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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I swallowed hard, bile burning the back of my throat. The last thing I wanted to do was suggest this, but the situation was bigger than the impact it would have on Briar and me.

“If they’re west, that means the area toward the Sinclair pack territory should be clear.” I swallowed hard, but I had to get the rest out before I changed my mind. “We can use vehicles from there. There’s a back way out of the territory, so we won’t even have to drive down the main road.”

Everyone turned to look at me, and Ryker’s concern spiked.

“No.” Ryker shook his head, already feeling how the thought alone had impacted me. “We can find another way.”

Reid bit his lip like he was weighing what to say, and Bruce wrung his hands.

Sun bowed her head slightly, her focus remaining on me with something like respect gleaming in her eyes for the first time. “That’s our best bet, so if Ember is willing, then we should take her up on the solution and move fast before the vampires change course.”

I linked with Briar, If you aren’t up for it, you can hang back. There’s no weakness in that.

No, I agree with you. It’s not something I want to do, but we need to find the vampire queen before she harms any others and get justice for our packs.

“That’s too much to ask of her and Briar.” Ryker shook his head as he took my hand and tried to move in front of me. “We can run in wolf form.” His determination flowed through our bond.

This wasn’t something he would budge on, so I needed him to know that we’d be okay.

I turned and locked eyes with him. His golden flecks almost looked like real gold with the intensity of his concern.

I smiled sadly, placing my hand on his chest. “It’s all right. I need to do this. Not just for the group but for me as well. Going back…” I paused and grimaced. “It’s going to hurt. But avoiding it won’t bring them back, and it won’t stop the queen. This is how I prove I’m not broken, and it’ll help us get to the witch faster. We can use things from my home pack to make them pay.”

His jaw clenched, the muscles twitching. But he didn’t speak.

I cupped his face and linked, You risked your soul with a spell to find justice for your pack. Let me do something for mine as well.

The bond between us pulsed—hot, thick with emotion. The others remained silent, no doubt knowing that the two of us were communicating via our connection.

If you so much as waver, you tell me. His brows furrowed, and he grabbed my wrists, holding them gently but with enough pressure to make sure I heard every word. You tell me, and we alter plans.

I nodded once, my heart growing twice its normal size because he was listening to me. Deal.

Ryker sighed. “Ember is convinced that it’s the best way, so who am I to argue against that?”

“I think it’s the best strategy too,” Briar added, taking the spot on my left side so we presented a united front.

“Then I won’t argue.” Bruce karate-chopped the air. “I agree. It’s our best bet. Running in wolf form would take us too long and exhaust us physically.”

Footsteps broke the silence as Cassi rounded the corner and hurried toward us with her satchel. “Sorry I’m a little late. I thought I detected something on the way here, and I was trying to investigate.”

“What was it?” Reid walked down the steps.

I couldn’t help but notice he still strode slowly compared to normal, but at least he was moving sufficiently without a cane.

“Nothing.” She shrugged. “I had to be hearing things. I didn’t feel any witch magic, just a hint of rose and lilac.”

My stomach dropped… It had to be the strange man. Why did he keep appearing?

Ryker’s head snapped in my direction. What’s wrong? Do you know that scent?

My instinct was to play with words so I could navigate the truth, but I refused to allow myself to do that. I wouldn’t want Ryker to do that to me, and he deserved the same respect in return. The strange man—he smells of that mixture and wet earth, but I don’t sense him right now.

Of course he does. Ryker scowled.

Everything inside me screamed not to, but I informed the rest of the group about the man. If we were going into a fight, they needed to know there could be a lurker somehow magically appearing and watching us.

“Great.” Gage shook his hands with a sarcastic happy face. “Another enemy we can’t really see and who can appear at random. It’s not like we don’t have enough stacked against us.”

“Either way, it doesn’t change our plan.” Reid crossed his arms. “We still have too much to risk by remaining idle.”

Making her way to the grass, Cassi pulled out a map and laid it on the ground. “Can I get two people to hold this?”

Xander and Kendric each took a side, anchoring the map so the breeze wouldn’t take it away.

Not needing to ask, the rest of us gathered around, Ryker taking the spot next to Cassi with his hand held out.

I scanned the area, searching the darkness for any signs of shadows or the strange man. I didn’t feel the warmth or the cold pressure that would signify either of the threats were around. Even though I didn’t think the strange man posed harm to us, I couldn’t deny that his actions did, in fact, seem threatening.

Cassi lit the sage, a burst of orange and red against the dark of the sky, and then blew out the flame and laid it on the damp grass. She then removed the silver dagger and took Ryker’s hand. As soon as her hand touched his, a sensation of discomfort and dread pulsed through our connection, though his physical demeanor didn’t change.

She whispered the incantation under her breath, her words blurring as if we weren’t supposed to hear them. Shadows curled out from her body, and she pierced the edge of the dagger into his palm once again. The blood shimmered and rolled across the surface of the map... and stopped in the exact same place.

“She’s still there,” Cassi breathed.

I let out a breath that I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. With our luck, they would’ve moved her to a different location we knew nothing about. We were already heading in with limited knowledge.

“Then we move now,” Reid said. “Every minute she stays in their custody puts us at risk since she can track Ryker.”

A jolt of pain shot through our bond, followed by embarrassment and regret.

“We need to head to the middle of our neighborhood.” My mind raced as I thought through the best strategy. “If they do come by the neighborhood to do recon, they’ll likely focus on the perimeter, so taking a car from somewhere in the middle shouldn’t be noticeable.”

Briar nodded. “And we’ll take that back road exit. It was barely used, and they may not even know about it.”

My chest squeezed. Our pack had made sure to stay out of politics, but Dad had feared something might happen someday and had prepared an escape route. He’d never anticipated what the vampires had managed though.

