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Was I taken from her? Did she simply give me up?

At least he had Jake, Dellan, and Seth.

Bombshell number four—any kidsnotaccepted at the school for shifters where Jamie worked, suddenly “disappeared,” their parents seemingly unconcerned as to their whereabouts. The consensus of opinion was that they’d been sent somewhere to be trained—as foot soldiers.

Cannon fodder was probably a better description.

All of which added to a swift one-eighty, and Jamie changed lanes. He’d gone back to the school in Boston to learn whatever he could—undercover—that might help Horvan and his team, only to be taken the moment he crossed the school’s threshold.

Almost as if they’d known everything.

Jamie had never figured out how that could have come about. Once he’d gotten over the shock of finding himself a prisoner, they’d whisked him off to someplace in the middle of nowhere and kept him isolated. As soon as they’d let him out, he’d found Jake and Seth.

Every cloud, right?

Of all the Fridans to sweep in and liberate the camp, it had been Horvan and his guys. So here Jamie was again, about to head back to Dellan’s home in Homer Glen, with no idea of what lay in his future beyond working with the Fridans to rescue more prisoners and close down more shifter schools.

He should have been happy, right? He was free, wasn’t he? Then what the fuck was wrong?

It took him a day to work that out.

One of Horvan’s team was avoiding him like the plague. The polar bear, Brick—the one who’d torn Fielding into itty-bitty bad-guy pieces—wouldn’t meet his gaze. He kept a constant distance of at least twenty feet from him. Sometimes if Jamie walked into the hangar, Brick walked out.

Is my BO that bad?

Joking aside, whatever the problem was, letting the situation continue without trying to fix it somehow wasnotan option. And seeing as Brick wasn’t about to do anything, it was up to Jamie.

Like, now.Before Brick got sent off on another mission. Horvan had already said they were packing up.

Jamie had nothing to pack anyway. All he had were the clothes on his back. Dellan had promised to do something about that when they returned to Illinois, and in the meantime Jamie was making do with fatigues loaned to him by Hashtag, who was a similar size.

The thought made him smile.

Those three are something else.Anyone seeing how Eve, Hashtag, and Roadkill interacted would be forgiven for thinking they’d spent years together, not weeks. Watching them made him yearn to find his own mates.

And that was something else that had changed—his belief in mates. How could he do otherwise when he was surrounded by people who’d found theirs? Jamie wasn’t sure how he’d feel if one or both his mates turned out to be human, it would be hard to overcome his years of programing, but who was he to argue with whatever higher power saw fit to join them? Saul and Crank clearly adored the ground Vic walked upon—not to mention the water he swam in—and as for Eve, she was a tough little cookie, but it was plain to see she was smitten with her two human mates.

I want that too.

Judging by the speed with which the others had found their mates, he had to believe it wouldn’t be too long before someone strolled into his life and turned it upside down, the same way Rael and Horvan had done to Dellan’s.

That still left him with his present predicament.

Jamie strolled into the hangar where Brick was cleaning his weapon. There was no sign of either of his mates.

Perfect timing.

He walked toward Brick, his heart pounding. Brick turned his head, his eyes widened, and he rose.

Aw fuck.

“Please, don’t leave,” Jamie blurted. “Not again.”

Brick froze. “I… I can’t talk to you.”

“Fine. You clearly don’t like me, although I’m not certain why. I’m a decent guy, I have a great sense of humor, and I’m kind to animals. So I guess it’s just my personality you can’t stomach.”

Brick paled. “What? No, you’re a great guy.”