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A burst of wind howled around the old manor, pulling my attention away from the computer. Colors danced in the gust.What the f…

The burst of energy slammed into my back, knocking me from the desk chair to my knees on the hardwood floor. The pressure in the room increased, pushing me against the ground.

I took a deep breath.Emma…It was tied to Emma. Twisting my head to the side allowed me to check on Olivia.

She had dropped her phone, and she was slammed back in the chair.

“Fuck…” I groaned. My skin burned from the strength of magic in the air. “It’s Emma.”

The weight in atmosphere lessened.

Olivia clawed her way to her feet and charged toward the window. She clutched to windowsill so hardher knuckles turned white. “What the hell is she doing?”

I grunted. “She must have tapped into the primal layer of her magic.”

The energy still surged through the atmosphere, practically creating a flare to her location. Every shifter in Louisiana would have been able to feel that, and Acheron wouldn’t wait to make a move for my mate. If he was trotting all around the clans, soaking up shifter energy, Emma was in extreme danger.

I grabbed my go-bag from the largest drawer in my desk.

“The primal?” Olivia’s voice rose to a screechy octave. “She hasn’t been a shifter for all of three days. What the hell is she learning at Red Tail?”

“What she needs to,” I said. It had been the right place for her, and the revelation tore at my heart as I marched toward the front door. “Let me know if you find Rachel. If you find her, tell her I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m headed to Red Tail.”

My beta caught my arm. “Logan, you have to ask for permission and wait for permission. It’s the only way to keep peace between the clans.”

The energy stopped short, and my heart slammed against my sternum.

“You know I’m not going to wait. Emma needs me, and Flynn, Jasper, and the rest of them can go fuck themselves.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

logan

My stomach churned as I slowed the trajectory of my four-wheel-drive truck. The sense of Emma spurred me on, but nobody was at the gate.

Of course not.

Not one of them appreciated how serious this was.

They were all at their dens, enjoying the primal shifter magic show. Or they were all dead, their energies absorbed by Acheron. Maybe the dark mage had already captured her, her life force, her shifter magic fading with every ticking second.

The engine roared when I crammed the accelerator to the floor, spraying dirt and gravel like a rooster tail out behind me. Racing through the entrance would get me shot on sight for trespassing in most territories. Aggression wasn’t tolerated in the uneasy peace we all shared, but Emma had changed everything…

When the gap between the trees grew too close toallow my vehicle through, I slammed the truck into park and launched from the driver’s seat. “Emma,” I roared. “Where are you?”

Panicked yaps surrounded me, and multiple bursts of shifter magic prickled across my skin, but I didn’t slow. I couldn’t.

A line of figures led into the largest den, the council den, and they all peered inside.

“Where is she? Where is Emma?” I demanded.

Every fox shifter in the line turned to glare at me with eyes so wide I could see the whites around their pupils. Large foxes of all colors appeared on top of the den, their teeth bared in warning. The peace between the clans wasn’t worth the cost of her. The danger didn’t matter. None of it did.

Not with Emma in the balance.

I swallowed the fury rolling through me, and my shoulders drooped. “Please. Where is she?”

The line glanced to the right and then moved back slightly.