Page 33 of Midnight Hunt
I shrugged. “In a cliche sort of way. He kind of has an accent, but I’ve only heard him say two words.”
“I’d be surprised if Alpha Petrov was behind this. Even after I revealed my hybrid nature during the Alpha Meeting last year, she assured me of her intentions to remain an ally.”
“But there are several Russian packs, and not all of them align with Midnight Pack,” Jagger reminded us, following closely on my heels. “Any one of them could have sent those males to kidnap Vi and Desirae. We all know that countless packs around the globe covet Midnight Pack’s wealth and power. The abductors could have come from anywhere.”
I waited for Griff to chime in, but he was surprisingly quiet.
As we all piled into the truck and took off, I finally said, “Well, I for one hope we catch them in the act tonight. Then we can put this stupid mess to rest and go back to living our boring adult lives.”
“Hear, hear,” Jagger muttered with a snort.
The snort was what clued me in to his thoughts, which had most definitely jumped to this morning’s fiasco. Yeah, maybeboringwasn’t the right word. There was always some form of drama we had to sort through. Griff and I just happened to currently be at the top of the pile.
Refusing to acknowledge the snort, I focused on keeping my mind on the task before us. Desirae could be walking into a trap—literally—and we needed to find her before that happened. When we arrived at Mrs. Bailey’s, we got right down to removing our clothes. The sooner we started the search, the better, and our best chance at finding Desirae was in wolf form.
I’d just tossed my clothes into the truck bed, about to follow after Kolton and Jagger, when Griff said, “Vi, hold up.”
Kolton glanced over his shoulder and gave us both a stern look. “One minute.”
As he and Jagger took off for the backyard, I watched them go, wishing I could follow.Dreadingwhat Griff was about to say.
“Can we do this later?” I suggested, suddenly chickening out. “We really don’t have time to—”
“We need to do this now,” he quietly interrupted, and my stomach bottomed out.
“Fine. What happened between us shouldn’t have happened, okay? End of story.”
“I agree, but I can sense how guilty you still feel. You aren’t to blame for what happened, Vi. It was all me. I’m sorry I fell asleep with you last night.”
I stayed quiet for a moment, then blurted, “What about on the field?”
“What about it?”
“Seriously? You’re going to make mesayit? Fine. You wanted to kiss me.”
Silence. Then, “I did.”
At his confession, that same heat flushed through my insides.
“But I didn’t,” he went on, “because you’re taken, and I know that.”
A tremor shook my hands. “Do you?”
“I do. I just got caught up in the moment. It won’t happen again, Vi. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, unwilling to let him take all the blame. “Griff—”
“Did you tell Reid?”
Sighing, I admitted, “Yes. I told him everything.”
“And? What did he say?”
I ground my teeth together, then forced myself to say words that tasted like acid on my tongue. “He said that I needed distance from you. When I asked him how I could do that, he told me to move in with him.”
Not waiting for his reaction, I took off after Kolton and Jagger. When it came time to shift, Sable barely showed any excitement. She was subdued, keeping her feelings hidden from me as she continued to process the words Reid had left me with.
“Move in with me.”
