Page 56 of Wulf’s Pack

His voice trails off, but Brett understands what he’s asking.

“Ashlyn. She’s one tough girl. They were at the mall when it happened.

Their alpha reached out with his warning, and they barely had time to get to their car when the pack bond was severed.

They were trying to figure out what to do when Thomas was killed.

Melanie broke. Ashlyn said she just started screaming and screaming.

After a few minutes, the screams turned to sobs.

Ashlyn couldn’t get her to respond, but she guessed what happened.

She put her mom in the passenger seat and came here, not knowing what else to do. Showed up about an hour ago.”

His worried gaze flicks toward the hallway again. I perk up my ears and notice the soft sniffles of someone crying.

Brett sinks back in his chair and hangs his arm over the armrest. The empty beer bottle dangles from his fingers. His eyes slip out of focus, and he stares off into space. His grief is obvious.

“Sounds like you’re close to the pack.”

He scratches at his bearded chin and blows out a breath. “I’ve known the pack since they showed up here five years ago, with nothing more than they could fit in their cars. I helped them get settled. Loaned Alpha Shaw the money to start up his business. Been watching out for them ever since.”

He swallows hard.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your friends.”

He meets my eyes again and dips his chin in acknowledgement of my condolences. I hate to press him while his pain is so fresh, but the longer it takes me to find and stop Victor, the more likely it’ll be my loss next.

No! my wolf growls, incensed at my dark thoughts.

You’re right. We’re going to save her.

I clear my throat, then say, “I wasn’t aware there was a pack of coyotes here. There weren’t any packs registered with the FUA in the area.”

Easton cuts me a worried glance. “If Victor’s taken over an entire pack, we’re in for a much harder battle than we expected.”

I’ve been stressing about that too.

“That won’t be a problem,” says a soft voice, hoarse from crying.

A girl emerges from the hallway and joins us in the living room.

This must be Ashlyn. She’s an older teen, maybe seventeen or eighteen.

She’s sturdy the way most shifter women are, but her grief is so potent she appears fragile.

She’s disheveled. Her clothes are wrinkled, her hair’s a mess, her nose is red and has been rubbed raw, and her eyes are puffy and bloodshot.

Devastation clings to her like a second skin, but she’s powering through it.

Brave girl.

She leans back against an empty wall across from Easton and me and slides down it until she’s sitting on the floor.

She pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them.

“We’re a small pack,” she says. “My family, my cousins’ family, and my best friend’s family.

We were part of a much larger pack in Wisconsin, but we left when our alpha developed an inappropriate interest in my best friend and me.

” Her face turns green, and she whispers, “We were twelve at the time.”

My whole body stiffens, and beside me, Easton growls.

As if I don’t have enough rage coursing through me right now?

The thought of anyone harming children in that way is despicable, but their alpha?

If I didn’t already have my own crisis to deal with, I’d be tempted to find the bastard and feed him his own dick.

Ashlyn shudders and drifts into her own head, reliving her nightmare.

“We disappeared in the middle of the night during a pack run. My best friend’s dad was killed, and my uncle had to kill a couple pack enforcers before we escaped.

We ended up here and have been hiding ever since.

We never registered our land with the FUA because we didn’t want our alpha finding us. ”

Her eyes fill with tears, and she starts to sniffle. “With Dad and Uncle Mike dead, it’s just my aunt, my mom, my best friend’s mom, and the eight of us kids. My brother Daniel is the oldest. He’s twenty-six, and my cousin Reese is the youngest. She’s two.”

She swipes at her wet eyes. “If Daniel is still alive, it’s because he didn’t fight in order to protect everyone else. If he’s still alive.” She hiccups. “There’s no way to know. My connection with my luna is still there, but it’s faint, and she’s not responding.”

She starts sobbing in earnest. Pain streaks across Brett’s face, and he gets out of his chair. He crosses the room and sits down beside her. She curls into his chest as she falls apart.

Easton and I share a look. Death is too good for Victor and his wolves, but we’re going to kill him anyway.

“Why in the world would Victor go after these people?” Easton asks.

“They aren’t a strong pack that he could take over and use to his advantage.

He doesn’t know them. He had no reason to hurt them. ”

“He probably wanted the compound,” Brett says over the top of Ashlyn’s head. His arms are wrapped tight around the girl.

“Compound?” Easton asks.

“Mike and Thomas have spent the last five years safeguarding their property. They were worried about their old pack coming after them. There are three houses, a central rec room, and a small security building where you can monitor all the security cameras that are set up all over the property. It also has an armory full of weapons meant to take down all kinds of underworlders and several holding cells. Each building is fortified with steel doors and bulletproof windows, and the entire perimeter is warded with both sorcerer and fae magic. It’s a fortress. ”

“Well, shit,” Easton blurts.

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and holding my throbbing head in my hands. Could my luck be any worse? “As if taking down twenty-five strong alphas isn’t going to be hard enough for us? How the hell are we supposed to get into a place like that?”

Ashlyn peeks her head out of Brett’s chest. “There’s a tunnel,” she croaks.

“It leads from a hidden door in the floor of the kids’ playhouse near the lake to a small cottage just outside the property.

Uncle Mike bought the cottage using a different name, so they shouldn’t know about it.

I can get us past the locks and wards, but it’s a long walk from the playhouse to the security building, and there are cameras everywhere. ”

Hope blooms in my chest. With a secret entrance like that, we can sneak in, keeping the element of surprise, and hopefully take them out quickly. I look at Easton and see excitement shining in his eyes. He’s thinking along the same lines as me. “That’s the advantage we need,” he says.

I nod. “We can do this.”

I jump to my feet, feeling suddenly restless and start pacing the length of the living room.

I meet Easton’s gaze with wild eyes. My brain is spinning, and my wolf is getting revved up.

He’s ready for blood, and I’m right there with him.

I open the link to the entire pack. We’ve located Skylar.

Ben, Isabella, come to the auto repair shop two blocks east of Main on Genesee.

Bree, get everyone who is willing to fight. We’re ending this tonight.