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My nose confirmed my pack mate’s directions.

Five of us bounded through the woods, following the strange scent, while also trying to ignore the strange scent that flew and leapt above us.

My human had warned me an enemy was joining us in our hunt, so I held back the instinct to rip out his throat.

I’d been sating my need for revenge quite well for days anyway, and at least this blood taker hadn’t been one of the alphas trying to take our omega.

No, he’d said he was going to help us bring her home.

The pup by my side jumped happily over snow drifts and rocks, his tail wagging as he stopped to smell and mark every tree we came across.

I growled and nipped at his neck, reminding him we needed to keep moving.

The red wolf climbed on top of a large boulder, nose up high. He gave a small whine and jumped down.

Close.

He didn’t have to tell me, though. We all felt it. Even the blood taker.

We followed a small stream until it led us straight to a lake. Along the shore sat a tall rock—it looked like it had been stacked together by smaller, flat pieces, rising straight into the air.

The blood taker walked around it slowly, strange shadowsspilling from his hands, poking and testing the surrounding air.

“This is definitely it,” he said. He took a step forward, and I growled my response.

Wait.

38

CAMDEN

Ishifted back, ignoring the biting cold on my body. “None of us are going through unless all of us can go through.”

The vamp gave me an annoyed look and then gestured exaggeratedly towards the portal, an aura of wavy, iridescent steam radiating off its surface.

“By all means.”

I ignored the attitude and nodded towards Julian’s wolf. “Return,” I barked.

He shifted back immediately, shaking the snow out of his hair.

“You try first,” I commanded. “You bonded with Marlowe last and should have the least amount of Luminis in your system. If it’s not enough to pass, we’ll wait and come back.”

He nodded slowly, taking a deep breath as he stepped closer to the entrance, his hands outstretched.

And then walked straight into the rock with a small thud.

The rest of the pack shifted back, sighing in annoyance.

“How long can we wait until Julian’s charged enough?” Elias asked. “I can probably get through, maybe Nolan, too. And definitely Kian. Let us go first, we’ll do some reconnaissance and…”

“Enough!” I said. “We don’t even know what’s on the other side of this thing. What if it led straight into the fae king’s bathroom or some shit? We do this together, end of discussion. The more we separate, the more we put ourselves at risk, and the chances for getting Marlowe back shrink even further.”

Elias’s jaw ticked, struggling with his desire to ignore me anddo whatever he wanted anyway. “Okay, fine. But what now?”

Kian inspected his nails indifferently. “You could always expedite the process.”

Julian’s ears perked up. “Yeah? How do we do that?”