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I rubbed my hand over my face. “She did. It… well, I didn’t… it’s complicated?—”

“God.” Stormy rolled her eyes. “You didn’t get all weird about her being pregnant, did you?”

“We didn’t talk very long, and I kind of hung up on her…”

I trailed off, gaping at Stormy as her words finally registered. “Wh–what did you say?” My lips felt numb.

Her eyes went wide with shock. “Oh, piss . She didn’t tell you.” She slapped her forehead. “I totally fucked that up.”

The world, steady a few seconds before, began to tilt on a crazy axis. Suddenly, I felt dizzy. Pregnant ? What?

“Tell me exactly what happened,” I said, feeling like the floorboards of her porch were shifting sand rather than solid wood.

“Well,” Stormy began with a sigh, and it was all I could do not to grab her shoulders and shake her to give me the information quicker.

“We were talking, and it came up. Pretty sure she realized she was possibly pregnant. She ran outside and had Porter drive her to the drugstore. That’s the last I heard from her.

I actually tried calling her about ten minutes ago, but there was no answer. ”

“Where was she going after that?” I demanded.

“God, Cole, you’re being a bit of a dick right now. Did you guys have another fight or?—”

“Avery’s missing,” I blurted. “She won’t answer her phone, and neither will Porter. So, for the love of God, tell me anything you know, Stormy.”

Her face went deathly pale. She shook her head faintly. “Missing? I don’t know, Cole, honestly. My best guess is that she went to her house after the drugstore.”

That was what I’d thought, too. Where else could she be at this point? She was home. That made the most sense. Maybe taking a nap on her couch with her phone off. Possibly thinking of how to tell me she might be pregnant.

Jesus, could that really be true? A baby?

Before I could run to my truck, my phone rang. Thinking it might be Avery, I yanked it out and answered without checking the ID.

“Cole,” Langston said, “have you found Porter yet? Zayde told me he’s not answering.”

“No,” I growled. “No sign.”

“Zayde and I are on our way to Avery’s place right now. Maybe he’s there.”

“I’m on my way,” I said. Hurrying back to my truck, I called over my shoulder, “I’ll let you know what we find out, Stormy.”

As I pulled out, tires squealing, I glanced in the rearview mirror. Stormy was leaning against the doorframe as if it was the only thing keeping her upright. Slamming my foot down, the truck rocketed down the road, barreling toward Avery’s house.

I got there before Langston did. My tires screeched as I slammed the truck into park before it had even come to a full stop.

I leapt out and ran toward her house. I spotted Porter’s truck across the street.

A good sign. Sprinting up the steps, I crashed through the front door, nearly tearing it from the hinges.

“ Avery!” I bellowed.

No answer.

I rushed through the house, checking every room, even finding three unused pregnancy tests on the sink in the guest bathroom. She was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Porter. But his truck was outside.

I hurried back out and crossed the road. The driver-side door was open. Rounding the hood slowly, I froze when I saw the blood on the door handle.

“Oh, God,” I whispered.

In the distance, I could hear the roar of an engine approaching.

With feet that moved as though trudging through mud, I walked around the truck.

On the ground was a spattering of blood.

Terror flooded through me as I leaned over, pulled the door wide, and peered inside. I nearly vomited at the sight.

Porter lay crumpled on the floorboard. Wide, sightless eyes stared up at me. Arms and legs tangled in an unnatural position. A bullet hole, neat and round, on the left side of his neck, and on the right, a gaping exit wound. His throat was slashed as well.

Whoever had done this had made damn sure the man was dead.

There was no way to tell which injury had happened first. The interior of the truck was an abattoir of blood.

There were finger smears across the console and armrests, and puddles of blood in the floorboard where he lay.

A thick glob of semi-dried blood clung to his beard.

My wolf growled at the sight, the horror of it piercing deeply into both of us. The growl slowly gave way to a moaning howl, and I threw my head back, letting it out until there was no air left in my lungs.

Behind me, a truck pulled up. Horror shot through me. I’d grown to like this man in the short time I’d known him. I’d begun to think of him as a friend. But Langston and Zayde? Porter was like family to them.

Forcing myself to move, I ran toward the men as they got out of their truck.

“Porter?” Langston shouted.

“Stop,” I said, the word thick with emotion. “Don’t.”

