Chapter 64

Chapter 64
“I hid a smile. “Run along and dip in the river,” I whispered. “You’ll dry out in this heat before you know it. Your parents won’t be the wiser.”

They nodded like dutiful children, and as soon as I lowered Melody to the ground, they scampered off.

A deep chuckle rumbled from behind. I glanced over my shoulder. Liam Thornfield shook his head.

“You amaze me sometimes.”

I raised a brow. “What?”

He shrugged. “It’s just…” Liam blew out a sigh. “I want you to be happy, Alpha. You know I do.”

I nodded.

“You’re so good with the kids, with us—your pack mates. I don’t understand why you haven’t settled down yet. Somewhere out there, there has to be someone for you.”

His words chilled me to the core.

Ryker Steelheart.

My inner wolf whimpered. I straightened and schooled my expression. “Thanks for your concern, Liam, but I’m fine.”

He shot me a disbelieving look through narrowed eyes but said nothing more, sensing I didn’t want to continue the conversation. A seed of gratitude sprouted in my chest.

“Gather all the sentinels…” I glanced at Liam. “Meet me at the cabin.”

He nodded and hurried off to round up the others. Once he was out of sight, I allowed my shoulders to sag. For a moment, I had shown weakness as Alpha. How I missed Ryker—missed the way his strength steadied me. When the two of us put our heads together, we were unstoppable. But things were no longer the same.

I rubbed the faint scar across my torso, where a grisly wound had once raked across my dark skin. My inner wolf—though only a fragment of my psyche—had helped heal it. Straightening, I lifted my chin and headed for the cabin. My pack needed me, and Ryker had his. Things had to return to order.

Before long, I stood in the cabin, flanked in a semi-circle by my sentinels.

“What can anyone tell me about the intel we’ve gathered on the witches?”

“So far, all we have are some call logs from their phones. Contacts remain anonymous,” Darl, one of my senior sentinels, said, his gray eyes hardening. “But when we tried to trace the calls, the trail went cold—as if it hit a metal barrier.”

I sighed. “Which means the connection continues into the other realm. Our technology can’t trace that. No human or Werekind has breached that wall in over five hundred years.”

“There’s more troubling news,” Yvonette, a blonde sentinel, added. “They’ve slain more humans.”

My jaw tightened. “How many?”

Her lips pressed thin. “Ten more victims in three weeks.”

“Shit!” I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists.

“The Rangers will be all over this!” Liam raked a hand down his face.

“Not only the Rangers,” I corrected. “The governor will soon get involved. Too many people are dying for this to be dismissed as coincidence.”

“Also…” Barnett, a lean, muscled newcomer, spoke up. “Reports suggest wolves have committed some of the killings. Other packs are saying our kind is responsible. The Council has begun slaying any werewolf they believe has gone rogue.”

I leaned back against the wall, one foot braced behind me. “But that won’t stop the murders. Those wolves are victims—fallen under the spell of the Dark Fae.”

“Alpha…” Yvonette’s voice was tight. “The Rangers and human police are edging closer to our territory and neighboring colonies. It will be harder for those of us who need to shift into our beast forms. I fear someone will be killed—by an avenging human or a Ranger.”

I nodded. “From now on, any non-latents who need to shift will do so inside the camp. No more runs in the field until the Rangers back off. Understood?”

“Yes, Alpha,” my sentinels chorused.

“Spread the word to the pack,” I ordered. “And increase patrols along the territory rim. We can’t let humans push farther in.”

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the group. After reviewing a few more matters, I dismissed them. One by one, they filed out—except Liam. He stayed, brow furrowed.

“We can’t keep up these restrictions forever,” Liam said grimly. “Those of us who can shift need to run. And other packs will demand the same freedom.”

Frustration curled my lip. I slammed a hand against the wall, splinters flying. “I know this. The sooner we find the Dark Fae responsible, the sooner it ends.”

That night, I woke to bloodcurdling screams and roars that sent ice through my veins. I jolted upright, grabbed my sniper rifle, slung it over my shoulder, and snatched my handgun for backup. Bursting outside, I froze.

Chaos consumed the camp.

A pack of bears tore through cabins, attacking my people. The metallic tang of blood saturated the air. My stomach dropped as I recognized some of them—grizzlies and black bears I knew too well.

Ryker’s bears.

Ryker… betrayed us?

Hot tears stung my eyes, but I shoved them away. My pack needed me.

A submissive female lay pinned beneath a black bear. Its fangs sank into her shoulder, shaking her like a rag doll. Her scream ripped through the night. I leveled my rifle but cursed—the beast was too close to her body.

I steadied my breathing, waited, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet slammed into its skull. The bear reared back and crumpled.

“Go, now!” I shouted.

The female nodded shakily and scrambled away.

I rushed toward the downed bear, already watching its healing powers at work as the bullet edged out of its flesh. Snarling, I unsheathed my claws and slashed its jugular. Blood gushed across my hand, pooling beneath its body. It couldn’t heal both wounds at once—it would bleed out.

Growling in satisfaction, I sprinted toward Liam and a senior warrior locked in combat with a grizzly. Shots fired. The beast reared, claws flashing. Liam ducked and rolled, firing as he rose. The warrior circled behind, pumping bullets into its back. The bear lunged for him—

—but I hit it first, raking my claws across its eyes. It wailed, thrashing blindly. The warrior seized the moment, lunging forward and ripping its throat out. The grizzly collapsed with a gurgling roar.

I turned to Liam. “What the hell is happening?”

“Fuck if I know!” he snapped. “I woke up to this! They swarmed us like cockroaches!”

“Damn it,” I snarled, scanning the carnage. Pack mates littered the ground, lifeless, their throats torn. Latents—without inner wolves—had no chance to heal. My heart ached.

“Find the sentinels! Push them back! Get snipers on the roofs—hem them in!” I barked.

I sprinted across the clearing toward a family cornered by bears. The father already lay dead, the mother shielding her pups. I fired. One by one, the beasts crumpled.

Then I heard it—whimpers to my left. My head snapped around. Beneath a porch, children huddled together, wide-eyed with terror. Melody. Aaron. My heart seized.

A roar shattered the air. A massive brown bear stalked across the clearing, amber eyes locking onto the children. Saliva frothed from its jaws, fangs gleaming.

I knew that coat. Those eyes.

My heart stopped.

Rick.

Ryker’s best friend. The one who once guarded me as I healed.