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“You remember what Charlotte said, right? About how Luna has had a few heats with an alpha? I’d bet money that alpha is the one who was going to buy her,” Madden says.

I glance at Madden. “You seem to have a plan in mind. How do you think we should find out who was going to buy her?”

“We track down her parents. We figure out who they’re working for.” Madden is more determined than I’ve ever seen him. “And I have the contacts to figure out where they are.”

The car falls silent. We all know what that means.

Everyone knows Madden is from the Southside. Very few people know how he ended up here with us.

Madden’s family was heavily involved in gang activity in theSouthside. The gang they were a part of ended up kidnapping Chase and holding him for ransom.

Long story short, Madden made his way up to the Northside with a scholarship Chase’s family arranged for him as thanks for saving their youngest child.

“You’re going to reach out to your brother?” My voice is low and controlled. Almost like I need to make sure not to spook him.

“What choice do we have? He’d be the best place to start. Unless anyone else has a good contact who knows the Southside criminal underground?”

“We could go to the police and see if they know?” Chase suggests. “They should have some information after taking Luna in for her interview.”

“They’re not going to talk to us,” Kane mutters under his breath. “That kind of investigation would be kept under wraps, especially considering the way Luna was taken from us. They wouldn’t want to give us any more information than they would give a normal pack going through the courting process. Especially since we know the director won’t be giving us any extra help.”

“I hate this as much as you do,” Madden says to Chase. “You can stay back if you want to. But I have to do everything I can to protect Luna.”

“Like hell I’m staying behind,” Chase says. “We all need to do what we can to protect Luna. And I’m not a stupid ass kid anymore and we’re not going in unprepared.”

“And we are going to be prepared,” Kane confirms. “We should head back to the house before we go anywhere.”

Madden nods at Kane in the rearview mirror.

Kane is right. If we’re going to go walking into the Southside, especially into the territory of a Southside gang asking for help, we can’t go in empty-handed.

Lucky for us, Kane is always prepared for everything. Hell, if the apocalypse happened today, he’d have everything we need.

“Let’s do this.” I meet all of their eyes. “We have to do everything we can to make sure Luna is safe.”

“We won’t be able to see her until she’s registered, anyway,” Kane mutters under his breath.

“Exactly why we need to try and make sure we can actually keep her safe when we can see her,” Maddens says. “And the first step to that is figuring out who we’re up against. There’s no other pack that can protect her better than we can, but there’s no way we can go in blind.”

“Did any—did any of you know how bad things were where she came from?” I ask, my voice a bit unsteady with the guilt that weighs heavily in my chest as we drive back home.

I remember the way I scared her when she first came to our home. How terrified she must’ve been. What the fuck was I thinking?

“I—I had my suspicions,” Kane says softly. “After I told her about what happened to my parents. But other than that, no, I don’t think so.”

“I think all of us knew it had to be pretty bad, considering she didn’t even really tell Charlotte the details of what happened,” Chase says. “But none of us knew that she was mainly with betas because she was being fucking sold to them.”

I feel Kane’s grip tight on my shoulder, steadying me. Grounding me.

“I get how you must be feeling right now. But we’re going to fix this. We have to. For Luna’s sake.”

CHAPTER 25

Madden

My hands shake as I strap on my holster. I can’t get them to fucking stop.

And I hate it.