Chapter 93 AURORA

I wanted him to turn back around and go into that pack house. I wanted him to tear it apart until he found our children.

But if he did, the Reeds would kill him, just like they had been wanting to for years.

“No,” I whispered, even though it was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. But as desperately as I wanted my babies to be there, there was no sign of them, not a single speck or shred of evidence. “That’s what Waylon and Esther want you to do. I won’t let them use this as an excuse to kill you, Dane.”

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine, and for a moment, I felt connected to him, bonded by the sheer grief both of us felt.

Having someone to share that burden with me… it made it bearable. If I moved forward from this moment, it would only be because I could move forward with him.

“They must be somewhere else, with someone else. We’ll keep searching. Evander and Trajan can keep looking for them through the pack bond. We’ll find them,” I said.

We had to, because I wouldn’t eat or sleep or be able to take an entire breath until we had.

Dane nodded, our faces still close together. Magic rose around us as Dane called on his Alpha powers to bind himself and all of Blue Ridge Pack to a vow that couldn’t be broken.

A vow that took away my breath, and the breath of every wolf whose soul was forfeit if the oath couldn’t be fulfilled.

“We’ll find them,” he said. “We’ll save them, or we’ll die trying.”

SERAPHINA

My head hurt, and it was dark. I opened my eyes, and I didn’t even know they were open because it was still so dark.

I coughed and sat up and reached out.

Brother had never not been there.

“Tristan?”

My voice was just a shaky, little sound in the dark, but I knew where he was.

I always did, even without looking or sensing, just like he could always find me.

I crawled on a hard floor that felt like it was made of uneven rocks until my hand touched something warm. I patted and found out it was his shoulder.

“Tristan?”

This time I asked inside my head. If there were bad guys around, I didn’t want them to hear us.

Sera… I don’t know where we are… I’m scared.

I know, I said. Tristan was the brave and protective one, but he was scared of the dark since that one time with Aunt Lilliana.

Not even Mommy or Uncle Trajan or Cousin Evander knew about that, just me and Tristan.

He didn’t want anyone to know he sometimes wasn’t brave, and I would always, always keep his secrets.

I laid down next to him and wrapped my arms around him. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “We’ll just call for Cousin Evander. He can find us.”

I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind. Tristan was bigger and stronger than me, but I was better at concentrating. I tried to find my pack through the bond…

It was like I jumped up and hit my head on a roof. “Ow!” I said.

Tristan’s hand touched the top of my head. He could feel that’s where I was hurt, just like I could feel when he got hurt.

“Let me try,” he whispered.

But when he reached out, it was the same thing, like someone bumped us hard on the head. He started shaking harder.

It’s okay, I said. Mommy will save us. No one can stop her from doing anything.

At least the bump didn’t happen when we talked to each other.

How did we get here? I asked Tristan. When I try to remember, it’s fuzzy.

We were on a walk with Mrs. Jamison. What if the bad guys got her, too?

My tummy felt cold and sick. I hope not.

I felt Tristan nod his head, which was close to my shoulder. After a long pause, he said, Do you think the Alpha will come save us? Our… dad?

Yes. I knew he would. I didn’t know how, but from the moment I met him, I could tell.

I hugged Tristan closer in the dark. Like our mommy, our daddy would never give up on us.

“Until they come, we’ll keep each other safe,” I whispered. “No matter where we are.”

“We will,” Tristan said.

He hugged me tight, and we waited.

DANE

Useless rage boiled beneath my surface as we left Broken Forest land. I felt like I was going to tear out of my own skin.

How could the children not be with Broken Forest? Why had Remington Reed come to us and then disappeared?

Archer was my best tracker, so I relieved him of his duties protecting Evelyn and set him on Remington’s trail.

When I caught that fucker, I would have my answers.

Aurora was weeping, not even capable of walking, so I carried her out to the road and then to the cars that would take us home. I let Trajan drive so I could sit in the back and hold on to her.

All the while, I was never idle. There were still over a hundred wolves at Blue Ridge, and they had never stopped searching. I gave them new directives while I held Aurora against my chest and stroked her silvery hair, counting down the seconds until we arrived home.

According to my people’s reports, there was one wolf at Blue Ridge who wasn’t searching, one I suspected wouldn’t mind if my “bastard” children were out of the way, because he wanted their mother.

It was time for me to deal with Holden Coleridge… whether or not killing the Fall Line Alpha led to war.