Page 5

KINGSTON

My feet hit the pavement like jabs to a heavy bag. I poured my anger, frustration, and fear into every step as I crossed the parking lot and headed for Crescent Kingdom. We had to find something, anything, that would lead us to Wren. And the Death Walkers.

I’d always been one to encourage my pack to lead with mercy. Not this time. I would wipe every single Death Walker from this Earth. Wouldn’t rest until there was no longer a threat to Wren in any form. And I’d pay whatever price necessary to do it.

Hauling open the door to the gym, the familiar sounds of sparring and heavy-bag work filled my ears. Normally, it was a comfort. But not today.

Today, nothing would soothe me except Wren.

The moment I stepped inside, Clyde’s gaze cut to me from the side of the ring. Then, he was moving. The older man wasn’t exactly fast, given the injuries he’d sustained over his fighting years, but he was on a mission now. Everything in me churned.

We’d told people that Wren was feeling under the weather, but since she’d been sick recently, everyone who knew her was starting to get suspicious. Clyde’s gaze swept over me before landing on my face. “How’s our girl doing?”

Fucking hell. That one hurt. Wren had been my girl. For a fleeting handful of moments, anyway. But they had been the best of my life. Until I threw them all away.

“She’s still not feeling great,” I mumbled.

Clyde’s eyes narrowed. “You know you’re like a son to me, boy. But if you keep lying to my face, I’m gonna box your ears.”

My hands fisted, and I let my claws lengthen just enough to prick my palms. I needed the pain to keep myself in check. Too much was at stake.

It wasn’t as if lying was anything new to me. It became second nature when you had to keep the other half of yourself a secret. But this was different. Clyde loved Wren like she was his daughter. He was protective of her in all the ways she should’ve had growing up but didn’t.

All because she’d been born to evil incarnate. Bastian Boudreaux. A monster. And the man who’d made my sister’s life a living hell.

It didn’t seem possible that Wren had come from him. She was too pure of spirit. But I’d lost sight of that. I’d let the shock of her origins sway me for a single minute—and that minute had cost me everything.

“Kingston,” Clyde said, his voice dropping low. “Tell me what the hell is going on.”

Everything hurt. The idea of concocting another far-fetched lie was more than I could take. Just one more mark on my soul.

I stared at Clyde for a long moment. The truth didn’t betray our natures. The Death Walkers didn’t have the first clue what we were. They just wanted vengeance.

“Someone took Wren,” I rasped.

Clyde’s brown eyes flashed with heat. “Why the hell haven’t you told everyone? Called the damn cops?—?”

“Because”—I cut him off—“the people who have her want to hurt me. Us.”

I couldn’t exactly explain that we hadn’t called the sheriff because we thought dark mages had Wren.

It would’ve meant sending law enforcement in to be slaughtered had that been the case.

But even now, when we knew humans had her, my pack and I were far better equipped to take the Death Walkers out.

If we could just figure out where the hell they were.

A muscle in Clyde’s cheek began to flutter wildly, making the gray scruff dance. “It’s someone you and your team took down.”

I nodded. “An MC back east. They were caught up in all sorts of dark shit. Drugs. Trafficking. Murder for hire. We dismantled their organization, but they reassembled quicker than anticipated.”

Clyde muttered a curse. “And now they have Wren?”

I nodded, the admission costing more than he’d ever know.

“Well, what the hell are you doing to get her back?”

“We have to find where they’re holed up. We know they’re close to Crescent Creek because they sent a threat from Arcane today.”

Clyde’s brows rose before his expression closed down. “What kind of threat?”

“It’s not important. What we need to know now is where this building is.” I pulled out my phone and showed Clyde the photo.

He squinted at the screen for a long moment before shaking his head. “I don’t know it.”

That snuffed out my tiny flicker of hope. There had to be another way to find the location. Some tech tracking Locke could do. Building records or some shit.

“How’s Wren?” Franco asked, pulling off his MMA gloves as he walked over, Juan at his side.

“Tell my future wife I can bring her chicken soup,” Juan said with a grin.

A low growl left my throat.

Juan just laughed. “Damn, you’re a goner.”

“You guys know this building?” Clyde demanded.

Franco and Juan eyed him warily before looking at my phone, not used to Clyde’s serious tone.

“I don’t think so,” Franco said.

Juan leaned in, studying the image more carefully. “You know, this might be one of the buildings at the old metal scrapyard in Deer Lake. My boss had me go to their closing auction to see if there was anything worth salvaging for the shop.”

Energy buzzed across my skin at the possibility. Juan worked for a local mechanic, who also did restoration projects. They were always hunting for parts and pieces on the cheap. And I knew the metal scrapyard he was talking about. It had closed about a year ago and remained empty ever since.

It was a good forty-five minutes away, but that would give the Death Walkers privacy. They wouldn’t be worried about us stumbling onto them accidentally. And the property itself was isolated.

“What’s going on, King?” Franco asked, concern bleeding into his tone.

I couldn’t tell him. Couldn’t risk him and Juan wanting to come along to help. Not when we’d likely have to shift.

“It’s nothing. Just a case. This helps.”

I opened the pack link in my mind and sent out a message. “ I’ve got a possible location. Meet in the parking lot of Arcane. Now. ”

Clyde leveled me with a stare. “You need backup, boy?”

I shook my head. “No, we’ve got this.”

We’d do whatever it took to get Wren back. And then we’d return every ounce of pain the Death Walkers had inflicted on her.

I just hoped like hell we weren’t too late.