“I’mfine,” I growled for the millionth time.
Iris raised her brows. “Don’t give me that,” she replied, folding her arms over her chest. “Just keep that feeling in mind, though, the next time you feel the need to ask me twelve times if I’m okay.”
“I—”Damnit. I scowled at her, the expression only deepening as she smirked. “Fine. Fair point,” I muttered. “Seriously, though. It hurts, but it’ll be fine.”
She nodded and exhaled, her shoulders dropping slightly. “So, what are we going to do now? We lost our contact.”
I groaned. This was clearly the worst-case scenario. “I have to tell Remus,” I sighed, rubbing my face with my free hand. “Ryan was his packmate, and we can’t just leave him lying in the woods.”
“Poor Catherine,” Iris murmured, shaking her head. “First Ashley, now Ryan…” She shook her head. “Ancestors, I hope that doesn’t mean they’ve hurt Ashley, too.”
My frown deepened. “We won’t let that happen.” As much as I didn’t want to bring more people into this, I didn’t see how we had a choice. “If the gunman was a part of the project we found, there could be more of them.” If he was the same person who’d helped exterminate Iris’ pack in Alaska, that was even worse. In either scenario, it meant bad news for all of the wolves in Austin and within Remus’ territory. No matter how I felt about my half-brother, I couldn’t put other shifters at risk because things were weird between us.
I wasn’t that kind of person.
What was worse, if theywerethe same group or even related to the group that destroyed the Aurora Pack, there was a chance they’d recognize Iris too. It wasn’t just random wolves I didn’t know — it was Iris. Iris wasn’t safe, either, and if I had to swallow my pride and work with Remus to make sure she wasn’t hurt, then that was exactly what I would do.
29
IRIS
Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Reserve
Travis County, Texas
The summer heat hadn’t released us just yet, even though the sun had long since gone down, but I felt like someone had plunged me into an Alaskan lake in the middle of January. I was shivering, goosebumps prickling along my skin, and it was all I could do to keep my teeth from chattering. Logically, I knew it was ridiculous, but I couldn’t shake the feeling.
Watching Eli’s guard, Jaxon, methodically peel away the remains of his shirt to dress his bullet wound wasn’t making things better.
Guh. Even the phrase ‘bullet wound’ made my stomach clench up. Every time I blinked or closed my eyes, I could see it as clearly as the day it had happened — the sharp crack of gunfire and the blossom of red spreading across my alpha’s chest. Looking back over my shoulder to see my mother’s beautiful white pelt streaked in red. Hearing my father’s wounded yelp as he tried to fight off two gunmen so we could escape. My best friend lying dead, her yellow eyes staring blankly forward as the earth was stained red beneath her.
And that tattoo…
The top view of a large bird in flight was right across the man’s wrist. I knew it even before Eli had shined a light over it. That image was burned into my brain like a brand, the last thing I’d seen before the bullet had ripped throughme.
But how is this even possible? I thought it was a group of hunters in Alaska. Maybe they spread into Canada a little, sure, butTexas? That’s more than 4,000 miles away. Why would a group of hunters travel that far?
If I hadn’t already emptied my stomach near the rock outcropping, I’d probably do it again. As it were, my stomach clenched painfully as the world swam around me. I reached out to steady myself against the truck bed as Jaxon worked, trying to will my questions away — but I couldn’t. It just didn’t makesense.
Ryan, nervous, could have accidentally made it obvious he was spying on the US military. That made sense. The US military could have decided it was easier and simpler just to erase Ryan before he let their secret out. That also made sense; after all, he wasn’t officially employed with them. They could stage his death, maybe even make him look guilty for his daughter’s recent disappearance. What did they care if they ruined Catherine’s life even more? It was the government. That’s what they did.
That? That all tracked.
But the gunman having the bird tattoo… I couldn’t smell a hint of wolf on him. I couldn’t smell anything at all. Even humans had a smell. It was like he was purposefully wearing something to mask his scent. I could have sworn the man who’d grabbed at me when I was eleven was another shifter, but… Then again, I was only a child. The entire night was the worst kind of chaos. I could have smelled my pack, unable to recognize their scents in all the panic and fear.
I shivered all over.Maybe the bird thing is just… a common motif. Or something.
While plausible, the idea sounded pretty lame to me.Maybe you’re being paranoid, Iris.My wolf growled softly at the thought, never intrusive, but… It was clear she thought it was too coincidental. I couldn’t help but agree.Or maybe it’s worse than you thought.
The thought was enough for me to give myself a little shake, snapping out of the trance I’d fallen into watching Jaxon as he cleaned up Eli’s wound and began to dress it. I stood up straighter, turning to return to my car, when another car came flying into the parking lot. I faltered, the ball of dread growing in my gut as the engine cut and three men stepped out.
Remus, Nic, and Damon.
Great.
Two alphas and one of the largest shifters I’d ever seen in my life.Yeah, that’s exactly what I need right now.
Nic Archer flew right past me as if I were invisible, flocking to his son’s side. “Eli.” He sounded like he’d seen a ghost, his face going stormy as he looked at Clay and Jaxon. “What the hell happened here?” the man demanded. I could feel the anger rolling off him from where I stood, a few feet away.