“Are they starting up the mate trades again?” asked one of the shifters.
We all glanced around uncomfortable. This wasn’t good.
“Or worse they are trading females as breeders, again,” added Price.
I blew out a breath and watched as all the eyes seemed to land on me. I’d brought this up to the council months ago, but I wasn’t sure how I became the damn spokesperson. But fine.
“Shall we, boys?”
This time everyone did nod, wolves flashed behind their human’s eyes, and the low rumble coming from everyone in the bar told me were we all on the same page. I nodded to each pack.
“Keep as many alive as possible. I’m in the mood to persuade some answers from their tight lips.”
My wolf was growing restless. I got the hint. We needed to go hunt.
“Alright. Call the meeting, Armand. Tell your alpha in three days we will all have reports,” I said and took a few steps towards the door.
Price shook his head and I could hear the cacophony of agreements from around the bar. None of these packs were the problems. None of them wanted to lose their own females to immoral practices anymore than any of us wanted to see innocents being sent to help the wrong fucking packs survive.
We needed to do more to help the smaller packs. I had a feeling though it almost wouldn’t matter what we did. The rot was deep.
I turned to lead the way out when the door slammed open and a young female crashed inside screaming. She ran straight into my arms and my entire world stopped.
The flood of the scent of stale beer around me disappeared, and all there was was her.
Lines streaked her face, the smell of dirt and crusty flakes of caked on mud. Her hair had more foliage than was acceptable for even a wolf. Her clothing was a tattered mess and she shivered in my arms.
The thing that had me staring and holding her closer was that of my wolf.
He was screaming at me.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
The pull to her was impossible. This is what I’d tried to wait for my entire life. To feel the mate pull. But, for me. It should have been impossible. She didn’t exist. Not anymore.
The female in my arms wasn’t looking me in the eyes. She wasn’t acting like a mate should. I sniffed her again and this time I honed in on something. The scent of her wolf was so faint I wasn’t even sure how we’d picked up on her as ours. Still. She was ours and now I could smell the body odor and blood and something else.
“Trace where she came from, now,” I commanded to anyone listening in the bar.
“Find her scent before it disappears,” I growled. “And, Triad? Move that meeting to a one week’s time. We hunt until then.”
Pulling her in closer, I studied her face. Her body. I didn’t know who listened, but I knew that most of the wolves were gone leaving me to hold her as my world shattered.
CHAPTER2
Kiara
The world was spinning.My wolf wasn’t answering me, not that she had ever been strong, but still she had always been there in between the beatings and later the shots of whatever they gave me. I knew I was worthless, broken, but she’d still tried.
My body shook from weakness. I hated this. I hated feeling weak and powerless and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt okay. This was worse than before though. How many days had we been in cages? I couldn’t grasp what day it was or how much time had passed
My muscles ached, and I was certain I was dying. How many times had I begged for death and been denied? Instead, I was traded to something far worse.
“Female, what is your name?”
The words seemed like they were under water and I struggled to understand him.
“Female, a name,” said the deep voice again.