just head west about twenty miles on Redwood Road. There’s an old red barn falling apart up at the head of their driveway. Can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.”

Without another word, I rush out of The Diner. My fingernails are already lengthening into claws by the time I throw myself into the cab of my truck, but I fight back against the urge to shift. Even though it would certainly help release some of the savage rage boiling in my gut, I can drive faster than I can run.

That Tim guy…how have I not noticed him before? He must have been laying low ever since he caught wind of the fact that I’m in town.

His scent didn’t match the Whiterose one that I smelled in Blackburn territory, though, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t involved in the mutiny.

Whatever. A problem for later.

Right now, I can only think about one thing.

Alina.

I drive faster than I should, but nobody bothers to chase me down and fine me for it. Not that I’d let anyone pull me over right now.

My heartbeat now pounds out a steady rhythm of A-lina, A-lina, A-lina.

Noah is at school. He’ll be fine. Even if there is disloyalty running through the Whiterose pack and someone has decided to target Alina, Noah is surrounded by a hundred other kids right now and plenty of staff members who will hopefully step in if something doesn’t seem right.

At least, that’s what I have to tell myself. Because I can’t go check on my son and hunt down my Mate at the same time.

Are the Whiteroses who are loyal to the Blackburns targeting Alina simply because she’s a Greenbriar? Or has word spread that she’s my Mate?

I snarl loudly, punching my fist against the steering wheel. I step harder on the gas, sailing down the pothole-riddled highway as fast as I dare to go.

As soon as I see the aforementioned barn in my sights, I let the truck skid to a halt at the mouth of a long, dirt driveway. There’s another truck parked nearby, the engine still warm—a detail I pick up on thanks to the wolf senses that are taking over.

I scent Alina right away, and she’s not alone.

I waste no time. In the span of just a few seconds, I’m leaping out of the cab, tearing off my clothes, and shifting into wolf form.

The beast within takes over.