Page 7 of Their Crowned Mate
The other two members of my own triad—who'd been like brothers to me as long as I could remember—had betrayed me. We had been keeping secrets forever, certainly. But I had never imagined they would turn on me.
My initial panic was only mildly muted by the realization that I knew they wouldn't actually hurt Lavinia or the baby. Not on purpose. But that didn't mean there weren't any consequences.
And when Lavinia's new pack figured out what had happened, there certainly would be plenty. Assuming I didn't get to them first.
This was clearly Jax's big idea since they'd failed to think to tie me up. Damon would've wanted to, but Jax was a stubborn asshole who always thought he knew better than anyone else, so if Damon had suggested making sure I couldn't escape, Jax would've just bitched him out. I could practically hear them bickering in my head.
Idiots.
I tried the door just in case Jax was dumb enough to leave it unlocked, but I wasn't that lucky. I inspected the windows next, but they were all boarded up, covered in thick metal bars.
I snarled, shifting into my wolf form and lunging at the closest boarded-up window until my fangs were bleeding from the splintering wood.
Fuck.
I paced the small space, growling low in my chest. I had to find a way out. I had to get to Lavinia. I wasn't going to let a little wood stop me.
I returned to the window and gripped the edge of one of the boards in my teeth and braced my paws against it, trying not to let my rage take over again so I could do this methodically. When I successfully managed to pry it off without going nuts again—and it wasn't easy—I started on the next board, then the next, systematically ripping away every board until a space opened up that was just big enough for me to squeeze through. My mouth felt like I'd eaten wasps, but when my paws found the grass and the cold air hit my nostrils, I knew it was worth it.
Now I just had to find her.
I paused to sniff the air, hoping to catch her scent, because there was no way they were dumb enough to keep her at the house.
Probably.
Then again, I didn't think they were dumb enough for this shit, either.
When I failed to smell her, I took off into the woods since the building was on the outskirts of the pack, headed for the pack center.
I couldn't find any signs they had taken her away, but the pack lands were full of private homes and even as one of the new alphas, I couldn't trespass without an excuse. The same applied to Jax and Damon, though. I was about to circle back around to the house when I became acutely aware of another scent not too far in the distance.
The snarl hit my ears first, before I turned around and found myself staring at a male coyote shifter. He was smaller than a wolf, but still big for one of its kind, tall and lean as he bared his fangs at me and slinked forward, his ears back.
Coyotes didn't trespass on wolf lands. Not unless they had a death wish. This could only be Lavinia's pet.
Before I had the chance to even try to communicate, he lunged at me with another snarl. I dodged and ran straight at him, trying to knock him away with my body so he'd fall over backward onto his ass and give himself up. Coyotes were quick and snappy, but they rarely put up much of a fight when facing a wolf my size.
He must have had a sixth sense for my intention because he leaped up and wrapped his front legs around my neck before I could make contact. My momentum carried us both right over a fallen tree trunk, and we landed heavily on the other side in a patch of snow. The impact knocked the air right out of my lungs, but he was on top of me before I could take a breath, pressing his sharp teeth against my neck.
He shifted back into his human form and replaced his fangs with his hands, still growling just as animalistically as if he were still a coyote. "Where is she?"
I growled, but shifted back into my human form as well so I could speak, throwing him off me. "Get off!" I snapped, shoving his arms aside as he tried to grab me again as I pushed myself back on my feet.
He immediately jumped back up. "What the fuck did you do?" he demanded, shoving my chest hard. I ignored it. "I know she wouldn't have gone quiet if something wasn't wrong."
"I'm looking for her, too," I shot back, readying for him to attack again.
His eyes narrowed like he wasn't sure he believed me. "What are you talking about? She was with you."
"Yeah, and I was about to take her home when those assholes drugged me," I muttered, raking a hand through my hair to get out the twigs and leaves. It was humiliating to concede they had gotten the better of me like that, especially to the man I had made a promise to about keeping Lavinia safe.
"Who drugged you?" Cole demanded. "Jax and Damon?"
"Yes," I said through my teeth.
He gave me a wary look. "Why?"
"Because they want to keep her here," I admitted, knowing this was opening a whole other can of worms. I'd hoped I could at least get to her and talk some sense into them before this got out, but now I had a damn coyote running around my territory along with the other members of my triad going rogue.
