She held on a moment longer. “We haven’t found her.”
I smoothed the blonde hair spilling across Fallon’s eyes, and ordered through the pack bond, Tell me what you know.
Ago’s here. Even her mental voice shook. She dashed a look toward Mace. His expression was as grim as mine. Two kids killed a hybrid five miles out of town. Hit it with their car. We’ve seen the camera feeds. Noa was here, in the square, when the news broke. She walked Hattie home, and then… we lost her.
You identified Ago through the cameras?
Fallon glanced at Mace, since he’d asked. Facial identification verified it. Her attention flew back to me. Four hybrids with him. She was running past the old docks, out of camera range, so we tracked by scent. Hers disappeared at the Claw, but Ago… the hybrids kept searching along the riverbank.
Had she fucking jumped? Into a frigid current, cold enough to kill a human this time of year?
Which direction?
They searched toward the north.
Upstream? How was that possible?
Several miles, Fallon insisted. Then they backtracked. Hybrids and Ago only.
They hadn’t found her.
I focused on the details to keep myself sane. I’d brought this on myself by sending Noa here when she wanted to stay with me. But I’d wanted her to be gods-damned safe because life at the Refuge was too fucking risky with the hybrids running around.
And I’d sent her right into Ago’s fucking arms.
Fallon stiffened, pulled away as Anson strode into the square, flanked by his rangers, some of whom had raced down from the Refuge with Mace. I’d been back in Sentinel Falls when Fallon’s call came through, meeting with elders after strengthening the wards along our eastern boundary. The news had come close to stopping my heart. Noa was missing, and I’d violate every fucking agreement I had with Anson to find her.
A wave of aggression rolled from the Alpha of Carmag. I cared little for his show of dominance. I wasn’t here to usurp Anson’s power, or his position. I was here as a gods-damned male who was looking for his mate—his missing mate—whom Anson swore to protect.
He’d failed, and the animosity that simmered between us grew heated and volatile, a mix of distrust that would not end well.
Anson held out his hand, gripped my forearm when I extended mine. “Alpha,” he said stiffly.
“What the fuck, Anson?” Thunder rolled through the distant sky when no storm was in sight. “You gave your word.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Our resources are yours. We’ll find her.”
Rage heated into something that made it difficult to think. “Find the gods-damned vampire, Anson. The hybrids.”
Before they found her!
I’d seen victims after hybrids were done, and as each minute ticked by with no word through our mate bond, no tug on that tether between us, images of Noa facing those hell-creatures alone had me wanting to puke my guts out.
Not that Ago would kill her—no, the alternative would be far worse. Levi had filled me in on the bargain Noa made with Barend. To save them all, she’d agreed to let the vampires turn her. Become a weapon, a monster strong enough to defeat Amal. She hadn’t meant it, intended to buy time, destroy Ago, and I hadn’t found the right way to ask her about it.
When she came to me, to comfort the wolf, to heal us… I’d wanted to give her only love and beauty in return. A life where we made snow wolves with children and shared a meal because having her back from that dangerous void had been a gift. She’d burned herself out trying to help me. Knowing I could take care of her, see her smile, hear her laugh—I’d come to treasure those experiences. Wanted to give them to her for the rest of our lives.
“We’ve pieced together her movements,” Anson said. Noa had been at the archive with Laura, doing what I’d asked, reading Amal’s journal and looking for some advantage. They’d found a runic drawing. Noa left the archive, met with a woman selling spells in the Farmer’s Market. She was trying to track down the meaning, but she left, entered the square while the authorities were dealing with the car accident. She’d walked Hattie home, protective of everyone except herself. Ago had picked up her trail by then, started hunting.
“We have the woman in custody for questioning,” Anson added. “She’s not cooperating.”
“Where?”
“I’ll take you.”
Mace already knew what to do. I nodded my agreement. He left with a contingent of Refuge men, heading for the Claw. Anson sent an order of his own, and the Carmag rangers joined the search.
I should be grateful, but I was empty. Only the rage simmered. The female was in an interrogation room spelled against magic of any kind, sitting on a hard metal chair with her hands folded on the dull silver metal table. The overhead lights were stark.
