Page 51 of The Fated Hunter Wolf
“How long has he been gone?” I looked at Eve. “What day is it?”
“He took off the day he rejected you.” Logan let out a long breath. “We’d been able to track him from afar in Orion lands for four days, but then we lost scent of him. We had to assume he crossed into neighboring territory, Blackwood likely.” He rubbed his eyes and muttered, “Just about the worst possible direction he could’ve gone. That was just about the time you started…” Logan gestured vaguely at my blood-stained appearance. “This.”
I felt it, I realized with sick certainty,when he crossed paths with something that wanted to kill him.
Eve appeared at Logan’s side, flowing dress doing nothing to hide the tension radiating from her small frame.
“I have more news,” she announced to the room. Shifters around the cabin stopped moving to listen. “Kenza intercepted a communication with the Eridanus pack in Seattle and sent out two scouts for information. They came back with this.” Eve lifted a scroll bearing seals that made my stomach drop. “The Southern Council has issued emergency summons. They’ve invited northern pack leaders to join the southern pack alphas. They’re required to appear within seventy-two hours to address ‘supernatural disturbances threatening regional stability.’” Her wolf flared behind her eyes. “And guess who’s the only pack not officially invited.”
I stared at the scroll, pieces clicking together in my mind with the precision of a trap springing shut.
“They know,” I said quietly.
“Know what?” Logan demanded.
I looked around—at wolves preparing for political battle while their beta lay dying in cursed territory, at Astrid standing close enough to bolt if necessary. The official summons reeked of careful timing.
“They know Rhys is gone. The timing isn’t a coincidence.” I met Eve’s eyes, seeing my own suspicions reflected there. “They knew you’d find out, and that Orion wouldn’t be able to attend.”
“Why would they do that?” There was still so much I hadn’t told Eve.
“Because emergency sessions aren’t just about politics.” The words tasted bitter, dredged up from memories I’d tried to bury. “They’re about commerce. The kind that happens in the shadows while all the alphas are distracted by speeches and territorial disputes.”
Understanding dawned on Eve’s face. “Auctions,” she breathed.
“Auctions.” I nodded, watching Logan process the implications. “They always schedule them just after major gatherings. More buyers, better prices. And during the gathering, with every alpha wolf locked in council chambers, weaker wolves are vulnerable to attack. Easy to pick up and bring to an auction house without the alphas being any the wiser.”
The room went silent except for the quiet clinks of weapons being checked and cleaned.
Astrid moved closer to me. She understood what I was saying—that the summons was exactly what hunters wanted. All the protectors in one place, all the vulnerable scattered and alone, ripe for the picking, and then a quick auction to move them where they couldn’t be found again.
I took a deep breath. “With Rhys gone?—”
“You think someone orchestrated his disappearance?” Logan’s hands curled into fists.
“Even the smartest sick bastards I know couldn’t have guessed what would happen between Rhys and I.” The bond throbbed in me. “But I do think someone’s been very patient and watching us.”
“We have to find him,” Logan said. Doubt colored his voice. Attending a council meeting without his beta would signal weakness. Not attending would signal defiance. Either choice painted a target on Orion’s back.
“Send me.” The words escaped before I’d consciously decided to speak them. Heads turned in my direction.
“You?” Logan’s eyebrows rose. “You can barely stand.”
“I’m the only one who can track him.” I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling the weakening pulse. “The bond might be damaged, but it’s still there. I can follow it wherever he is.”
“Absolutely not,” Eve said immediately. “If this is a trap?—”
“Then you need someone expendable.” I held her stare. “Someone who isn’t critical to pack survival or political maneuvering.”
Logan’s alpha presence filled the room, power pressing against my skin. “You’re not in a position to bargain.”
“Aren’t I?” I gestured toward the summons Eve clutched. “You need your beta back before that council meeting, or every alpha there will smell Orion’s instability. They’ll start circling, testing boundaries, looking for weaknesses to exploit. There’s only one thing I’d ask in return.”
I paused, letting that sink in before delivering the leverage they could use against me if they wished.
Eve beat me to it. “You need someone to watch Astrid while you’re gone.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Eve’s gaze flicked to Astrid, then back to me.
