Page 59 of To Keep A Wolf
He smirks.
“What?” I demand, still walking.
“You think I’m gorgeous?”
I roll my eyes. “We’re possibly surrounded by trackers, and that’s what you want to focus on?”
“We’re not surrounded,” he says.
“You sound really sure of yourself tonight.”
His smile slips, and he grabs my wrist, stopping me. “Not sure,” he says. “Determined. I refuse to accept anything less than a long, amazing life with you, Mac.”
“I want that too,” I whisper. “But I can’t even think about it. Not until… it hurts too much.”
“I know.” He squeezes my hand. “I’ll think about it for both of us. I just want you to know what I’m fighting for.”
I nod, trying to convey the things I can’t put into words. We begin walking again, patrolling for more threats, this time hand in hand. Farther out, I can hear Tripp moving along the hillside, hunting. But I don’t sense anyone else. Levi seems to be right. Still…
“We can’t stay here,” I say.
“I know—”
Adingsounds, and we both freeze. My eyes scan the ground, and a second later, my wolf senses ping on something half-buried in leaves a few yards away. Levi nods, letting me know he sees it too. Tripp comes bounding over, and I can already hear my parents’ footsteps approaching fast from the yard, thanks to their wolf hearing.
Levi picks up the phone and presses a button, illuminating the screen as everyone else hurries up to where we stand.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Tracker’s phone,” Levi says. “It needs a password to access fully, but there’s an incoming text I can pull up without it.”
We all wait as he swipes, and the screen shows a video sent twenty minutes ago from an unknown number. Levi hits play, and the screen shows a mess of bloody limbs that’s worse than what Tripp just did to the tracker. The camera pans over what was obviously once a person then angles up to show a woman screaming from the sidelines of a small crowd. Tears streak down her dirty cheeks, but through the layer of grime, I recognize her instantly.
Amelia.
Jim’s wife. No, his mate.
She is devastated, which makes my stomach drop with a knowing that sickens me. The dead body is Jim. The first Jade in Green Hills to be truly accepting of me. He’s also part of a fated-mate pair. Which means Jadick isn’t just hunting me. He’s hunting every Jade who fled the pack too.
The camera angles again, spinning to reveal who’s filming the horror.
Jadick.
He grins, but it’s more malicious than happy. Or maybe they’re the same where he’s concerned.
“Since Mac has deserted her own people, I’ve decided to expend them as she has so obviously deemed them insignificant. One death every day, Mackenzie, darling. Until you return home where you belong and show us we matter to you after all.”
The video ends. Levi curses viciously, and the screen goes dark, plunging us all into shadows. He wastes no time picking the phone apart and crushing the pieces under his boot with more force than necessary.
I don’t move.
The others stomp around, muttering vows to kill Jadick for what he’s done. Tripp announces a plan to contact Frankie and Grey first thing tomorrow. But I can’t speak around the lump in my throat. Grief clings to me, so thick I could peel it off my skin. And a burst of shame.
This is my fault.
No, it’s Jadick’s fault. But I can stop it. I have to go back. Even if it kills me. As long as I take him with me. This has to end.
It’s time to wipe out the Clemons line.
