Page 5 of Hunted

Guillermo tilted his head in my direction, voice holding a warning note in my head, his Alpha’s voice.

Our resources are stretched too thin after the last round of attacks. More Tracers have been chemically injured by Blackout in the field while fighting black ops groups. We no longer have the resources to provide Ellie with round-the-clock protection. We need their help. I know you don’t trust them and I wouldn’t trust them with most things, but they have a vested interest in making sure the researchers on the team are kept safe and secure.

As he and Zara began working out the particulars, my phone buzzed. I opened the text from my oldest brother.

Brody: Emergency family meeting. Can you get here?

River: Yeah. Hello to you, too.

Brody: Little busy over here.

Typical Brody. Like he thought after multiple attempts to assassinate Guillermo and Zara over the past five days, I was in my sweats on the couch at home knocking back a six pack.

River: Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon?

He and London Blake, the Alpha of the North Austin pack, had gotten married in a simple wedding back home in Blood Moon only days before. Now it seemed like a lifetime ago.

Brody: President Payne’s surprise announcement cut that a little short. Can you get here or not?

I ground my teeth. That was the thing about being the youngest of seven brothers. It didn’t matter that I was twenty-three and fourth in seniority in my uncle’s pack, in line to one day assume leadership of all the wolves in North America. To Brody, I would always be the little kid who stole his Legos and sulked when West and Ethan wolfed down all the doughnuts on Sunday mornings before church. Brody was the oldest of my brothers at thirty and had taken over as Alpha of the Blood Moon pack from our father. He worked for the county as a sheriff’s deputy and took being a hardass and letting me know I did a crap job of balancing my obligations to the Tracers and my family to a whole new level.

Like I needed daily reminders.

River: Little busy right now.

Brody: Yeah. Well I’ve got a message from Guillermo saying you’re going to need the Blood Moon and North Austin packs to provide personnel for Ellie’s security detail.

Nice of him to warn me.

Brody: So if you want in on the conversation, you can get your ass home. Otherwise, I don’t want any backtalk about who I choose.

Because this night just kept getting better and better.

River: Send me the details. I’ll be there.

“I want something in return for our help,” Zara was saying.

Guillermo’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Be advised. We’re all on edge here. If you think this is a negotiation—”

She held up a hand. “I want you to arrange a meeting.”

This couldn’t be good.

“What sort of meeting?” I demanded.

“With the leaders of the People’s Insurgency.”

I barked out a laugh. “You can’t get your children to call you back and you want us to be your go between?”

My uncle shot me a warning look. I was testing his patience tonight. “You are friends with Vlad and Rowan, yes?”

Friends might have been taking it a step too far. Rowan didn’t trust me. Pretty sure Vlad had his team of creepy leeches shadowing me every time I came into town. Because, nice. Like I hadn’t grown up in Blood Moon, only to have the place taken over by the undead the moment I left home. But whatever. Brody was Alpha now. It was his call.

Zara glared at me. Yeah. Could totally see where Vlad got that expression from now.

“You would never agree to my security conditions.” Because that was what this came down to, in the end. She might be their mother, but rumor was, she’d also spent years sending assassins after Vlad, trying to end his insurrection. She’d locked Rowan in one of her compounds and kept her as a personal blood slave until Vlad had freed her. It was no wonder they weren’t exactly exchanging Christmas cards.

Zara folded her arms. “What conditions?”