He and Zayde stared me down hard.

“What do you mean, stop ?” Zayde demanded, pressing against me, chest-to-chest. “What happened?”

“You… you don’t want to see it,” I said, that familiar burn of tears at the back of my eyes again.

Zayde’s face went slack in horror, and he shook his head. “No, man. Ain’t no way. Not Porter. Nah. Nuh-uh.”

“Get out of the way, Cole.” Langston looked at me with dark, hooded eyes. “Let us see.”

“You don’t want that, Langston.” I meant it.

Langston nudged Zayde aside and looked down at me—the man had three inches on me. The way he looked at me sent a tremor of unease through my chest. Grief could create monsters.

“Move,” Langston said through gritted teeth.

Dropping my head, I stepped aside. Arguing was pointless. They moved slowly, deliberately. When they peered into the truck, their reaction was exactly what I’d anticipated.

Zayde let out a low moan of anguish and sank to his knees, cradling his head in his hands.

He was a grown man, a huge, terrifying presence, but heartbreak could shatter even the strongest of stones.

He began to weep. My heart tore open for the man.

If the roles were reversed, if I’d found Trent’s body like that.

.. I didn’t think my soul could take the agony.

Langston stood stock-still, gazing in at the bloody scene. Emotions boiled up, one by one, each crossing his face. Shock, then disbelief, then pain, then sadness. Finally, a rage so complete and all-encompassing that I took a step back, wary of what he might do.

“I’ll kill them,” Langston snarled through gritted teeth. “I’ll fucking kill them all!” He punctuated the last word with a scream of anger and kicked the side of the truck.

The truck bounced from the power in his kick. He lashed out again, kicking the truck even harder, putting a dent in the side and nearly forcing it up on two wheels. He kicked the truck over and over, releasing all his pain and sadness.

“I’ll. Kill. Them. All!”

He let out a deafening howl after the last kick, throwing his head back and releasing pent-up anguish. Zayde tossed his own head back, letting his inner wolf cry out in mourning as well. It broke my heart, and I had no goddamn idea how to make it better.

“I know he’s your friend,” I managed to say, “but he’s dead. Avery isn’t. We need a plan to get her back. Now.”

Langston turned his face to meet my eyes, and the hatred emanating from his gaze was almost a living thing.

“I want Kyle’s fucking head.” His face fell. “We need to find Avery. Any ideas? Did you have time to try and track her?”

“I think she’s long gone,” I said. “I haven’t tried tracking her yet, but—” I cast an anguished glance at the truck “—I doubt she’s nearby. He’s… it looks like this happened a while ago.”

Langston pulled his phone out and dialed a number. I stepped over and clasped Zayde’s shoulder. The massive man was still crying, but put his hand on top of mine. I hoped he could take some solace from my presence. I wouldn’t have wanted to go through this alone, either.

Langston’s voice carried toward us. “It’s me.

It’s, uh… it’s bad. Worse than you can imagine, actually.

” His voice hitched, his hand shaking as he held the phone to his ear.

“...Yeah. Way worse. Uh, P–Porter’s dead.

” His lips peeled back, revealing white elongated wolf canines, his anger and heartache nearly forcing him to fully shift.

“They killed him… okay… okay… yeah. Thanks, Dad. I love you, too… yeah, I promise I’ll be careful. ”

He shoved his phone into his pocket, and a dam finally broke, shattering the powerful man I’d come to know. He put a hand on the truck and let his head fall forward.

“Goodbye, old friend,” he muttered.

Zayde and I joined him, putting our hands on his back, letting him get it out, and averting our eyes from the bloody tableau inside the truck.

When he recovered his wits, Langston rubbed his eyes and looked up at us.

“We have more reinforcements coming. Zayde and I were here helping a friend, but now? Now, this is the Des Moines pack’s fight, too.

Dad always liked Porter. He’s as fucking pissed as I am.

” He grabbed my arm, digging his fingers into my flesh with feverish urgency.

“We’re gonna fucking kill him, aren’t we? ” He shook me once. “ Aren’t we ?”

“He took my son, he took my mate, and he killed our friend,” I said, putting one hand on Langston’s shoulder and the other on Zayde’s. “This fucker is going into the dirt. Everything he’s built is gonna come crashing down, and I’m going to use every bit of it to bury him.”