The Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) - Kiki Clark Page 0,96

he was clearly exhausted.

He’d talk to him about all of it in the morning. Sunday mornings in bed were made for soul-baring discussions.

Right?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Marcus was pissed.

And for the first time in over a decade, he didn’t care who knew.

Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he sped toward the location Rick had texted out to the Enforcers at 5:00 a.m., Nico in the seat next to him. The only other information in the text were the words Get here now.

The flurry of responses from everyone asking what was happening and that they were on their way had gone unanswered. Marcus swore that if this was a weird training thing, he was going to have a few choice words with his alpha.

As they neared the turnoff where they’d have to park and walk the rest of the way into the woods that bordered the southern edge of the territory, Marcus’s anger began to drain away, trepidation taking its place. He slowed as he carefully drove down the short dirt road that ended in a makeshift parking lot. The area was sometimes used by pack members who lived in the southern half of the territory for group runs.

There were too many vehicles already there, and one of them was definitely Tashmica’s hunk of junk.

“This isn’t some new training thing, is it?” he whispered as he parked the SUV and glanced at Nico. His best friend’s face was set in a serious expression, a wrinkle between his brows.

“I don’t think so.” He nodded at a dusty Benz on the end. “Pretty sure that’s Damien’s and”—he flipped around in his seat when a pair of headlights turned onto the road behind them—“that’s Doc’s truck. What the fuck?”

They hurried out of the SUV just as Doc parked haphazardly behind them, not bothering to turn off his truck before he grabbed his bag and jumped out, flying past them without a word. Hurrying after him, Marcus carefully scented the air, but the wind was blowing the wrong way. When they caught the sound of yelling, all three of them started running without saying a word to each other.

Breaking into a small clearing, it took Marcus a moment to figure out what he was seeing. There was a stranger standing just inside where Marcus could feel the warding along the border was. They had both hands up, head tilted down. With the oversized hoody and jean vest that they were wearing, hood pulled up over their head, Marcus couldn’t get a clear view of them. But the air was heavy with magic, so he knew they were a witch, whoever they were.

But after a quick glance and sniff, he turned his attention to where most of the commotion was coming from, trusting that Tashmica and Damien—who were standing between the stranger and the others, muttering a spell and creating a shimmery barrier—would protect them. About twenty feet from the stranger, Doc skidded to a stop on his knees next to a bruised and bloody—

“Wendy!” He tried to rush forward, but Nico and Colt were suddenly on either side of him, holding him back. He struggled for a moment, running his eyes over her bruised- and dirt-covered form, then sagged against his friends. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Let Doc work,” Colt said, his low voice extra rumbly with worry.

Rick was ordering Fiona and Vanessa to check the perimeter of the territory for any other breaches and Bennett to bring Gabriel Morde to him. Bennett pulled out his phone and turned away, speaking to Drake a moment later and telling him to find the hunter and bring him to the location. With so many pups and the alpha-mate in the manor, it had become common for one of the Enforcers to stay behind just in case.

Marcus knew at least part of the reason was because of the hunter with free rein of their territory. Especially since Gabriel had found his way into restricted areas of the manor more than once.

He watched Fi and V strip and shift, V sprinting in her wolf form along the edge of the border, heading left, and Fi’s hawk taking to the air and going to the right.

Marcus turned to Colt in confusion. “Why does he want Gabriel here?”

The hunter hadn’t been around as much the last week, and Drake and Jamie had been weirdly stiff around each other during meetings and meals. Marcus hadn’t asked about it since it wasn’t his business, but if the hunter had something to do with Wendy’s