Burke, betas, fear, and me all in one place.
“You’re getting amped about going a little feral on your old pack.”
“Whaaaat?” I say in false shock. “That doesn’t sound like me at all.”
My sardonic voice earns me a grudging smirk, while Kier and his Second chuckle a little behind us. “Just remember what we talked about, Vicious.”
Meaning, I’m still healing. Meaning, I better not fucking need more healing, or Tyran might lose his ever-loving mind.
“I’ll be fine, and I’ll be right by your side the whole time, Alpha,” I say, leaning up to plant a kiss on his delicious lips. “Now hurry up,” I whisper into his ear so only he can hear. “The quicker we get our pack safely home, the quicker we can get to the victory sex.”
I don’t hear the growl he gives me, but I feel its vibrations pressed against my side. He reaches around and squeezes my ass, mouthing, “Perfect fucking mate,” against my lips.
I smile and pull away, again focusing on where we need to go.
“Damn, I’ve been claimed for twenty years, but half a day around you two has me wishing my mate was here right now,” Kier says behind us, and Tyran shoots him a cocky smile and an eyebrow wag.
I lead the way, Tyran at my side, giving quiet bird calls or mouse chirps to guide the rest of the pack at our heels. Kier and his Second keep pace with us, and I start to pick my way through the woods with honed focus. I can’t think about how much everyone is depending on me to get us where we need to go. That’s a lot of pressure riding on the shoulders of a wolf that was starved, drugged, and half mad when she was carried out of where we’re trying to find.
But I’m not just Seneca Rain, ex-pack member turned rabid anymore. I’m the motherfucking luna of Ruin Falls, and I will not crumble under the pressure.
I stop at a treeline through the woods with a clearing just ahead, and a sense of familiarity hits me.
We’re here.
Certainty moves through the bond to Tyran, and he surveys me. “You’re sure?” he whispers, his voice barely more than a breath.
Half of my right eye glows violet in the dark, the presence of my wolf pressing up against my control as we share our vision. I tip my head up, and she scents the air around us, picking up on even the most underlying and diluted of smells.
There, beneath dozens of Twin Rivers pack members, is my own scent...and Presley’s.
“I’m sure,” I reply decisively.
We’re not far from the main pack house where Twin Rivers held the Flux ceremony. From where I was attacked and then later chained and slung over Conrad’s back while my pack threw insults and rocks.
“Looks like a damn woodpile,” Kier murmurs from his spot by a tree to our left.
He’s not wrong. The place I’ve led us to looks completely inconspicuous. Just a huge dumping pile of chopped wood for fires and scrap pieces from fences. We’re a good distance away, but even with the cover of night and low brush, my shifter vision identifies everything with perfect clarity.
It makes sense the cells are hidden. I never knew the pack had anything like it before they tossed me in there. There was no light, no sound, not even any scents other than the overwhelming stench of bleach and my fury. The fact that it was underground doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.
When Tyran doesn’t say anything, I glance over at him, but he’s facing the woodpile with flared nostrils, the glow of his wolf’s eyes flashing through the dark. I reach down and grip his hand. “What is it?”
He blinks and looks over, but the anger doesn’t leave his face. “I just picked up your scent. I can smell your rage. Your fear, like it’s stamped into the earth itself,” he growls. “It’s making my wolf go fucking crazy.”
Fur erupts down the length of his forearms, claws threatening to descend, so I squeeze his hand tighter. “Hey. If you go savage, I go savage with you,” I tell him with a small smile. “Soon, but not yet. Come on, my alpha. What’s the plan?”
Like those words flipped a switch, Tyran seems to snap back into leader mode. “I don’t like how quiet it is,” he says with a shake of his head as he surveys the area again. “Burke will know we’re coming for Presley, and I still haven’t