Page 83 of Crossed Fates

“Ah, boss. Gifts,” I drawled. “Should have started with that.” I signed for the package, then left the little guy on the porch to find his way back to his vehicle.

I opened the thick envelope as I returned to the living area. “I always knew he liked me,” I said, grinning at what I found inside.

Surveillance from the city.

Reports of attacks on senior vamps.

And much, much more. I whistled. “Looks like E.V.I.E.’s been busy.”

“Indeed,” my father agreed.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reviewing everything, and by the time we were done, our murder board had doubled in size.

All three of us stood back and surveyed the wall. “Shit,” I mumbled, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information. There were answers here. I knew it in my bones, but we had to make sense of the chaos.

Makayla crossed her arms over her breasts and traced her mouth while humming thoughtfully. Then she scratched her chin and said, “It’s as if someone is trying to provoke a turf war by removing all the leadership.” She reviewed a few more items before blowing out a frustrated breath and stepping back. “But I don’t get how this is related to trafficking.”

“Maybe it’s a smoke screen.” As the words left my mouth, I realized how true they were. “It’s a fucking smoke screen.” I stalked up to the board and pointed out the cluster of vampire covens who’d lost their leadership over the last week. “While everyone is scrambling, trying to determine who is in charge, the trafficking ring is flourishing in the background. The girls are going missing because no one is there to protect them, and no one is noticing they’re gone until it’s too late because—”

“Because they’re all too busy trying to figure out their new hierarchies and also trying to determine who killed their leaders,” Makayla finished for me, her eyebrows hitting her hairline.

“Shit,” we breathed at the same time.

“Shit,” I repeated. “I need to take a head count. And we need to warn the other packs.”

* * *

It had takenthree hours to complete a head count of Silver Lake. Having everyone home and on pack lands had helped us complete the census in an orderly fashion.

But we were missing one wolf.

Savi.

“She’s not at her cabin,” my mother said, her voice thick with tears and her hands wringing in front of her. “No one has heard from her since before the… before last night.” She swallowed. “She went running alone. We should have… I should have…” She trailed off, her expression falling.

“It’s not your fault, Everly. She wanted to be alone, and we respected those wishes,” my father said.

I couldn’t speak.

Because I didn’t trust what I had to say.

I wanted to explode.

Because I should have insisted on accompanying her. She was a broken wolf, mourning the love of her life, and she’d needed my alpha strength to protect her.

And now…

My stomach clenched, my wolf pacing wildly inside me, unfurled by the concept of a missing wolf. An innocent. A sweet girl.Savi.

Not wanting to lose it in front of my mother, I stalked out of my cabin and into the woods. “Fuck!” I roared.

I paced between two trees, my blood flowing hot with liquid lava, ready to erupt. My insides reached a boiling point half a breath later, and I shouted again as I sent my fist flying into one of the trees, spraying bark in every direction.

I’d been so damn lost in my grief and caught up in Makayla that I hadn’t done what an alpha should have. I hadn’t protected a vulnerable member of my pack, and now she was God knew where, probably suffering like the other girls.

Tyler, fuck, I’m so sorry, brother.I’d already let him down when I missed our lunch, and now this...

A twig snapped and I spun around, ready to fight, ready to fuckingkill.