“You all had an alternative exit?” Reid’s brows rose. “You guys never told us that!”

“It wasn’t anyone but our pack's business.” I crossed my arms. “Are you trying to tell me that you shared everything about your pack with us?”

Silence fell, and then he shook his head.

“Light will be here fast.” Bruce gestured in the direction of the Sinclair pack land. “If we want to blend in with the darkness, we need to go.”

“Are we waiting for anyone else?” Xander asked.

“No. No one was well enough to come with us.” Bruce’s face seemed to become paler each day, signifying that he wasn’t doing well with the stress either.

We could all relate. I was so damn tired of being hurt, running, and hiding.

“Then let’s go,” Ryker rasped, taking my hand and leading me toward the woods. His concern heightened even more.

No one disagreed, and the entire group moved in silence. We set out through the trees as the darkness settled over us. In the next thirty minutes, the sun would rise and cast a few minutes of twilight over us all until it rose higher.

Every snap of a twig and rustle of brush made my heart jolt. I kept my senses trained outward, scanning for movement, shadows, the cold pressing feeling of the vampires, and that strange ripple of energy that always preceded the stranger’s presence.

Nothing came.

The woods were quiet. Almost too quiet. There were no scurrying mice or other animals trying to settle in before the day, nor even a gentle breeze to drift across our skin.

We moved as fast as we could in human form, with not even Reid slowing us down, mainly because Cassi traveled with us. Witches couldn’t move as quickly as wolves in general. Still, my muscles seemed to weigh me down more with every step closer to the ruins of my home.

When we breached the invisible territory line into the outer fringe of my pack’s territory, my breath caught in my chest.

The land looked exactly the same—unchanged, untouched, too quiet. I expected to hear the padding paws of the wolves on guard duty rushing toward us.

They never came.

Briar moved to my other side and took my hand as we walked the familiar track to our childhood home. Memories coursed through my mind. Briar and me running along with friends in animal form. Dad taking me out to learn how to track. I could hear my mom’s voice in my head, telling me to head in for breakfast.

I would never walk through that door and see them again. Never sit with my family around the table and hear my mom’s laugh echoing through the kitchen. But I could make sure the monsters who tore that life away from us paid for every scream and every drop of blood.

We broke through the final line of oak trees, and my parents’ house came into view. My chest tightened. The firepit outside hadn’t been touched since the night I’d burned my mating dress after Reid had rejected me.

Everything seemed untouched as the sky around us lightened with the first hint of sun.

Briar squeezed my hand tightly as we trekked past the only home we’d ever known and walked deeper into the neighborhood.

Houses stood like ghosts. Hollow. Still.

Ryker had started caring for the dead, and Reid had told me they’d finished the burials. I knew that. But still… It felt like, any second, my dad would walk around the corner, or my mom would leave Tricia’s house down the street and head back home.

No one came.

Briar made a strangled sound, gripping my hand even more tightly, her knuckles white. Every step pressed memories into me. Laughter. Warm meals. A life that was safe and full—until it wasn’t. My wolf paced inside, anxious and uncomfortable.

I didn’t realize I’d stopped moving until Ryker touched my back. He linked, I’m here for you, lil rebel. Whatever you need.

And those words were enough to help me keep moving forward. I love you so damn much.

Ryker stepped closer. I could feel his tension, the ache to take this pain away from me, but he couldn’t. Instead, he stood beside me and let me look.

Gage moved to the left, Kendric to the right, while Xavier stayed behind with Cassi, Sun, Reid, and Bruce.

“Kevin’s two vehicles should work,” Briar whispered and dropped my hand.

Good idea , I linked back. He’d always left the keys in his cars, saying that if someone was dumb enough to try to steal one, they didn’t deserve to live. He’d been one of Dad’s best friends, and we’d spent a lot of time in his house while growing up.

We followed Briar down a narrow path behind a row of houses. Gravel crunched beneath our boots, louder than anything had a right to be.

I scanned the area once again, searching for any signs of a threat. So far, this had been easy, which never happened for us. Maybe Fate was going to let us have a win.

Kevin’s house came into view, and Briar jogged over to it. The black Honda Accord and dark blue Mazda SUV were parked in front of the house as usual.

“What’s the plan?” Reid’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Briar and I need to drive the cars.” No one else would know the dips and turns of the dirt track. Hell, I wasn’t sure I would remember them because it’d been over a year since I’d driven the path. “We’ll split into two groups. I want Cassi with me to make sure she doesn’t try to use any magic.”

“I want to be with Reid,” Cassi insisted.

Ryker rolled his eyes. “Fine, Reid and Sun can come with us too. Everyone else rides with Briar.”

No one argued as the sky lightened further and we hurried into the vehicles. Ryker climbed into the front passenger seat of the Mazda beside me while Cassi, Sun, and Reid took the back.

Next, we needed to leave before anyone heard us.

You ready? I linked to Briar.

Now, she replied.

Our engines rumbled softly to life, and Briar pulled out of her spot first. I may have scouted the lands and handled more pack business than she had, but Briar thrived on learning all the secret facts about our pack. She found things like the backup exit fascinating, along with how our pack theology resonated differently than most packs.

I pulled in behind her, and we eased down the little-used track. Briar cut into the grass, increasing her speed to drive around the trees and swerve around potholes.

The cold pressure suddenly pressed against my body and lungs.

“Ember?” Ryker turned toward me, his eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”

The sensation increased.

Four shadows stepped onto the track in front of Briar, and then I noticed something a slightly lighter shade of gray than the dark shadows. Something that resembled a hand grenade.

Briar, stop. My heart tried to lurch from my chest. We need to turn around.

But it was too late. The vampire launched the grenade, and it barreled straight for the Accord.