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Chapter

Forty-Three

K NOX

“They’re ahead of us because they have a warlock,” I growled as I paced from one side of the bullpen to the other. “What we need is a warlock of our own that knows tracking spells.”

Garrick leaned back in his chair, his knees spread wide; only the lines of tension on his forehead gave away how stressed he was. “We don’t have anyone with that capability in Grizzly Ridge.”

Zander rose, his clothes rustling, his hat slightly askew. “I’ll make some calls. There are some warlocks who work with law enforcement. Perhaps we can get one to help us out.”

“Do it,” I said.

The brothers exchanged a look, as if silently debating whether to call me on the fact that they were both more senior than me and couldn’t be bossed around, but they must have decided not to because neither of them spoke. Zander withdrew his phone from his pocket and strode into one of the private meeting rooms.

While we waited to find out whether he’d have any luck, Garrick and Everett continued putting together a plan for a grid search of Moonlight Cove. Zander had liaised with their sheriff’s department, but to no one’s surprise, they were unwilling to help because the rogue pack had a reputation for killing those who stood against them.

On the opposite side of the bullpen, Deputy Bea—I’d yet to learn whether that was a first or last name—was putting her criminal psychology degree to good use to search for commonalities between the omegas that we knew had been taken.

I just sat there. Useless.

I should be doing something. Searching, gathering information, torturing anyone who might have useful knowledge to share. I’d wanted to drive straight into Moonlight Cove and search for the packhouse. It was a relatively small town, so I was sure it wouldn’t take long to find it.

But Aaron had ordered me not to.

The more time passed, the more I wondered if it might be worth defying him. My mate’s life was on the line.

Growling, I raked my hands down my face, but winced when a claw caught on my upper lip. I was so worried I couldn’t even control my goddamn shifts. Without my nose to guide me, I really was of no use to anyone.

The meeting room door opened and Zander stepped out.

I straightened. “Have you found someone?”

He shook his head, his expression grim. “All of the ones we usually work with are already assigned to other cases. There’s nobody available.”

“Fuck.” There had to be someone else. Warlocks weren’t that common, but they weren’t rare either.

Hold on.

My heart skipped.

I knew a warlock. One who’d cared enough about me to go against her Pack Alpha’s orders at least once. Yes, when my father announced my exile, all of his pack members were forbidden from engaging with me, but Danny’s life was at stake. It was worth a shot.

“I’ll keep trying.” Zander was tapping away on his phone screen. “Maybe there’s someone who can come in tomorrow, or later in the week.”

“That’s not fast enough,” I said. “We’re going to have them back before then.”

There was no other option. I wouldn’t allow it.

Zander looked up. “It’s better than what we have now.”

Which was a big fat nothing.

“I… I might know someone. I’m not supposed to talk to her though.”

Zander arched an eyebrow. “Says who?”

“My former Pack Alpha.” I swallowed, my throat dry. “My father.”

Surprise flickered across Zander’s face, but he didn’t outwardly react other than that. “Are you willing to take the risk?”

“Yes.” I’d do anything for Danny.

I fished my phone from my pocket and scrolled through my contacts until I found her number, labeled with a simple M. My finger hovered above it for two slow seconds, and then I hit the Call button.

“You better be dying.” Morag’s voice rasped like she’d been smoking two packs of cigarettes a day for thirty years. Knowing her, she probably had.

I drew in a deep breath. I couldn’t screw this up. “I’m not, but if I don’t save him soon, my mate might be.”

“Mate?” She sounded surprised—as she should, since lone wolves often passed their entire lives without finding their mate.

“He’s a bear shifter. His name is Danny, and he’s been kidnapped by a rogue wolf pack, along with several other omegas from the town we live in.”

Morag sighed. “Please don’t tell me they’re trafficking omegas.”

“I’m pretty sure they are.” My chest twinged. “Either for their own use, for profit, or both.”

“Shit.” She huffed. “Let me guess: you want help to find him.”

“Yeah.” I wouldn’t insult her intelligence by suggesting otherwise.

“Fine.” Something rustled. “But after this, you lose my number. Permanently. Got it?”

“I’ll delete it as soon as he’s home safe and sound.”

“You’d better.”

“You have my word. What do you need for the spell?”

She hummed in thought. “A photo of him. Something that belonged to him would be better, but the photo will do the trick. I’ll also need an approximate location, narrowed to a twenty-mile radius. I could start at a larger scale, but it will take longer.”

I turned to Garrick, only to find him and Everett watching me intently. “Do we have a twenty-mile search radius?”

He nodded.

“Done,” I told Morag. “Anything else?”

“A few herbs, but I have those here. I’ll get set up while you send me the search area and the photo. Stay on the line. I want this over with as quickly as possible. If your father finds out you’ve called, it’ll be Armageddon here.”

I grimaced. “I’m sorry. If there had been another way...”

She snorted, and I could picture her rolling her eyes. “I know how you shifters are with your mates. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

I switched the phone to speaker and relayed what she’d said to the others. I gave Garrick her phone number so he could send her a photo of the area they’d been preparing to grid search as a first priority.

While he did that, I searched my phone for a photo of Danny. I’d snapped several over the past weeks. When I found a good one, I sent it to her.

We gathered around the phone. Morag had returned and she was explaining what she was doing since none of us could see. Once she’d arranged everything as necessary, she warned us to remain silent as she began the spell. We practically held our breath as she chanted in a dead language. Then all was quiet.

“I have a location,” she announced, kickstarting my heart. “Forty-seven Weyward Crescent, Moonlight Cove.”

“Thank you.”

She harrumphed. “Lose my number, kid. Good luck.”